Archive - Sep 5, 2006

After such a hot July, August felt a bit disappointing being rather chilly and windy. At least there was plenty of rain to revive the plants. The wildlife sightings seemed to tail off too but maybe because we were outside less. The flycatchers were busy but no more nests. There have been plenty of tits, sparrows, chiff chaffs and finches. The second clutch of swallows fizzled out. The parents seemed to visit the nest only intermittently. One egg was pushed out and smashed on the floor below and a couple of weeks later a dead chick was on the floor beneath the nest. There have been no visits since then but the nest in the chuch porch is still going strong with chirping chicks almost ready to fly. Other bird sightings were a kingfisher and the green woodpecker especially when it picked a fight with one of the chickens!.

There have been plenty of newts, dragonflies and damselflies. The number of butterfly sightings was slightly disappointing overall but there were regular visits from a red admiral, peacocks, whites and blues. I discovered an area of woodland nearby with literally hundreds of woodland butterflies along the bramble covered edge. It is a long while since I saw butterflies in those numbers. We also paid a visit to a new community woodland called Weavely Furze (SP464182). It has recently been restored and looks promising, I was interested in the small hazel coppice which is in its first year. Whilst there we saw a hare. The only other sightings that come to mind are several muntjac deer and last night a hedgehog on the lawn but it managed to run away before I returned with my camera.