Boom! It’s that fabulous time of year when the natural world
has quite literally exploded with colour, light and life. The hedgerows are thick and green, the trees
are all wearing their new leafy crowns and wildflowers are popping up in vast
expanses creating a visual display that is a wonder to behold. Stockbridge Down, always one of the most
glorious of our sites for wildflower variety and colour, has begun displaying
its beauties with Milkwort, Horseshoe vetch, Speedwells, Black Medick
(confusingly named as the flowers are actually yellow; I think the seeds are
black), Primrose, Wild Strawberry, Cowslips and so much more, with so much more
to come. The Salad Burnet has
regenerated with the season and consequently there is a lovely fresh cucumber
smell as you walk around on it which makes me think of gin and tonics….The Black
Medick makes me chuckle as it looks like clusters of tiny yellow pacmans’ all
bustling together whilst the Cowslips make me smile as they have proliferated
hugely this year – I’ve not seen so many, so wide spread across the Down in my
few years here and this of course is great news for one little butterfly in
particular; the Duke of Burgundy.
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| Delicately coloured Milkwort |
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I have
talked before of the coppicing and clearing work we have done on the down to
improve the habitat for this little butterfly, and how well it seems to have
worked. Well this year appears to be no
exception as I wandered down to our coppiced area the other day and within
minutes I saw not only Dukes, but Pearl Bordered Fritillaries, Grizzled and
Dingy Skippers (which incidentally seemed to have had a really good year on the
Down this spring; I have seen them everywhere!), Green Veined Whites, Holly
Blues, Orange Tips, Brimstone, Red Admirals, Small Coppers – a lot of species
for such a small area! One Duke was
hanging out down the far end by the Primrose patch which we had cleared round
in order to encourage its spread, so that was very pleasing to see that the
chap for whom all the work was being done – the Duke – was satisfied enough
with the result to make his territory there.
In the rest of the area were more Dukes – males and females (they sat
long enough and showed me their legs, the number of which is what tells the
sex) and the Pearls which were just so truly perfect in their daintiness and
vivid colour. I forget how much smaller
than other fritillaries the PBF’s are so each spring when I see them again I am
dazzled by their petite beauty. I spent
some time happily observing and snapping away on my camera, thrilled with the
continued health of this fragile population, before slowly wandering back to my
truck and back to work. I have also been
sent a splendid photo of PBF mating in this area which shows that we will have
a next generation on its way – the circle goes on! Many thanks to Mike Duffy
for sending me the photograph.
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| A new reign - fresh Duke of Burgundy |
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| Pearl Bordered Fritillary |
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| 'room for one more?' PBF mating (Photo credit: Mike Duffy) |
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| Photo credit: Mike Duffy |
And whilst talking Dukes – I was on the Western slope of the
Down yesterday, with the sheep, and was absolutely head over heels chuffed to
spot a Duke there! This is completely
the other side of the Down to the coppice colony and whilst I have seen them up
this far end before, I haven’t found them on this slope – and this slope has
had an invasion of cowslips this year and the general quality of the herb and
grassland has improved massively over the last couple of years with the sheep
grazing regime so I think we can thank our woolly wonders for this. I realise one butterfly does not a colony
make, but I need to return on the next sunny day and have another look for more
– fingers crossed we have another good patch for these butterflies on this
Western edge of the site too as this will help encourage their spread over the
whole Down.
Naturally I can’t mention the woolly wonders without
updating you on their progress of eating; they have mostly shed all their
winter wool now and are looking plump and sleek, with only a few of them still
sporting chunks of ragged wool which I can’t resist peeling off when I get
close enough. Walter remains a bit of a bolshie
boy at the moment although since shedding he has been less so – a scratch
around his face seems to pacify him more these days, with less head
butting. The new five have begun to integrate
slightly with the flock and whilst we often still find them separate, we are
finding some of them in the main flock more often, or even one of the main
flock hanging out with the five – so allegiances are being made and renewed and
bonds are head-butted into establishment. Yesterday I moved the flock through
from the Leckford slope to the NT slope to begin their munching wonders on this
patch as they haven’t been here since December.
I shook the bucket and bellowed to the horizon and soon enough a white
fluffy tidal wave of animals broke out of the scrub and followed me, screaming
for their nutty treats. I jogged ahead
of them to the dividing gate between the slopes and ran through calling all the
way and most of the flock followed me without question, their bellies bigger
than their suspicions. However in the
end two remained on the other side, unwilling to follow me through the gate –
one of which was a ewe who had had a sore foot for a few days and had obviously
not liked me turning her over to examine it and treat the cut. So whilst the rest of the flock fell upon the
vegetation of the NT slope like Black Holes sucking in light particles (I could
pretty much hear their stomachs dancing with all the fresh new grub, not that
they were starved before!) the Vigilantes remain on the Leckford side for now,
until I can lure them close enough to either drag through or coax back to their
ovine family. Never simple with these animals!
