Wildlife Reports for August 2006

Andrew Goodey The Street, had over 40 Painted Lady butterflies on Buddleia, 5 Red Admiral, a few Commas and Peacocks but only one Small Tortoiseshell together with a large number of Silver Y moths.  This sums up the experience of most residents with garden butterflies for this year.  Andy also saw a migration of Painted Lady’s as they crossed the new A120, many being killed by the traffic.  This butterfly migrates every year from North Africa, across Europe to Britain.  It does not survive our winters so in the autumn they either die or migrate back in the opposite direction.  This is the reason why some years we have very large numbers in this country while other years it is uncommon as migrations and breeding as they move north is very weather dependant.  Andy also reports a few Brown Argus and Speckled Wood butterflies on the Flitch way.  Both these species are spreading their range in the UK.  We have had several Speckled Woods, which is a woodland butterfly in our garden all summer.

Steve Jones Capel Close, had over 30 butterflies on just a clump of Marjoram.  Besides the species mentioned by Andy he also had Gatekeepers, Meadow Brown and Large and Small Whites, together with Honey Bees, several Bumble Bee species and Hoverflies.  They were also nectaring on Budleia and Lavender.
Mrs Coe Shalford Road saw a young Grass Snake in the meadow behind her house.  I have now had many reported sightings of this snake throughout Rayne this year.
Mrs Prince had a good view of two Muntjac and also an animal ‘that moved too fast for a fox’.  Most foxes can move very fast if they need to.
Neville Walker Brunwin Road, had a Poplar Hawk moth fly into their lounge and has also had a large number of Painted Lady’s.

Lachlan MacKinnon Shalford Road heard a noise outside their house one night.  The security light had come on and there was a Badger attacking a Hedgehog that was wrapped up in a ball.  The light went off and when it came back on they saw the Badger running away the hedgehog presumably having made its escape.  This is the third report this year of Badgers attacking or having eaten Hedgehogs within the built area of the village.  Both Syl and I have been convinced for some time that the decline in Hedgehogs locally is due to the large number of Badgers we now have in the Parish.
Martyn Phillips Brunwin Road has also heard a noise outside his house which from the description was a Badger.  His neighbour Peter Lane saw a dog Fox sitting on their drive.  All enquiries on sexing foxes direct to Peter please.

Vivienne Mathews Long Lane has found two Wild Service trees in a hedge near her house.  This hedge is probably a remnant of a former Ancient Woodland which was removed for cultivation leaving a strip to form the boundary hedge.  It is a recognised Ancient Woodland indicator.  This assumes that it is not a recent planting.
Andy Goodey when walking along the Flitch Way saw a Tawny Owl standing in the middle of the water that remained in Rookery Ponds after the drought.  It stood motionless with the water up to its knees about 20 feet away.  Andy tapped a tree but it appeared to ignore him until he moved position when it turned its head to follow him.  It had flown away about 90 minutes later.  Andy poses the question do Tawny’s fish for pondlife?  Andy also had a Tree Pipit fly over his garden, I have no other record of this bird in the Parish though I did see one just outside our boundary in Saling two years ago.  Andy also reported seeing at least five Hummingbird Hawkmoths on buddleia in his garden, they were also using the foundry site next to his garden so the total may have been much higher.  Andy reported visiting Hummers on several occasions this summer.  As I write this at the end of August Syl is still having one visit her poly tunnel most days where it is still warm and where it nectars on Plumbago.  It has certainly been a very good year for this amazing insect.

Harold Giles has seen and heard young Kestrels in the Duckend Green allotments for the second year running.  Their nest must be in the allotments or close by.
John Taylor School Road has had a Ruby Tailed Wasp flying around and sunbathing on a post.  This attractive insect is not a true wasp, it has a ruby abdomen and a metallic coloured thorax and can be seen running around on wood and walls looking for the nests of solitary bees and wasps.  When it finds one it lays a single egg in each cell. It has thick armour so is not affected by the stinging occupants of the nest.  He has also seen a Green Woodpecker ‘battering away’ at a telegraph pole.  This is probably to announce their presence to possible mates or may be territorial.  As John points out it could not be prospecting for food in a treated telegraph pole though some of the poles in the village are now so old they will soon rot and provide good woodpecker feeding sites.

At Goulds the three juvenile Green Woodpeckers that fledged from our ash tree still return together with their parents usually feeding on the lawn but also demolishing any piece of rotting timber they can find looking for insects.  Hornets have been numerous this year and they are now making short work of cutting through the plum skins which then allows the wasps to remove the rest of the flesh.  A pair of Serotine bats have been feeding in the farm yard again this year, they have a wing span of up to 14ins (35cms). This is a very large fast flying bat.

Roger Jiggins Telephone 01376 324 311