nature notes II

[Enki]

Spoonbills have bred for the first time(at least,in the last hundred or so years) in Yorkshire, actually in South Yorkshire at Fairburn Ings.

Also 3 bee eaters are in a quarry in Nottinghamshire, and have been seen going to roost in sand martin holes. Possible potential for them breeding?

[wigginhall]

Very good, enki.  I am getting ready for our annual trip to Minsmere, purple heron reported at the moment, but even better, fabulous insects, such as beewolves, and other digger wasps.   And you can see them in front of you, burrowing into sandy banks.   Then onto Sizewell beach, for two-headed sheep, just joking. 

[wigginhall]

A good year for butterflies in London, so far at least.   Our allotment is in the middle of London, but we have seen this year, gatekeeper, meadow brown, comma, red admiral, tortoiseshell, brimstone, ringlet, speckled wood, and skipper, the last one being of indeterminate species, as I can't get close enough to see the ends of the antennae!   

[Enki]

A good year for butterflies in London, so far at least.   Our allotment is in the middle of London, but we have seen this year, gatekeeper, meadow brown, comma, red admiral, tortoiseshell, brimstone, ringlet, speckled wood, and skipper, the last one being of indeterminate species, as I can't get close enough to see the ends of the antennae!

Know what you mean, Wiggs. I remember quite a few years ago checking a skipper at Spurn with a magnifying glass to see if it had glossy black on the underneath of its antennae. It did, and was one of the first recorded Essex skippers for this location. I believe there is now a small colony of these here, as they have spread further north.

I agree about the butterflies in my area also. I'm seeing more small tortoiseshells than I have done for some years. Hopefully they're making a come back! Yesterday I found a butterfly trapped in my greenhouse. I managed to capture it, and it crawled onto my finger. It was a comma, and, although I've seen many of them before, I was yet again impressed by its beautiful coloration and delicate shape.

[wigginhall]

Yes, commas are gorgeous.  I've seen a lot this year, mostly in London.   In reply to floo, I often see more in London than Norfolk, partly because we are in a totally arable area, where every field is sprayed within an inch of its life.   There used to be some field borders which had wild flowers, but they seem to have gone, and maybe outside the EU, they will be even more gone. 

[Bramble]

Just been watching a raven feeding on the bounty of grasshoppers in the field behind my house. Also a couple of hares boxing. They came within a few feet of me, seemingly too preoccupied to notice, and I could hear their panting and the slap slap of their blows. Magical creatures. Plenty of recently fledged redstarts about but sadly the tree pipits have stopped performing their wonderful song flights in the last week or so. However, had a nice surprise the other day when a male lesser spotted woodpecker visited my garden and I was able to watch it at close quarters as it fed on a dead tree for a full ten minutes before flying off. It even lined itself up on a branch with a family of GSWs, as if posing for an illustration in a bird guide.

[Enki]

Superb, Bramble.   You must live in a marvellous part of the country. LSWs are fairly uncommon where I live, and redstarts and tree pipits are only found in certain localised  areas, apart from on migration, of course.

[Bramble]

I live on the Welsh border. LSWs aren't exactly common here either, more's the pity. I tend to hear their drumming more often than seeing them and views are usually fleeting and often high up in the canopy. I can never get used to how small they are. Seeing this one up against vastly bigger GSW 'baby' was almost comical.

[Rhiannon]

Just driving home up the lanes full of agrimony, scabious, meadowsweet, yarrow, even some bugloss I think. My eldest and I are going to take a walk tomorrow so we can really get a better idea of what else there is, partly for a project she's working on but also because we want to *know*.

Bramble, I love hares, we see them quite a lot here but only once have I ever seen them box. Magical, mystical creatures indeed.

Eta for hare lovers I can really recommend Karen Cater's book Spirit of the Hare.

[Enki]

I came across a small group of four leaved clover about a week ago(from the same plant). I'm pressing them in between the pages of Tolkein's Unfinished Tales(which I have finished)

[Rhiannon]

I came across a small group of four leaved clover about a week ago(from the same plant). I'm pressing them in between the pages of Tolkein's Unfinished Tales(which I have finished)

Ooh, what a lovely thing to do. Many, many moons ago I used to make and sell pressed flower pictures. Not little delicate things, I guess they were more collages with moss and twigs and stuff. Now I think I might press some herbs and wild things and either make my own book of botanics or frame them as individual specimens, ideally with some mercury glass.

