Nature Notes August 2021

Date Published: 07-09-2021

The weather was mild with only a few sunny days

SIGHTINGS
Birds (seen or heard) : Common Gulls, Black-headed Gulls. Heron, Carrion Crows, Woodcock, Sparrowhawk, Magpies, Jays, Buzzards, Tawny |Owls, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Dunnocks, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Siskins, Stonechat, Chiffchaffs, Wrens, Coal/Blue/Great, Long-tailed Tits.
Insects: Midges, Buff-tailed Bees, Honey Bees, Hover Flies, Wood Lice, Ants, Common Green Grasshopper, Sheet Web Spiders.
Mammals: Roe Deer, Grey Squirrels, Fox, Mole Activity, Bank Vole, Hedgehogs, Pipistrelle Bats.
Reptiles/Amphibians: Common Lizard, Slow Worm.
Dragonfly/Damselfly: Small Red, Broad Bodied Chaser, Common Darter, Southern Hawker.
Butterflies/Moths: Large White, Small White, Peacock, Small Heath, Grayling.
Plants (in flower/berry): Celandine, Dandelion, Rowan (in berry), Blackberries (in fruit), Cut-leaved Geranium, Cotton Grass, Large White Pond Lily, Sundews, Common Vetch, Ling Heather, Cross-leaved Heather, Bell Heather.
Pond Life: Whirlygig Beetles, Pond Skaters.

Through August, the birds were in moult, looking scruffy.
Sundews were struggling to survive during the drier period.
A young Hedgehog has been seen on the Hazelwood boundary.
A young Sparrowhawk was seen and heard in the Hazelwood West area.

NATURE FACT
Sundews can be found on boggy heaths and moors. They produce white flowers in spikes on stalks that are much longer than leaves. They are reddish in colour with sticky hairs that trap insects.

Recorders: C. Wilcox/K. Wilcox – Contributor: Charlie Smith

SITE MANAGEMENT
The work party strengthened a length of the boardwalk and cut back encroaching vegetation along the public right of way on the southern perimeter of the site.
Cattle returned in July.