SKYLARK
SUE’S REFLECTIONS OF NATURE
July
2013
Due
to technical reasons, this natural history blog is a month behind, so many
apologies for the delay and the August one will be along shortly!
Hot
July brings cooling showers
Apricots
and gillyflowers
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| Goldfinch |
Gillyflower
is a pretty name for those plants we usually refer to as carnations or pinks,
and this month I’ve been pleased to see that several carnation cuttings taken
from bouquets, that I had just pushed into the ground, have rooted and been
flowering The clumps of old-fashioned pinks have done well this year, too. No
apricots though, although we do seem to be getting an amazing apple crop!
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| Goldfinch - a garden first |
July
1st began with the news that a red kite had been spotted flying over
the town, these magnificent birds really seem to be making a comeback. I still
haven’t spotted it for myself, normally over the garden we get sparrowhawks or
kestrels. The 4th was a red-letter day for our garden, because we had a young
goldfinch on the feeders. Although we have heard the birds around, and reports
suggest that they are becoming one of the most common of the garden visitors,
goldfinches had always eluded us even though we put out tempting foods such as
nyjer seed. This one, though, completely ignored the nyjer, instead feasting on
the fat blocks, managing to coat its bill with fat in the process. I saw my
first ladybird of the year, they have been so late appearing, and a lot of
noise on a nearby aerial proved to be a family of fledging magpies. Also
noticed some greenfly – aphids haven’t been much in evidence so far this year.
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| Young bluetit |
The
5th of the month proved very hot and sunny, and we had the first
collared dove of the year. Up till a couple of years ago, collared doves were
regulars in the garden, but then they disappeared. Today, as well as the doves,
we had the goldfinch, great tits, young blue tits, robin, a pair of blackbirds,
starlings and wood pigeons, and noticed a swift overhead. There was also –
another first – a jackdaw on our neighbours’ roof. A white butterfly was
around, too. It seems as though the long-awaited sunshine is encouraging the
insects to finally emerge from wherever they have been hiding or waiting to
hatch.
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| Small tortoiseshell |
Over
the next few days the weather turned excessively hot, and on the 8th
of July I visited Hatfield Forest, where there were quite a lot of ringlets and
small tortoiseshells, as well as dragonflies. The ringlets in particular were
very quick moving, fluttering restlessly from flower to flower. There were also
the usual coots, mallards, moorhens and geese. The ducks seem past their best,
they are looking very tatty at the moment, with many of the mallard drakes
losing their glossy green head feathers. There were plenty of fish to be seen
in the smaller lake, too. The smaller lake is the best place to watch the
dragonflies and damselflies – the sunny side, not the wooded side. There were a
couple of branches in the water and the insects were landing on them, or
sunning themselves on the dried mud by the lakeside.
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| Male Keeled skimmer |
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| Ringlet |
The
garden has been host to plenty of birds over the month, including many
youngsters; blackbirds, dunnocks, starlings, great tits, blue tits, robins,
goldfinch, though the house sparrows disappeared for a while, gradually
returning as the month progressed.
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| Heron on lake at Buckingham Palace |
On
13th July, during a visit to Buckingham Palace gardens I spotted a
heron perched on a nest, presumably a coot’s or duck’s, in the lake. There were
coots and ducks too as well as several blue butterflies. The nest day we had a
comma in the garden, the following day a small tortoiseshell – the weather
continued hot and sunny, and the birds and insects certainly appreciated it. On
the 17th a grey squirrel appeared. The squirrels have been absent
for a while, but one, presumably the same one each time, continued to call in
for peanuts and sunflower seeds for the rest of the month. It seemed much more
timid than the squirrels that visited earlier in the year. We had a brief
sighting of a wood mouse on the 19th of July, when one ran behind a
flowerpot in the garden. That evening I was particularly pleased to find a
large frog during an evening inspection of the garden. It was sitting on the
path, and, as I have mentioned in previous blogs, at one time our garden was
host to dozens of the creatures but they disappeared a decade ago, and we
rarely see them now.
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| Bee on lavender at Heacham |
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| Hoverflies on rush at Heacham |
The
21st July found me at the Norfolk Lavender farm at Heacham, Norfolk, and the blooms
were covered with bees and hoverflies. There were young moorhens on the river.
Outside the motel in Long Sutton, Lincs, where I was staying, were at least
fifty woodpigeons perched along the telegraph wires, and there were rabbits and
hares in the field.
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| Common damselflies |
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| The Scrape at Pensthorpe |
The
hottest day of the year so far arrived on the 22nd July, and
coincided with a visit to Pensthorpe, Norfolk. There were dragonflies of several
different types in the streams and by the lakes, while butterflies were taking
advantage of the wildflowers in the meadows. There were plenty of rosebay
willowherbs, which many think of as a ‘weed’, but are spectacular, especially
when viewed en masse across the lake, as well as herb Robert, comfrey and many
other flowers. We even came across a wild raspberry bush, and tasted a berry –
it was sweet and delicious.
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| Banded demoiselle |
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| Young bearded tit |
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| Turtle dove |
The scrape was busy with ducks and geese, and a
kingfisher flashed past. Also on the scrape were herons, lapwings, egrets and
various waders. In the large walk-through breeding aviary were avocets, turtle
doves and bearded tits. The bearded tits are beautiful but so quick that they
are very difficult to photograph. Overnight, there was torrential rain and a
thunderstorm, but the heat continued. The next day, driving through Hunstanton
along the cliff road, we saw dozens of black-headed gulls on the grass, and
spotted a marsh harrier near Snettisham nature reserve.
