NATURE NOTES: JUNE 2024

"HOW MERRILY THEY CREEP, AND RUN, AND FLY!" John Clare

May highlights: the glow of our atmosphere as the Northern Lights 'pinked' the skies above the village; buttercup meadows; a family of Egyptian geese proudly parading their young down our main road; frosted wool-wrapped cobwebs on barbed wire at dawn; fully unfurled ferns; a Holly blue butterfly on a bluebell; an eclipse of Brown Silver-line moths, rising from bracken in a sunny woodland clearing; caterpillars catapulting from our trees in varying shapes and hues; a charm of goldfinches feeding on dandelion 'clock' seeds; honeybees and peacock butterflies supping nectar; two Bronze shield bugs courting and mating just outside my window; a grass snake lazing in the sun with an obvious 'meal bulge'.

Lowlights: A UK bird survey finding our swift, swallow and house martin populations have nearly halved; a dead adult water shrew by a ditch during their peak breeding season; clouds of biting gnats and mosquitoes driving both two and four-legged creatures to distraction; ticks already active; the air by our streams thick with Salix willow fluff (like being in the aftermath of a pillow fight) coating everything with 'seed-snow', but great for lining nests.

Key Messages: Be mindful of fledglings and new-born animals. Leave any young you find, unless they are in immediate danger, as they may well have mums watching nearby, but are scared off by your presence.

What to see/hear in June: Grass snake eggs (try not to disturb as an air pocket forms at the top of each egg to stop the young from drowning); badger cubs playing; little owl chicks fledging; stag beetles clumsily weaving through the air and bumping into things as they seek to find a mate.

More likely to see/hear: wild honeysuckle and dog rose in the hedgerows; foxgloves blooming in clearings; rose chafer beetles; newly fledged birds taking flight; oxeye daisies; owls flying during lighter evenings; insect life at its most abundant around the summer solstice and mid-summer's day - a host of colourful garden butterflies, moths, dragonflies, damselflies, grasshoppers, crickets beetles and other winged and creeping creatures including glow worms if you're lucky!

What you can do this month:

1) Sign up for the Wildlife Trusts annual '30 Days Wild' challenge.

2) Join the family-friendly, legal 'Restore Nature Now' march in London on 22nd June 2024 when nature, wildlife and climate groups are calling for urgent action.

3) Take part in National Insect Week's annual celebration of the 'little things that run the world' (24th-30th June).

4) If you're not a big insect fan, plant wonderful smelling mint, basil, rosemary and/or lavender near your front and back doors to dissuade ants, flies and mosquitos from coming inside.