SKYLARK SUE’S REFLECTIONS OF NATURE 

June 2014

Song Thrush at Anglesey Abbey

Wood Mouse in the garden

June 1st The month started off well with a wood mouse in the garden. It was hiding behind some flowerpots and running across the grass to the area below the bird feeder pole to pick up fallen seed. On the same day there was a magpie rummaging around the apple tree, which was good to see as these are wary birds and don’t venture into the garden that often. They breed in a large oak tree opposite our house. It was a very warm and sunny day, and on a trip to the garden centre a few miles away, near Hoddesdon, Herts, we noted a buzzard circling overhead.

 

There were lots of bees in the gardens at Anglesey Abbey

Bee Orchid - What do you see? A bee or a happy face?!



Moorhen

Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge was the venue for the following day. It was another warm and sunny day, and the plants in the gardens there were busy with bees. The gardens at the Abbey (which is actually a house) are a mixture of cultivated plants, large areas of grass, rough grassland, woodland and natural flower meadow, so there is a great variety of habitat, especially as there is a river and a small lake too. A song thrush was perched in a low tree pouring out its song, and other birds that were around included a young robin, moorhen, pheasants and pied wagtails. Growing in the grass near the lake amidst the wild flowers were a few spectacular bee orchids. These orchids are such beautiful, delicate intricate plants that really do seem to resemble a bee, and, when you get really close, seem to reveal a cheeky, smiling face! It was only luck that we found them, as they were quite well hidden, and off the path.

Rye Meads Nature Reserve

Kestrel with mouse





Kestrel

Grass snake swimming



Moorhen and Black-headed gull

Great Tit in the reeds

Whitethroat

Reed Warbler

June 3rd was spent at Rye Meads, near Broxbourne, Herts. We had hoped to see a kingfisher – eventually one flashed by, a blur of iridescent turquoise and chestnut, but unfortunately didn’t stop near the nesting bank. However, we had a good sighting of a kestrel carrying a mouse to its nest box, which was fastened to a pylon. From another hide we watched young great tits amongst the reeds and also saw a reed warbler, while, when walking along the path between the hides noticed a whitethroat and a song thrush in the trees. There were many nesting black headed gulls and moorhens on the nesting rafts on one of the lakes, while on another there were a pair of mute swans with five cygnets. Other sightings included heron, mallard, pochard, common tern, gadwall, coot, common gull, tufted duck, Canada geese, pheasant and a nicely marked dark lipped banded snail. Probably the most exciting spot was made from the Kingfisher Hide, when we saw a beautiful grass snake swimming in the water. We also watched fascinated as a wood pigeon had a bath in the middle of the lake by holding tight to a sticking up twig and gingerly immersing bits of itself! It had obviously done this before, because it knew exactly what it was doing, managing to keep hold and keep its balance without tumbling into the water.

Wood pigeon bathing from a twig

Swans and cygnets

Dark lipped banded snail

Pheasant



Black-headed gulls on breeding raft


 



Blackbird on crab apple tree in garden



Grey squirrel sitting in the apple tree eating nuts from the feeder

Robin on the feeder tray

Froghopper



Rose Sawfly

It had been quite a productive moning at Rye Meads. When we arrived home we were pleased to see a brimstone butterfly in the garden. Over the next few days, it grew progressively warmer and the usual garden birds appeared, such as blackbirds and robins. By the 8th, the weather had turned very hot and there were several species of birds to see in the garden such as sparrow, starling, robin, wood pigeon and blue tit. A female blackbird was constantly gathering food and flying off, so must have a second brood, while the magpies that nest in the oak tree opposite were flying around and calling noisily. Plenty of insects were around, including a small froghopper sitting on the garden table and a rose sawfly with an orange abdomen, on a rose stem. The bright orange abdomens make the identification of the Rose Sawfly one of the easier insects to recognise. A grey squirrel was sitting in the apple tree eating nuts that it had taken from the feeder.  On another trip to the garden centre we once again saw a buzzard.  



Female blackbird bathes amongst the flowers

Starling feeding young

Lots of snails!

