Nature Notes

With dusk falling earlier, now is a good time to see tawny owls sitting at high points in the village as they contest for winter territories by hooting. There are regular sightings of a barn owl sitting on posts between Fence Dyke Lane and The Grange.

Summer came to a sudden stop on Bank Holiday weekend with strong northerly winds significantly reducing the air temperature. Despite this we still have a handful of nesting house martins and a pair of swallows.

At this time of year, with many flowers in full bloom, butterflies are evident, especially brimstone, peacock, red admiral and small tortoiseshell. Occasionally we have a huge influx of painted ladies from Africa.

So far June has been anything but ‘flaming’ with strong north and easterly winds bringing cool, damp weather from the North Sea. Despite this the rooks have fledged and peace has returned to those who live near the Green! We have a good number of house martins nesting in the village, but only a few…

Storm Arthur has brought spring to an abrupt end, wrecking blossom trees and gardens and scorching Mary & Rory Clarke’s apple tree!  On a brighter note, Audrey & Gordon McQuillen have had a song thrush nest in their garden and have watched the fledglings being fed snails and slugs.

Spring has finally arrived, the dawn chorus is well underway and skylarks are singing. Daylight is rapidly increasing, encouraging the re-birth of plant and animal life. Those of you with ponds will no doubt have plenty of frog spawn (photo thanks to Liz Davies) which will be followed by toad spawn towards the end of…