The Heat of July

So far July 2019 has been hot and mostly sunny but with intermittent rain producing a very different picture from July last year. The month started with perfect weather on the 1st with first sightings of freshly emerged Brown Hawker ( Aeshna grandis ) dragonflies over the banks and Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies ( Calopteryx virgo )  over the river. 

On 2nd a red kite was seen sailing overhead. Song thrushes were singing loudly, silent robins and singing blackcaps, whitethroat and a garden warbler were also present. Being another fine day, butterflies were numerous - Meadow Browns, Large Whites, and several Red Admirals were seen.

On 5th which was very warm, Large Skippers, Small Skippers and Meadow Browns were seen over and on dry grasses, Commas along brambles, and in shady damp areas Ringlets patrolled the banks, very seldom pausing:

Ringlets are one of the least spectacular of butterflies, with plain brown wings with white edges and  small 'rings' near the outer edges. They can be found flying on overcast days as well as on fine days.

Along the riverside trees, families of blue and great tits and chiffchaffs were seen foraging and three song thrushes were busy with snails along a path, still feeding their young,  whilst blackbirds were coming and going from nests deep in the hedges. Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies were seen over the river at the construction site of the new bridge - the river itself is allowed to run normally along its course whilst the bridge is being built.

On 10th the butterflies mentioned above were all present with blackcaps, wrens, goldfinches, nuthatches, song thrushes blackbirds, house sparrows, starlings and on this day, herring gulls were noisily chasing a common buzzard over the river.

Common Blue butterflies had been seen in late June and on 12th July a Holly Blue was seen near some ivy.

Always an occasion to remember each summer, usually after a long wait guessing when the first flowers would appear - the Fleabane here started to flower, at first on a warm sunny bank. and the first signs of wildlife foraging the still-green Hazelnuts were noted.

easily overlooked as just another yellow daisy - Fleabane is a special

plant, attracting a variety of insect species.

The 15th was a cloudy, cooler day and it was good to see a young green woodpecker collecting ants along the grass margin of a path. Its plumage was speckled but with adult colours coming through. It continued pecking on the ground undisturbed for a good while. The terrain is just right now for ants, with areas of dry loose earth. It was interesting to see a group of black-headed gulls around a large roller which was levelling the earth to create a new playing field in the distance. These gulls usually only spend the winter months here occupying old playing fields across the river where they are very territorial, chasing most other birds away from their foraging grounds. They disappear in the spring to breed on coastal areas - and now they are back!

Many goldfinches are now gathering in groups with juveniles, spending most of the time singing together and foraging for seeds. A long-tailed tit family flew through the tree canopy, occasionally mixing with blue and great tits and the more restless chiffchaffs. A group of starling flew across, most of them juveniles.

Walking along, listening,  all the various songs could be clearly distinguished, the songs being loud and clear (unusual for this time of the year). Two song thrushes, loud blackbirds, nuthatches and then a great-spotted woodpecker and wrens.

It became very hot again and on 17th there were very large numbers of bees of various species on the brambles now starting to fruit. More starlings, great spotted woodpeckers, Peacock butterflies and  spiders  (see next post) were seen. Then on 18th/19th/20th there was rain, enough to soak the ground and then more, cooling the surface of the earth, about 25mms. On 21st - Gatekeeper butterflies emerged in large numbers along the verges, fences, tall grasses, shrubs and bramble margins. Perhaps the rain triggered their appearance - they were all very fresh and fast moving. Meadow Browns, Ringlets, Speckled Woods and Large Whites were still present but hugely outnumbered.

Last year 2018 the first Gatekeeper was seen on 6th July! Two weeks late this year….