REFLECTIONS OF NATURE

JULY 2014

 

Collared Dove

These birds were rarely seen alone, they were coming as a pair

Young great tit near the teasels

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.

Barnacle geese were grazing outside the chalet at Seaview

 

Meadow Brown butterfly with ectoparasitic mite

 

 

Male Essex Skipper

Marbled Whites (above and below) on the red clover

 

 

 

Musk Thistle

 

Pyramidal Orchid



Linnet

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.

Young mallards at Arreton

 

View from the cliff

 

Hedgerow in evening light

Sunset over the nature reserve at Seaview



White goose that was in with the Barnacle geese near the chalet



Jackdaw spread-eagled on grass, probably sunbathing



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.



Meerkat using me as a look-out post

Zena

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plenty of ducks at Seaview Wildlife Encounter

Kookaburra




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.

 

Chalkhill Blue
 

Female Small Skipper

Six-Spot Burnet



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.

Comma

Gatekeeper

Horsefly - this one had a very painful bite!

Daisies at Mottistone Manor

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.

Large rabbit by chalet



Moorhens and chicks near the chalet

The moon was low and bright, not quite full

Kapweed lends a purple haze to the flower meadow at Newtown Nature Reserve

Flower meadow at Newtown Nature reserve

 

View from the hide at the reserve

Speckled Wood at Newtown Nature Reserve

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.

Cuckoo Pint



Herring gull

Black-Headed Gull



Bedraggled Rook

Bee on Knapweed



Grasshopper



White Line Snout Moth

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.

SmallTortoiseshell

Grey squirrel on the feeder, tryng to reach the nuts

Young smooth newt

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.



House sparrows on the apple tree

Southern Hawker

Peacock butterfly by sliced apple feeder

Young Starling

Large White





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.

Common Darter Dragonfly
 

Holly Blue Butterfly



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.

Red stains on the starling's face show it has been feasting on the plums!

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!

The bee houses have been successful this year; leaf cutter bees have been busy



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?

Sunset over Seaview, Isle of Wight