Nature Notes - May/June 2013
The long spell of very cold weather from February through March and into April has dealt a big blow for our local wildlife. The obvious signs have been the slow budding of tress and the very late flowering of wild flowers with some appearing four weeks later than normal. However, a less obvious consequence is the effect it has had on insects and birds.
At the time of writing (15th April), I would normally have seen plenty of brimstone butterflies and the first orange tips on the wing – sadly I have only seen three butterflies all year, an overwintering peacock in Dorset and two overwintering small tortoiseshells, one in Devon and one in Somerset. Bees, hoverflies and all manner of flying insects have been absent due to the cold weather. The knock-on-effect this has had for birds has been nothing short of disastrous.
The early arriving migrants such as sand martins and chiffchaffs got here only to find food extremely scarce and desperately searching for any anything remotely edible. This has lead to some obvious changes in behaviour with chiffchaffs foraging low in reedbeds and hovering over water edges in an attempt to pick up midges etc off the water.
Indeed they have even been seen foraging out in the open on garden lawns in a most uncharacteristic way. Arriving blackcaps have resorted to visiting garden feeders for seeds, fruit etc, something they only normally do when overwintering. A garden in Berrynabor reported at least 11 birds at the feeding station.
Although the adverse conditions have bought some interesting records of large numbers of little ringed plovers and quite a few records of stone curlew to the south Devon coast, it has been at a price. Sand martins were found weak and dying in the Exeter area and the RSPB reported eight stone curlews found dead in East Anglia and Wiltshire, their body weights two thirds of what they should be. A rare British breeder of the Brecklands and Salisbury Plain, the loss of at least eight birds is a big blow to a population of only around 400 pairs.
To help the arriving birds it is worth continuing to put seed and fat out as these will help some birds replenish their fat reserves. Putting out mealworms (live or dried) will also help the insect eaters – where I live I get quite a few wheatears stopping off and I have resorted to taking mealworms up to the area they use in an attempt to help them.
What to look out for this month
Hopefully the weather will now improve and the arriving and resident birds will have a good breeding season. This is a great time to visit reserves like Yarner Wood
Yarner Wood
Yarner Wood
on Dartmoor for pied flycatchers, redstarts and wood warblers. Berry Head is also worth visiting for guillemot and razorbills. Hawthorns should be in full blossom in May and areas of “unimproved” grassland should contain buttercups, dandelions and yellow rattle in bloom.
First published May/June 2013 By The Dart