REFLECTIONS OF NATURE
JULY 2014
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| Collared Dove |
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| These birds were rarely seen alone, they were coming as a pair |
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| Young great tit near the teasels |
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| Young great tit with red growth on wing |
July 1st The month began with an
extremely high pollen count, as hay fever was rife and there was plenty of
sneezing. It was a sunny day, though a chill breeze struck up later. Amongst
the usual garden birds was a young robin, light brown and speckled. These
youngsters always look so different to the adults, almost like another species.
The following day was warmer and sunny, and there was a grey squirrel standing
on the bird feeder tray, stretching up to reach some apple from another feeder
higher up. Although we regularly get squirrels in the garden, so far we have
thankfully escaped damage to the feeders, apart from a prised apart section on
one nut container. Birds around the garden included robins, blue and great
tits, sparrows, blackbirds, sparrows, wood pigeons and collared doves. On the
3rd of July it turned very hot and amongst the usual visiting birds was a young
great tit with a red growth on its wing. The 4th was yet another scorching hot
day.
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| Barnacle geese were grazing outside the chalet at Seaview |
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| Meadow Brown butterfly with ectoparasitic mite |
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| Male Essex Skipper |
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| Marbled Whites (above and below) on the red clover |
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| Musk Thistle |
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| Pyramidal Orchid |
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| Linnet |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
We travelled to the Isle of Wight on the
5th July, staying at Seaview, which is just outside Ryde. The chalet, which was
close to a nature reserve and surrounded by rough grass, proved a haven for barnacle geese, jackdaws,
white egrets, heron, moorhen, rooks and magpies, as well as dozens of rabbits
from tiny babies to large males. On July 6th we noted a white goose amongst the
Barnacle geese, possibly an escapee from the local wildlife park. There were
reed warblers in the hedgerow, and moving through the reeds behind,
occasionally working their way to the top with a burst of song. Surprisingly
blackberries were already beginning to ripen on the brambles. A trip to Brading Down on the 6th proved a joy,
with pyramidal orchids growing on the chalk amidst the grass and the masses of other
wild flowers, including musk thistle, birds foot trefoil, red clover, lady’s
bedstraw and vetch. Some of the orchids were beginning to die off, but there
were still plenty to see and they were an attractive shade of deep pink forming
small drifts that were attracting various insects. Marbled white butterflies,
Essex skippers and meadow browns fluttered amongst the blooms, and there were
plenty of bees and flies. One of the Meadow Browns had a red growth, an ectoparasitic mite, which was interesting to see though probably unpleeasant for the butterfly..We also saw a skylark, kestrel and a linnet. The
latter was perched on a hawthorn bush, its pink chest contrasting well with the
blue sky. Later, on another section of
the cliff, there was a spotted flycatcher with a beakful of flies perched on a
different hawthorn. It was breezy on top of the cliff, but very warm. At
Arreton Barns (a craft centre complex) there was a family of young mallards.
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| Young mallards at Arreton |
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View from the cliff
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Hedgerow in evening light
Sunset over the nature reserve at Seaview |
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| White goose that was in with the Barnacle geese near the chalet |
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| Jackdaw spread-eagled on grass, probably sunbathing |
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| Zia |
We noticed on the 7th that there was a
jackdaw either anting or sunbathing on the grass near the chalet. It was
spreading its wings flat to the grass. Although not British wildlife, this day was spent at the Isle of Wight Zoo at Sandown, where not only did I get to meet some meerkats but was also allowed to get close to a couple of the tigers, Zena and Zia.These beautiful tigers have been with Charlotte Corney, the zoo's director, for many years and she has a special bond with them. It's an amazing spectacle to watch her conversing with them and to hear them 'answering back' with grunts and chuffs. Zena is a rare white Indian tiger. A few years ago she contracted an eye infection resulting in one of her eyes being removed, but this doesn't detract from her beauty. Her sister, Zia, is sandy coloured, due to the fact that she is a carrier of the white gene. There are several other tigers at the zoo, as well as lions and other big cats. The new meerkat enclosure is excellent, and complete with 'termite hills' that the animals can use as look-out posts. It wasn't long before the gentle, friendly little meerkats were soon on my shoulders and head.
