Nature Notes

[ErrolTheDragon]

There's a gardening thread which may overlap with this one but I thought people might like to share nature sightings as the season changes. What we see if we can get out for a walk, plants coming into leaf and bloom, creatures in the garden, birds flying overhead - whatever.

Yesterday along the canal: busy wrens, 3 butterflies (tortoiseshell I think). Lots of Lords and Ladies arrow-shaped leaves. A little bank of primroses, lots of celandines and some wood anemones. Yellow iris leaves starting to shoot up in the edge of the canal.

Been waiting the young starlings fighting like teenagers over the seed in the garden. They are very funny 😄

I spotted a pod of harbour porpoises today. Not something I often see, especially as I wasn’t on some deserted bit of coast, but in a large, busy town. The other passersby appeared totally oblivious to their presence. It all felt a bit surreal! 🐬

We've got lots of young sparrows here, they live in next doors hedge. We don't get many starlings though.

Wow@Crazzzycat porpoises is a good spot. Sometimes I wish I lived nearer the coast.

Isolation ends for my kids today so I'm planning to get out for a lunchtime walk round the village. Looking forward to seeing what changes have occurred in the last 10 days. I can see lots of elderflower from my window.

DDs and I came across the toad in the garden again today, delighted that he or she is still living with us!

I had some days off this week (carried over vacation which expired at the end of June) so for the first time since 2019 we went to some lovely gardens.

One of them had a 'bee border' which didnt have much buzz.... but lots of giant catmint nearby did. However, it was mostly bumbles - buff and/or white tailed I think, hardly any honey bees despite hives near the bee border. Similar to our garden. Has anyone else noticed this or is it local/random?

I really hope that is just random Errol

I’m pleased to report that, in my garden at least, it’s buzzing with honey bees. They do seem a little particular about what they like though, with about 90% of the bees in my garden being drawn to two different types of plants; astrantias and cranesbill geraniums. Fortunately, I have a lot of both!

I hope you’re enjoying your increased freedom @blackteaplease!

Actually you’re right about the bees Errol, I haven’t seen many yet this year at all. I thought it might be the weather.

I am glad to hear, Crazzzycat that you have lots of bees in your garden.

We have lots of honey bees in our garden, mainly on the lavender.

Wonderful thread 🙂, please may I join?

Of course! Everyone welcome here.

@ErrolTheDragon

Of course! Everyone welcome here.

Thank you 😊

This week's Nature Notebook

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/in-love-with-the-lapwings-and-skylarks-above-her-tcnrqr3bb?shareToken=fe28e92f36c324c9d3f82b30d39448cd

I hadn't realised there were fewer martens and swallows, I've seen a few this year, also swifts.

Just a few I’ve grown in my garden over the years, ipomoea, honeysuckle and a type of tulip…

House martens have sadly been in decline for a while @ErrolTheDragon. I don’t think anyone really knows why. It could be climate change, it could be a loss of suitable nesting sites (house martens are very particular about what they want/ need), a drop in insect numbers, or a number of other reasons. On a more positive note, while there are sharp declines in many areas, in some areas the numbers are actually increasing, so it’s not all bleak.

Where I live martens, swallows and swift’s are still doing reasonably ok. Fingers crossed it stays that way. It’d be so weird to have a summer without them

In slightly more positive news, I’ve observed a significant increase in finches in my town this year. The sound of goldfinches can be heard everywhere. My garden is still being occupied by siskins and every time I go to the seaside, I see flocks of greenfinches on the trees and fields next to the beach.

Based on my -not particularly scientific-observations, I’d say that there’s a general increase in finches, but the change is most noticeable with the greenfinches. Until last winter, I’d not seen a single healthy greenfinch for at least three years, so it’s absolutely fantastic to now see them bounce back like this!

Yes. - green finches were really hit by disease, they've come back in the last two or three years.

I’ve only started to see them come back this year, after years and years of not seeing any green finches at all. They really were hit hard in my area.

Today I saw a beautiful Great White Egret. It wasn’t a total surprise, as this was in an RSPB reserve and great white egrets were on the list of birds that one might expect to see on that particular site. But it was still a thrilling sight. They’re just so elegant and beautiful 🥰

They are, aren't they? We've seen a great white a couple of times at our nearest RSPB too.
And of course the little white egret is appearing all over the place now. We lived in the US 1989-91 and noted them there as something rather exotic. That was just about when, unbeknownst to us, they first started arriving in the U.K.

After last week’s spectacular white bird, it was time for some beautiful black birds this week!

I went on a short break to an area that is home to the largest chough colony in Wales. I was expecting to see a few, but wasn’t really prepared for the large flock of at least 50 choughs that flew off from a couple of metres below my feet on the first hill I climbed. They soon returned, giving us wonderful views of some of their aerial acrobatics.

There were plenty more sightings all week and the sound of juvenile choughs calling for their parents to feed them was pretty constant. It was so lovely to see this special bird do so well!

That's great!

We had a lovely walk this morning in the AONB a bit up from us. Lots of meadowsweet gently scenting the air, and yet more wildflowers in the various environments- mallows, purple loosestrife, harebells, rosebay willowherb. Little yellow spires of agrimony, and the very different hemp agrimony not quite in bloom yet; wild strawberries are fruiting . Valerian and yellow fumitory bedecking old stone walls.

And we saw 4 little egrets on the salt marshes.

I forgot some water plants... lots of water forget-me-not in one place. And in one of the wells (spring-fed structures at the bottom of the limestone scarps), a lovely display of what I think were bog arum, greater spearwort and yellow water lilies.

I had forgotten all about this thread. Am on holiday in the IOW and saw red squirrels yesterday. And in the night something woke us rummaging around the bins - we think it was a couple of badgers but I didn’t have my glasses on.

Wow @wildnernesstips a red squirrel spot is pretty special. That's still on my bucket list.

I've not been out and about much so my spots are still garden related. The pond has lots of water boatmen, diving beetles and semaphore flies. Hoping for some amphibians next year.

We've got lots of bramble blooming in the hedges and this year a honeysuckle has bloomed in the area that I asked the farmer not to trim. Along the ditch there is a lot of purple loose strife and our wildflower meadow section is in full bloom and buzzing with bees.

It's good that the IOW remained a sanctuary for the red squirrels. I'm fortunate to be quite close to some of the mainland English areas where there are still reds, one of them was quite badly affected by disease spread by greys but has recovered in recent years.