Nature Notes June 2019
Date Published: 02-07-2019
A month of wet conditions with only the last week improving to warm, dry weather.
SIGHTINGS
Birds: Carrion Crows, Magpies, Jays, Buzzards, Black-headed Gulls, Common Gulls, Tawny Owls, Sparrowhawk, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Collared Doves, Nuthatches, Treecreepers, Wrens, Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Dunnocks, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Bullfinches, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Siskins, Stonechats, Nightjar, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits.
Mammals: Grey Squirrels, Fox, Roe Deer, Pipistrelle Bats, Badgers, Wood Mice, Hedgehogs.
Insects/Spiders: Wood Lice, Midges, Buff-tailed Bees, Hover Flies, Bumble Bees, Ants, Garden Spiders, Orb-Web Spiders.
Reptiles/Amphibians: Common Lizards, Slow Worms, Grass Snake.
Butterflies/Moths: Speckled Wood, Holly Blue, Large White, Peacock, Red Admiral, Orange Tip, Silver-studded Blue, Comma, Meadow Brown, Large Skipper, species of day flying Moths.
Plants in flower: Foxgloves, Herb Robert, Yellow Flag Iris, Honeysuckle, Blackberry, Arum Lily, Cotton Grass.
Dragonfly/Damselfly: Small Red, Small Blue, Broad Bodied Chaser, Four Spot Chaser, Beautiful Demoiselle.
Pond Life: Whirlygig Beetles, Pond Skaters, Backswimmers, Common Newts.
The Nightjar continued to call throughout the month and was seen and caught on camera.
The trail camera recorded a Hedgehog being predated by a Badger.
Many species of young birds have now fledged.
Blackbirds have still been seen constructing new nests.
NATURE FACT
Nightjars have a highly characteristic call – a long, almost continuous ‘churring’ noise. This is generally delivered from a perch, rising and falling in a rhythmic sequence. The calls of Nightjars have been timed and it is found that the ‘churring’ frequently lasts for more than five minutes. It has been likened to the noise of a distant two-stroke engine.
SITE MANAGEMENT
The monthly work party cleared invasive vegetation from the boardwalk and permissive paths.
Recorder: C. Wilcox