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| Meerkat using me as a look-out post |
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| Zena |
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| Plenty of ducks at Seaview Wildlife Encounter |
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| Kookaburra |
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| Pelican demonstrating the size of its bill! |
On the 8th, we were at Seaview Wildlife Encounter, an attraction especially famed for its hundreds of ducks. They gather around the gates as you approach in the hope you will feed them with the seed bought from the kiosk. It's another lovely place to visit, and there are many birds to see, apart from the ducks, such as geese, flamingos, pelicans, peacocks, parrots and penguins. Particularly excellent is the large tropical aviary, with many free-flying birds. I was given a hissing cockroach to hold there, a very interesting creature! There are mammals too, including otters, alpacas, wallabies and sheep.
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Chalkhill Blue
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| Female Small Skipper |
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| Six-Spot Burnet |
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| Soldier Beetles |
A visit to Compton
Down on the 9th of July produced sightings of chalkhill blue butterflies – a species the area is renowned for –
as well as dramatic black and red six-spot burnet moths, small skipper, and
more orchids. The cliffs seemed alive with butterflies and other insects, all apparently enjoying the warm weather and the abundance of blooms. I think that the days spent just observing the insect and flower life on the Isle of Wight cliffs were the most relaxing - and photographically enjoyable - of the holiday. There were also lots of soldier beetles on the plants - whole armies of them! When I was a child, we used to call them ‘bloodsuckers’presumably because of their red/orange bodies, which looked a bit like blood. The name soldier beetle might have arisen from the fact that at one time British soldiers wore red coats.
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| Comma |
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| Gatekeeper |
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| Horsefly - this one had a very painful bite! |
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| Daisies at Mottistone Manor |
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| Lavender at Mottistone Manor |
Earlier that day, at Mottistone Manor, we saw various butterflies in the wonderful
gardens there, including commas, gatekeepers and red admirals. The gardens had attracted numerous bees to
collect pollen from the blooms. A large horsefly landed on the knee of my
trousers, and I was so intent on photographing it that it wasn’t until later I
realised that I had a painful bite! I
was surprised to see a large snail perched on top of a small hedge, I would
have thought it would have been underneath to escape the sun’s warmth. Outside
the chalet was a pair of moorhens with four very young chicks, wandering around
on the grass. Later we wandered down to the beach to watch the sunset; there
were plenty of rabbits around the chalet. The moon was almost full and looked
huge.
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| Large rabbit by chalet |
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| Moorhens and chicks near the chalet |
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| The moon was low and bright, not quite full |
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| Kapweed lends a purple haze to the flower meadow at Newtown Nature Reserve |
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Flower meadow at Newtown Nature reserve
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| View from the hide at the reserve |
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| Speckled Wood at Newtown Nature Reserve |
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| Six-Spot Burnets at Newtown Nature Reserve |
On a trip to Osborne House on July 10th
I noted more marbled whites and other butterflies. This was another warm day.
Later, outside our holiday chalet were the usual jackdaws, rooks, barnacle
geese, herons and egrets. There were also dozens of rabbits, of all sizes, and
a buzzard over the nature reserve! On the following day we had a ‘close
encounter’ with a young buzzard which was hovering very low down alongside the
road as we were driving to Newtown Nature Reserve. From the hides there we saw
white egrets, shelduck, oyster catchers and Canada geese, and as we walked around
the reserve and through the beautiful wildlife meadow, which was a sea of
purple knapweed, we saw more six-spot burnets, a quite rare white line snout moth
and various butterflies such as speckled woods. The green berries on the cuckoo
pint, or lords and ladies, were already beginning to turn crimson.
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| Cuckoo Pint |
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| Herring gull |
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| Black-Headed Gull |
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| Bedraggled Rook |
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| Bee on Knapweed |
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| Grasshopper |
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| White Line Snout Moth |
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| Handsome Crow posing on the post |
On a short showery
stop at Sandown beach there were several black headed gulls and herring gulls
in the sea, as well as some bedraggled rooks perched on the walls around the
car park. Calling in at Brading Down on the way back we noted grasshoppers
amongst the flowers, and plenty of butterflies and insects. There was a
handsome crow perched on a post, posing for the camera.
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| SmallTortoiseshell |
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| Grey squirrel on the feeder, tryng to reach the nuts |
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| Young smooth newt |
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| Peacock butterfly |
We were back in Essex by 13th, and the
usual birds and tits were back in the garden, so obviously the small quantity
of food in the feeders for a week hadn’t deterred them. There was a peacock
butterfly too. The following day the peacock – or more probably another one –
was back, as well as a small tortoiseshell butterfly. There were also a
squirrel, young blue tits, young starlings, a female blackbird, sparrows and
wood pigeon. July the 15th was a red letter day for
us when a hummingbird hawkmoth put in a brief appearance hovering around the
buddleia, but unfortunately I was unable to grab a photo. On the 16th butterflies
included, yet again, a peacock butterfly. There really are a lot of them around
this year. We also found a young newt. They breed well in our little pond.