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| Broad-bodied chaser |
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| Ruddy darter |
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| Green-veined white and cardinal beetle |
On
the 24th July, a visit to Wicken Fen near Ely, Cambs, resulted in sightings of hundreds
of butterflies and dragonflies, including an enormous yellow and black
dragonfly which zoomed off before I
could get a photo. I also saw a broad-bodied chaser and dozens of ruddy
darters. We followed the boardwalk as at passed by meadowsweet, bryony,
bindweed – so many butterfly-friendly plants.
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| Greenfinch |
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| Swallow nest at Wicken Fen |
Through the windows of the hide
we could see the feeders very much in demand from chaffinches, various tits and
vividly-coloured greenfinches. Even collared doves were hanging from the mesh
and a moorhen was on the tray below, after the spilt seed. A pair of swallows
had set up home actually inside the hide, building a mossy nest on a beam. A
notice requested visitors to ensure that the door was left open so that the
birds could fly in and out.
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| Comma and peacock butterflies enjoy buddleia |
Back
home on the 25th to find that the buddleia was now fully out, and
very popular with the butterflies – I spotted peacocks, red admiral, comma,
large and small whites as well as many bumblebees.
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| This common darter hatched in our tiny wildlife pond |
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| Mating snails |
On the 27th we
saw a dragonfly, a female common darter, fly up from the small wildlife pool to
the apple tree. Close inspection showed an empty pupae case on a reed, so it’s
exciting to think that at least one dragonfly has emerged from our tiny haven.
There were two snails mating on the side of the garden fountain. Buddleias
everywhere seem to be awash with butterflies now, and a trip to Sutton-in-the
–Isle, near Ely, showed plenty of commas and peacocks on a small bush there.
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| Young bluetit in the birdbath |
We
had rain on the 29th July. It was heavy and welcome, cooling things
down and reviving the parched plants. There was thunder and lightning as well –
and later an enormous yellow slug was slithering along the garden path. It
rained quite a lot the following day, too, but it didn’t deter a family of
bluetits who sheltered in the apple tree and braved the feeders. On the final
day of the month, July 31st, there were still showers around, though
it was warm. The big yellow slug was back on the path and there were plenty of
butterflies, especially small and large whites and peacocks, on the buddleia.
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| Female blackbird calling |
A
blackbird was calling noisily for a long while, maybe there was a cat around.
There were several sparrows in the apple tree. It was very breezy and the
butterflies were being blown about. July has certainly proved to be an
excellent month this year, with above average sunshine and temperatures, and
more butterflies (and dragonflies) than I have seen for several years. We have also been fortunate enough to have had an abundance of young birds of various species visiting the garden feeders, so although the first few months of the year were cold and wet, it seems that a good number of youngsters were still hatched. Hopefully, with all the insects now around, the birds will thrive.
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| Young great tit |
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| Young robin |
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| Female blackbird |
There were lots of birds in the garden on
August 13th. When you consider that we have a very small garden,
measuring only approx. 15ft x 15ft, it was very satisfying to see sparrows,
dunnock, blackbirds, robin, starling, blue tits and great tits all down at
once. In the late afternoon a fire broke out at some nearby garages, and the
smoke swirled around the oak tree across the road opposite the garden, creating
an ethereal, misty look. The 14th continued warm and sunny – there
will be an excellent apple crop this year. Our tree is really laden and the
boughs are already bending with the weight of the fruit. On the 16th,
it rained – the garden needed it.
18th of August – the heat
continues. There was a large moth tucked into the folds of the garden parasol,
and I believe it to be a large orange underwing. A very tiny brown and yellow
moth was obligingly resting on a tub of mint, giving a clue to its name. It was
a mint moth, and we have had a lot of them about lately. 
.JPG)
Conkers were forming on the chestnut trees and
there was a good crop of acorns on the oaks. Blackberries were ripening already,
they seem early this year. It seems there will be bumper crops of many fruits
and berries, so hopefully if we have a bad winter there will still be food for
the birds. As we walked along the path by the lake, we could see a small herd
of fallow deer that had left the woodland and were exploring a field that had just
been harvested.
That evening we had a torchlight search of the
garden, discovering a large frog as well as the usual slugs and snails.
We seem to be getting more and more sparrows
in the garden, which is a good thing. They like to perch in the pyracantha bush
at the end of the garden. Presumably they feel safe there, and are out of the
way of the sparrowhawk which sometimes flies over and has been known to snatch
sparrows from the top of a shelter in our garden. On the 20th
August, there were several sparrows bathing in the fountain when a female
blackbird suddenly came down, chased them away and claimed the fountain for
herself. There were a family of long-tailed tits in the
apple tree on the 24th August thought they didn’t stay around for
long. On a trip to the town centre I was surprised to see a pair of cormorants,
one in the classic wings outstretched pose, sitting in a tree in a field near
the road.
At last there were several ladybirds around,
too, though certainly not as many as we usually see in the summer. It was still
very hot and sunny. There was a very attractive red and white spider, with a
bag of eggs, in the garden. I believe it was a comb footed spider, and there
were other spiders and weevils around too . In the evening there was a large
newt on the garden path, as well as various types of snails including some with
cream and brown stripes.
On the 28th August, a speckled wood
had found its way indoors and was sitting by the widow frame. A further trip to
Wicken Fen the same day led to sightings of hundreds of swallows and martins
gathering along the phone wires and pylons, swooping around the trees and
skimming the pond. The air was filled with their cries and squeaks. There was a moorhen perched on a branch by the
lake, I have seen it there before so it must be a favourite spot. In contrast
to our last visit three weeks ago, the feeders were almost empty. There were
still several kinds of dragonflies around, including a brown hawker laying her
eggs in the water. Butterflies included speckled woods and small
tortoiseshells, and there were a flock of sparrows bathing in a small
pond. Wasps had invaded the café area,
all around the outdoor tables and even venturing inside, much to the annoyance
of those eating their lunch!
