Nature Notes June 2023
Date Published: 04-07-2023
June proved to be the hottest one on record.
SIGHTINGS
BIRDS (seen or heard): Carrion Crows, Magpies, Jays, Buzzards, Tawny Owls, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Heron, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Pied Wagtails, Stonechats, Nightjar, Tree Pipits, Siskins, Nuthatches, Treecreepers, Wrens, Robins, Goldcrests, Dunnocks, Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Bullfinches, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs,
MAMMALS: Grey Squirrels, Foxes, Hedgehogs, Badger, Wood Mice, Pipistrelle Bats, Soprano Pipistrelle Bats.
PLANTS (in flower or berry): Celandine, Dandelions, Cut leaved Geranium, Buttercups, Arum Lily, Holly, Honeysuckle, Cotton Grass, Bog Asphodel, Foxglove, Herb Robert, Blackberry, Yellow Flag Iris, Cranesbill, Cross-leaved Heath, Bell Heather, Ivy.
INSECTS: Wood Lice, Hover Flies, Black Ants, Bumble Bees, Solitary Bees, Wasps, Buff-tailed Bees, Midges, Hornets, Sheet Web Spiders, Funnel Web Spiders, Wolf Spiders.
REPTILES/AMPHIBIANS: Common Lizard, Slow Worm, Grass Snake, Adder.
BUTTERFLIES/MOTHS: Speckled Wood, Large White, Holly Blue, Orange Tip, Peacock, Brimstone, Silver Studded Blue, Meadow Brown, Species of day flying moths.
DRAGONFLY/DAMSELFLY: Small Red, Common Blue, Broad Bodied Chaser, Four Spot Chaser, Southern Hawker.
POND LIFE: Whirlygig Beetles, Backswimmer, Pond Skaters, Common Newts.
A Nightjar, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were heard throughout the month. Bats were detected at dusk.
NATURE FACT: Great Spotted Woodpeckers generally produce six eggs in a clutch, incubated by both parents. The young hatch 16-17 days after laying and are naked and noisy. There are normally one brood each Summer and the chicks fledge after3 weeks, depending on the weather. The young birds have a distinctive red cap on the crown.
Recorders: C Wilcox, K Wilcox
SITE MANAGEMENT: The monthly work party removed waste material from the drainage ditch bordering the southern perimeter of the Reserve and cut back invasive undergrowth from the bank. Cows returned on site.
Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker. Image by K Wilcox
