Nature Notes May 2021
Date Published: 04-06-2021
Following a dry April, May was very wet and windy.
SIGHTINGS
Birds (seen or heard): Common Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Heron, Magpies, Jay, Buzzards, Woodcocks, Tawny Owls, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Dunnocks, Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Siskins, Stonechats, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Swifts, Wrens, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits.
Insects: Midges, Buff-tailed Bees, Hover Flies, Wood Lice, Ants, Ticks, Two-banded Longhorn Beetle, Wolf Spider, Crab Spider, Wasp Spider.
Mammals: Roe Deer, Grey Squirrels, Fox, Mole Activity, Wood Mice, Hedgehogs, Pipistrelle Bats, Soprano Pipistrelle Bats.
Reptiles/Amphibians: Common Lizard.
Fungi: Bog Beacon, Pear-shaped Puff Ball, Jelly Fungus.
Dragonfly/Damselfly: Small Red, Common Blue Damselfly, Hairy Dragonfly (Brachytron pratense), Broad Bodied Chaser.
Butterflies/Moths: Large White, Small White, Brimstone, Orange Tip, Peacock, Holly Blue.
Plants (in flower): Common Gorse, Celandine, Ribes (Flowering Currant), Common Broom, Dandelion, Rowan (Mountain Ash), Cut-leaved Geranium Common Field Speedwell, Holly (Ilex), Rhododendron, Cotton Grass, Yellow Flag Iris, Common Vetch, Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis), English Bluebells.
Pond Life: Smooth Newt, Whirlygig Beetles, Pond Skaters.
Birds that nested early had a poor month for producing young – many only fledging one or two from a brood.
Tawny Owls produced three owlets from the onsite nest box on 19th May. This is a significant achievement given the difficulties in finding food during the prevailing weather conditions. The family are being monitored until they become more active and relocate.
NATURE FACT
Owlets are ready to fledge when they are five weeks old, but it is usual for them to leave the nest some 10 days before and clamber around the nest tree or even in low bushes or on the ground. It is always best to leave owlets well alone, the female is fiercely protective of her young and may attack anyone approaching them. After fledging, the Owlets stay in their parents’ territory for 10 – 12 weeks, dependent on their parents for food.
Recorder: C. Wilcox
Sighting contributions: Charlie Smith, Roly Pitts
SITE MANAGEMENT
The work party held on 25th May focused on clearing young birch and pine from the open heath.
Female Tawny Owl (image by K Wilcox)
