Nature Notes – August 2024

by Andy Johnston

Butterfly conservationists are worried because numbers have been continually falling for some years. Early returns from Butterfly Watch are not encouraging with over ten percent of people failing to see a butterfly in the allotted time. Bat conservationists are finding bat body weights have fallen, reflecting lack of insect food.
Particularly on an evening, swifts have been circling the village in tightly formed groups, screaming as they pass their nests. This is twofold, one to encourage their young to leave their nests, and secondly that it is nearing time to migrate. My best estimate suggests we had at least twenty birds, which now appear to have gone.

One summer migrant that is closely related to pheasant and partridge is the quail. These birds arrive from North Africa in late spring and breed in the fields around the village. They are rarely seen but have a very distinct “pick-per-wick” call, which is very loud for a small bird. A few have recently been heard locally. Like many migrant birds they’re unfortunately subject to net trapping as they cross east Mediterranean countries, where they have been hunted for hundreds of years.