So if you are walking on the Western slope of the Down over the coming
months, please pay attention to the signs in every carpark and on every gate,
detailing the flocks’ location, and keep dogs under control around them – I really
don’t want to lose any to dog attacks this year…
Incidentally whilst on the Down yesterday as well as
spotting that Duke on the sheep slope, Dylan and I were lucky enough to hear,
on the wind, the purring of a Turtle Dove – hooray! One of my bird surveyors had heard one the week
before and so I was very happy to hear one myself, first one of the summer and
know that they had made it safely back from the continent for at least one more
year. We even managed to spot it,
sitting at the very top of a Birch tree which is the first time I’ve ever seen
one – normally it’s a hearing thing only.
Things like this just enhance how much I love this time of year – first sightings/hearing
of wildlife and flora which demonstrate that the habitat work you slog through
in the winter months really does make a positive impact. Nothing beats seeing the species benefit and
inhabit the site as a result.
I spent some time last week surveying Damselflies in Long
Lash, our wetland meadow area at Mottisfont.
Home to a series of wetland peat ditches which in turn are home to
various species of Dragon and Damselfly including the Southern Damselfly, I took
the first opportunity I could spare to go and see if anything had emerged with
the recent spate of warm weather. This
was the area we had removed vegetation and peat from over the winter in order
to maintain the water flow in the ditches, which is important for the Southern
Damselfly (and the peat matter, you will remember, went to Stockbridge Marsh to
fill in the eroding inlets). I plodded through the long grass to one of the
pond areas and before I had even fully arrived at the water’s edge, all I could
see…were damselflies. Flashes of colour
and iridescence flitted between the stems before my eyes, glinting like
precious jewels. Azure Blue’s looking
like tiny, fragile vivid blue twigs, drifting gently between the rushes, Large
Red Damselflies gleaming like fire, Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle polished
and shiny to the point of incredibility, Four Spotted Chaser Dragonflies
patrolling the area like gold plated soldiers with the sun sparking off their
wings with every wing flap – oh! It was just magical, I felt like I had fallen
into wonderland where all the colours were enhanced and surreal and it hit me,
more than it has ever done before, just how stunning Damsel and Dragonflies
are.
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| Banded Demoiselle |
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| Four Spotted Chaser |
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| And closer.... |
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| Large Red Damselflies |
Sounds silly, as they are obviously
beautiful and colourful but something about that moment watching so many
luminous bodies shimmering around, and just how brightly they caught the sun
just really brought it home to me and I stood there, with a massive grin on my
face taking photos and observing them either first hand or through binoculars to
help with ID. After about ten minutes of
this warm, multi-coloured dream, I suddenly realised that I had followed the
latest Four Spotted Chaser through my binoculars over to the Wild Play area and
so I was now essentially a random lone figure standing in a field grinning
inanely whilst staring at the wild play area (full of children) through binoculars. I hastily diverted my gaze back to the pond
and hoped the parents in the play area didn’t think I was anyone untoward….haven’t
heard of any complaints yet.
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| 'This looks like a good spot' |
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| 'I say, do you mind if we join you?' |
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| Room for three pairs! Ovipositing females whilst males guard (two large red couples, one Azure blue couple) |
I shall leave you now, with a final few photos of things
that seem to have ignored their nocturnal tendencies and have been out and
about in the daytime, which is unusual. One
is of a Brown Long Eared bat that spent an afternoon flying and hunting round
the Abbey grounds, shortly after the weather finally turned warm – I believe,
as it had been cold for so long, that it took its chance to grab a snack in the
warmer weather. It flitted from tree to
tree, flying low over the grass catching bugs which it then sat and gobbled
from its paws!
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| Taking a breather |
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| Hard to see in the pic, but its actually eating a bug that its holding in its feet - face down munching! |
The other was of a fat badger cub on our estate, who I found
happily snuffling and rooting and digging for worms and snails. She seemed oblivious to my presence and
consequently I sat, only feet away, and watched her (or he) for about half an
hour whilst she gobbled her fill of worms, snouting them out with her nose then
snapping them up spaghetti style. I couldn’t
help but laugh at the thought of the mother badger, asleep in her sett, whilst
this little chubber had popped out for a midday snack!
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| What 'choo looking at? Emerging from a rabbit hole after crunching snails... |
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| Snuffling and rootling for worms |
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| Burp. |
I have films of both creatures too but they were too large
to upload so you will just have to enjoy the photos – I have been very lucky in
happening to be in the right place at the right time to enjoy their company for
a short while and catch a rare and special glimpse of a part of the natural
world that so often stays hidden to our diurnal eyes. Perhaps it’s a sign I’m becoming more feral...
