Nature Notes September 2021

Date Published: 04-10-2021

Dry on the whole with rain showers in the last week of the month.

SIGHTINGS
Birds (seen or heard): Common Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Heron, Carrion Crows, Sparrowhawk, Magpies, Jays, Buzzards, Tawny Owls, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Swallows, Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Dunnocks, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Siskins, Stonechats, Chiffchaffs, Wrens, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits.
Insects: Midges, Buff-tailed Bees, Honey Bees, Wood lice, Common Green Grasshopper, Craneflies, Garden Spider, Wasp Spider.
Mammals: Roe Deer, Grey Squirrels, Fox, Hedgehogs, Pipistrelle Bats.
Reptiles/Amphibians: Common Lizards.
Dragonfly/Damselfly: Small Red, Broad Bodied Chaser, Emperor, Common Darter.
Butterflies/Moths: Large White, Small White, Peacock, Speckled Wood, Comma, Buff Tip Moth caterpillar.
Plants (in flower/berry): Celandine, Tormentil, Cranesbill, Honeysuckle, Crocosmia, Ling Heather, Bell Heather, Cross-leaved Heather, Low growing Gorse, Holly Berries, Rowan Berries, Blackberry fruits, Ivy seed heads, Hazel Nuts, Sundews, Marsh Gentian.
Pond Life: Whirlygig Beetles, Pond Skaters.
Chiffchaffs were spotted passing through on the start of migration.
Tawny Owls were heard on most nights.
The colony of Marsh Gentians opened up into flower at the end of the month.

NATURE FACT
The Marsh Gentian is a scarce, attractive hairless perennial plant growing in bogs and damp grassy heaths on acid soil. It grows to a height of around 30cm with bright blue trumpet shaped flowers. The outside corolla tube is marked with 5 green stripes in terminal clusters.

Recorders: C. Wilcox, K. Wilcox

SITE MANAGEMENT
The volunteer work party cleared vegetation from the pavement verge on West Moors Road and thinned out holly and willow in the eastern woodland area.