July 2014

July has started in the same way that June left off; lots of warm, dry and sunny weather …for the time being anyway. This time of year is always crammed with exciting wildlife to catch up with, the difficulty being prioritising certain sites with limited time available!

Dragonflies are fully on the wing now; Black-tailed Skimmer, Golden Ringed and Yellow-winged Darter to name but a few. Bodies of water or boggy areas are good places to look for these summer specialities. If you are out looking for Dragonflies, don’t forget to scan the skies for Hobby, a predator of these magnificent creatures. Not far from the lake, Coombe Heath boasts an all star line up of important species. Dartford Warbler seem to have had a successful breeding season so far with adult birds seen feeding their young. Perhaps we have our mild winter to thank for this? Yellowhammer, Stonechat and Woodlark can all be found there too, and if you hang around until dusk, Nightjar can be heard churring.

Coming back down to the coast, Sunfish have been reported already this year. Sunfish are known to predate another visitor we have seen this year in large numbers, Jellyfish.

Around the coast and in land, butterfly numbers are increasing. For the first time this year we have seen Gatekeeper, Silver-washed Fritillary, Chalkhill and Silver-Studded Blue. These great species have been added to our growing list.

We have chosen Bog Asphodel as our flower of the month. The sulphur yellow flowers can bee seen carpeting the more damp areas of heath. This flora should last into August and then begin to fruit, the plant turning a deep colour of orange adding further colour to the boggy areas late in the summer.