As an aside, if you have old books a pressed leaf of alecost/costmary will keep away mites. It's also called Bible leaf because the large, spear shaped leaves would help preserve the pages of old, big Bibles, while acting as a bookmark.

[Bramble]

Just driving home up the lanes full of agrimony, scabious, meadowsweet, yarrow, even some bugloss I think. My eldest and I are going to take a walk tomorrow so we can really get a better idea of what else there is, partly for a project she's working on but also because we want to *know*.

You are fortunate to have such rich verges where you live. Viper's bugloss is gorgeous. Is your eldest doing a school project or is she just interested? My daughter has instructed me to harvest a bundle of yarrow stalks for her this summer because she wants to make her own I Ching divination sticks, which are traditionally cut from yarrow - ideally from the grounds of a Confucian temple, although I think I might struggle to find one of those around here!

[Rhiannon]

You are fortunate to have such rich verges where you live. Viper's bugloss is gorgeous. Is your eldest doing a school project or is she just interested? My daughter has instructed me to harvest a bundle of yarrow stalks for her this summer because she wants to make her own I Ching divination sticks, which are traditionally cut from yarrow - ideally from the grounds of a Confucian temple, although I think I might struggle to find one of those around here!

She's just interested for herself. It's something I do too, make my own notes just because. I've never tried I Ching divination, but o have used the Celtic Tree Ogham - might be of interest to your daughter as you are on the Welsh borders. To make your own set of Ogham sticks you need to find a twig from each tree. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogham

When I was driving home I was thinking of the differences in the terms 'scenery' and 'landscape'. I'm going to write a piece on it I think and I might put it up here when it's done.

[Bramble]

She's just interested for herself. It's something I do too, make my own notes just because. I've never tried I Ching divination, but o have used the Celtic Tree Ogham - might be of interest to your daughter as you are on the Welsh borders. To make your own set of Ogham sticks you need to find a twig from each tree. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogham

When I was driving home I was thinking of the differences in the terms 'scenery' and 'landscape'. I'm going to write a piece on it I think and I might put it up here when it's done.

It's always heartening to hear that there are still young people interested in wild things. My daughter's a druid and has made her own Ogham sticks. She's currently doing the OBOD course. She'd be gathering her own yarrow stalks too if she wasn't in America with her boyfriend! I shall look forward to your scenery/landscape piece.

 

[Rhiannon]

It's always heartening to hear that there are still young people interested in wild things. My daughter's a druid and has made her own Ogham sticks. She's currently doing the OBOD course. She'd be gathering her own yarrow stalks too if she wasn't in America with her boyfriend! I shall look forward to your scenery/landscape piece.

Ahhh.  I studied with OBOD and have friends that are still involved with them, although I don't class myself as a Druid.

I'll put my piece up when it's done. 

[Sebastian Toe]

Just back from a week in Skye.
In one 24hr period we saw a 7 point Stag in our garden, a pair of white tailed eagles overhead and a dozen dolphins in Loch Pooltiel.

[Sebastian Toe]

A cousin of mine and her husband live on Skye.

Nive place to live.

[floo]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-40628037/will-wildcat-lynx-be-reintroduced-to-the-uk

I am not sure that re-introducing the lynx to the UK after all these centuries is a good idea.

[Bramble]

Almost stepped on a large emerald moth just now. Such awesome camouflage that nearly got it killed! I'm sure there's a moral in there somewhere but I'm trying not to think about it!

[floo]

On my daily walk this morning I can across a strange looking bird, which was walking around the drive in a close. It is possible it is a ptarmigan or guinea fowl, but I am not sure. It is a pity I didn't have my camera with me.

[ekim]

There is a house near us which has half a dozen Guineafowl roaming around the drive and three alpacas in the field nearby.  There is a picture of a Guineafowl here ..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guineafowl

[floo]

The bird had a tiny head, red and black, with a grey body and no tail. It isn't the sort of thing you expect to find in a village close.

[Sebastian Toe]

The bird had a tiny head, red and black, with a grey body and no tail. It isn't the sort of thing you expect to find in a village close.

Try this........
http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-identifier/

[floo]

Try this........
http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-identifier/

I still can't find the exact match.

[wigginhall]

One of the problems at this time of year is that you get a lot of young birds wandering around, and they can look very different from  pictures in bird guides.  This is notorious with robins, for example, a fat speckly thing on your lawn might be a young robin, with no red breast. 

If floo's bird is a game bird (pheasant etc.), they can also look peculiar when they are young.   But some guides will have pictures of the young.   Grey partridge is possible, but I don't know what the young look like.