Grey squirrel on the feeder tray

 

Frog near a tub of plants

The following day, the usual types of birds were back around the garden and a swift flew overhead.  Once again a grey squirrel was feasting on the nuts in the feeders. Starlings were feeding their latest brood with mealworms. That evening there was a frog in the garden on the tiles near a large plant tub, which I was very pleased about, as they are such infrequent visitors now. Maybe it was after the snails – we have a thriving population this year, they even seem to be outnumbering the slugs. The weather must be suiting the molluscs as the plant damage has been excessive this year, and they are targeting fully grown plants, not just the tender young shoots and stems. On June 10th, a kerfuffle near the top of a shed in the garden turned out to be a male sparrowhawk chasing a sparrow – the sparrow took refuge under a plastic roof and the hawk sped off. A heron flew over, too. I think these birds look so ungainly when they fly, with their long legs trailing behind. It was another warm evening, and so we took the bat detector outside, just into the front garden. It wasn’t long before it began to beep and looking up we saw several bats, flying low. According to the detector reading, they were pipistrelle bats.

Flowery verge

Common Spotted Orchid

Bee on blackberry blossom

Swalllow's nest

Scorpion Fly on nettle

Damselflies

Canada geese and their young



Small tortoiseshell butterflies on thistles

Hatfield Forest, near Bishop’s Stortford, was our destination on June 12th. It’s lovely to see the swathes of flowers along the verges as we drove along – the new policy of leaving many verges around towns and along main roads unmown is resulting in not only picturesque sweeps of colour, it must be a haven for insects and small mammals. At the forest, swallows were nesting under the eaves of the picnic shelter and swooping in and out with insects that they caught whilst skimming across the lake.  A pair of Canada geese had seven goslings, which were swimming in a straight line with a parent at each end to keep an eye out for danger. There were a few damselflies around and various other insects such as small tortoiseshell butterflies and bees. A handsome scorpion fly was on some nettles, and nearby were several common spotted orchids.

 

Young blackbird on feeder dish

Young magpie on the roof

 

Thrush at Sutton

That evening, overhead in the garden, swifts were flying again. The following day there was a light brown, speckled young blackbird on the feeder dish. Later that afternoon a young magpie perched on the roof and it sat there for quite a while. On the 15th, whilst on a visit to Sutton, near Ely, I noticed a beautiful song thrush in the grass. I’ve seen more thrushes this year that I have for quite a while.

Bathing robin



Young blue tit

There was a damselfly in the garden on June 17th and a bathing robin, whilst the following day we were thrilled to find hedgehog droppings in the front garden, so at least we know that there are some around. Neighbours have reported seeing them on the grass verges, and we have installed a hedgehog house in the hope that one might take up residence or perhaps hibernate there in the winter. By the 19th of June the weather had turned colder and gloomy, but it warmed up again the following day when there was a young blue tit on the feeder together with other blue tits, and also a robin, blackbird and sparrows. The young blue tit was back the following day, as was a distinctive robin with a misplaced feathers on its back, while on the 21st we found a bright green cricket in the front garden on the Rose of Sharon bushes.

Green cricket

Young magpies

Small tortoisehell butterfly

Also on the 21st were were a couple of young magpies on the roof, while on the lobelia that grows in a tub near the conservatory was a - presumably newly hatched as it was so beautiful - small tortoiseshell butterfly.

 

Ermine Moth



Two robins on the feeder





And one in the bath!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Plume moth

On the 22nd June we saw an ermine moth in the garden, its distinctive white, almost fluffy, appearance with the distinctive ‘ermine’ appearance, making it one of the easier moths to identify. The next day a small moth, which I think was a member of the plume moth genus, was resting on the kitchen door. There were still plenty of birds around the garden, including several young starlings, so different in colour to their parents with their light fawn coats, as well as blue and great tits, blackbirds, robins, sparrows, collared doves and wood pigeon. The last few days proved really warm and sunny, and the birds, especially the robins, had been frequenting the baths. On the 24th a particularly soggy robin was perched in the apple tree to dry. A young robin was in the garden on the 25th, and on the 26th a couple of robins were busily collecting food, constantly flying to and fro, so they must have had another brood.  Several young starlings were on the feeder again.

Great tit in a woodpecker pose!

Hoverfly

Young robin

Female House sparrow

Dunnock

Both young and adult robins were feeding and bathing in the garden on the 27th of the month, and house sparrows and a young blue tit were around as well. The weather turned colder, it was rainy and chilly on the 29th. Finally, on the last day of the month, June 30th, the breeze was still chilly but it was good to see a dunnock back in the garden on the feeder. I’m fond of these rather reticent, unobtrusive birds.  The collared doves were back again as well. These invariably come down as a pair. I don’t know if they are the same birds each time, or if several pairs visit, but these doves are welcome birds in the garden.

Collared doves

 

June seemed to be a month for robins!