Nature Notes March 2020
Date Published: 02-04-2020
The first two weeks continued on from February with wet and windy conditions before turning to a warm, sunny period. The month ended with a colder spell, but remained dry.
SIGHTINGS
Birds (seen or heard): Carrion Crow, Magpies, Buzzards, Heron, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Tawny Owls, Sparrowhawk, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Nuthatches, Treecreepers, Wrens, Male Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Robins, Dunnocks, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Redpolls, Siskins, Stonechats, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits.
Insects: Midges, Wasps, Hover Flies, Flies, Buff-tailed Bees, Wood Lice, Ants.
Mammals: Grey Squirrels, Mole activity, Fox, Wood Mice.
Plants in flower/berries: Holly, Ivy, Viburnum, Common Gorse, Laurel, Flowering Currant, Amelanchier, Catkins.
Pond Life: Pond Skaters.
Butterflies: Brimstones, Peacocks, Comma.
Birds were busy attracting mates and establishing their territories for feeding purposes. Several species have already started assembling nests and selecting their preferred nesting boxes. The new Nuthatch box has already been selected by a pair and the nest has been making steady progress throughout the latter part of the month.
The bad news is that a number of Goldfinches and Bullfinches on site have been spotted with the disease Knemidocoptes.
NATURE FACT
Knemidocoptes affects the feet and legs, characterised by white nodules ranging to larger warts. The warts develop over a long period of time caused by mites burrowing into the legs, often contracted at the nesting stage. The disease can take up to six months to materialize.
Recorder: C. Wilcox
SITE MANAGEMENT
No work party was held due to the implications of corona virus. Sadly, it seems it may be some months before they resume.