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| House sparrows on the apple tree |
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| Southern Hawker |
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| Peacock butterfly by sliced apple feeder |
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| Young Starling |
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| Large White |
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| Copper Underwing |
With the weather continuing hot and
sunny on the 17th of July in the garden we were graced with a large blue
striped Southern Hawker dragonfly, two blue damselflies, several peacock and
white butterflies, and even a large unidentified moth in the hall. Birds were
the usual garden regulars, including blue tits, great tits, house sparrows, starlings and
blackbirds. The following day, the heat had built up tremendously, later producing
thunder and lightning, and on the 19th there were swarms of flying ants. It was
still very hot. On both days a Copper Underwing moth was seen sheltering in the
garden.
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Common Darter Dragonfly
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| Holly Blue Butterfly |
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| Zebra Spider |
On the 20th July it was bright first
thing, and there was a large Darter dragonfly in the garden – we still don’t
know whether these creatures, or at least some of them, are coming from the
pond. There was also heavy rain, thunder and lightning – three-quarters of an
inch fell. Despite this, we managed the annual butterfly count, between
2.45-3pm, and our tally was: one large
white, five small whites, one holly blue, one gatekeeper, two peacocks, one
small tortoiseshell and a comma. The hot weather continued – on the 21st the young
starlings were back on the feeders, and over the next few days there were many
butterflies around, especially on the buddleia. We were pleased to hear a frog
croaking in the small wildlife pond about 8pm; it was still hot even then. On
the 24th a small and very attractive black and white striped Zebra spider (Salticus scenicus) was
on a table in the garden. Apparently, though small, around 7mm long, these
jumping spiders can leap a distance of up to 100mm.
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| Red stains on the starling's face show it has been feasting on the plums! |
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| Good crop of plums this year |
We realised by the 25th that we were
getting more and more house sparrows back in the garden; apart from an odd one
or two, the large group we usually get had been absent. Then, the following day,
the apple tree seemed laden with starlings! There were at least twenty of them
amongst the branches, a lovely sight. Some of them have pink staining around
their beaks; obviously they have discovered our small plum tree!
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| The bee houses have been successful this year; leaf cutter bees have been busy |
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| Sun seems to make this garden spider glow |
Our bee boxes have been very successful
this year; the holes have been filled by leaf cutter bees with pieces of leaf,
covering the grubs. One box is practically full, another half-full while the
third has been less successful as it is in a shady place behind a honeysuckle,
and unfortunately the bees don’t like its position, so it will need to be
moved. The sun illuminates the spiders’ webs, picking out the orange-brown
colouring of the garden spiders and making them glow.
July has been a wonderful month with regard to weather, so hot and sunny, and the signs are that, just like last year, the butterflies and dragonflies are having a good summer. It also seems that many of the garden birds are having second broods. Will the good weather continue through August, or will it turn damp and cold?
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| Sunset over Seaview, Isle of Wight |
There was a bathing robin, a hungry blue
tit and several sparrows in the garden on the 7th. The blue tit – and I am
positive it was the same bird – kept coming down, and then spending several
minutes on the feeder. Normally, they take a few seeds or some fat and fly off
quickly. On the following day we were
very pleased to see a few long-tailed tits mixed in with a small flock of blue
tits. Interestingly, although they frequently go around together, the blue tits
can be quite belligerent with the long-tailed tits, often trying to keep them
from the feeders. A robin was singing sweetly – we have heard it for a few days
now. It’s good to hear the bird song, as most birds cease singing in late
spring, after the breeding season and during the moult. Over the next couple of
days the birds, especially the tits, kept coming down, and on the 10th there
was a large moth in the garden one evening.
August the 10th was designated as ‘Hen
Harrier Day’ by Mark Avery and Chris Packham, who organised a peaceful protest
against the persecution of these majestic birds which are often illegally
killed by gamekeepers, and are now an exceedingly rare sight in Britain. The
aim was to have peaceful protests across the north of England, where the birds
have their stronghold. Unfortunately, it was much too far for me to travel, and
so my daughter and I were photographed with a poster ‘We’re Missing Our Hen
Harriers’, which was posted on a website alongside hundreds of others and taken
along to the event, so that those who couldn’t make it still felt in some way
involved.
