The larvae of the knopper gall wasp, Andricus quercuscalicis, produce bowl shaped 'galls' on the acorns of pedunculate oak trees, like these at Gunton Meadow. The galls form around this time of year, becoming sticky and red, and then turn woody and brown later in the year.  

Warden Lewis Yates spotted hundreds of these young toads at Gunton Meadow recently. Please tread carefully if you visit – toadlets are well-camouflaged, making them hard to spot until they leap. 

Female wasp spiders look stunning at this time of year, this one was seen at Castle Marshes. Female wasp spiders are great mimics - looking just like a common wasp keeps them safe from predators, even though they are not dangerous.  Wasp spiders build large orb webs in grassland and heathland and attach their silk egg-sacs to the grasses. The web has a wide, white zig-zag strip running down the middle, known as a 'stabilimentum', the function of which is unclear. 

Warden Lewis Yates completed the annual count of fen raft spider webs at Castle Marshes this week – annual surveys give us useful information about the population and range of the spiders on the reserve. As you can see in the image below, they are not easy to spot! 

Lound Lakes Warden Andy Hickinbotham took this amazing image of the blue supermoon lighting up the reserve on Wednesday night.  

Meanwhile the work continues, keeping our reserves in optimum condition and our conservation grazers safe. 

Our magnificent team of volunteers at Carlton Marshes have spent the last 2 weeks raking and clearing Sprats Water, which will result in increased floristic diversity next year. Warden Gavin shares his thanks for them: “As a reserves team we just could not physically complete all the labour intensive tasks that need doing throughout the year without people like these who cheerfully give up their free time to help us. Amazing people, all of them and very much appreciated.”