June was a month of extreme weather with heavy rain and strong winds in the first few weeks followed by sunny, dry days and soaring temperatures.
SIGHTINGS
Birds: Carrion Crows, Magpies, Jays, Buzzards, Wood Pigeons, Stock Doves, Collared Doves, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Common Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Siskins, Stonechats, Nightjar, Tawny Owls, Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Wrens, Goldcrests, Chaffinches, Bullfinches, Greenfinches, Dunnocks, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Treecreepers, Nuthatches, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits.
Plants in flower: Blackberries, Rowan, White Water Lily, Herb Robert, Cross-leaved Heath, Common Cotton Grass, Bog Asphodel, Heath Bedstraw, Garlic Mustard, Hypericum.
Mammals: Roe Deer, Common Fox, Pipistrelle Bats, Grey Squirrels, Wood Mice, Mole activity.
Butterflies/Moths: Speckled Wood, Brimstone, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock, Large White, Silver-studded Blue, Meadow Brown, Large Skipper, Ringlet, Species of day flying Moths.
Insects: Species of Bees, Hover Flies, Wasps, Midges, Ants.
Dragonfly/Damselfly: Small Red, Common Blue, Broad Bodied, Four Spot Chaser.
Pond Life: Pond Skaters, Whirlygig Beetles, Sticklebacks.
Reptiles: Common Lizards, Grass Snake.
With the extreme conditions during June, the wildlife life struggled. Bird species parents were greatly tested in their ability to find food for their young during the wet period and then suffered with the extreme temperatures that followed.
A Nightjar was heard in the evening of the 1st June and every night after until the bad weather set in.
No Tree Pipits have to our knowledge been heard or seen this year.
SITE MANAGEMENT
Repairs to the fencing were completed by replacing rotten posts along the western perimeter which will allow the cattle to return in early July. The date of the July work party is uncertain but details will be posted on this blog page when known.
