Friday 12 June 2020

Week 10 of Furlough and Local Rares.

I'm still carrying on as usual. I think this is the tenth week off work, but I am definitely losing track of time, as a lot of people have found. I am still sticking to isolation, with shopping trips and walks most days being the only time I am leaving the house.
 Gardening is still taking up most of my time. Mostly it is pottering now, and tinkering. Over recent years I have had a pretty clear idea of how I want the garden to go, but because there has been a gradual accumulation of plants, with many impulse buys, a lot of things have been put in the ground where space has been available, or left potted. As development has progressed, some have clearly not settled and have had to be moved, others grown from seed have had to grow and flower before I can plant them in a suitable spot. As an example, I have never been particularly successful with our native foxgloves-they don't seed around much so there are only a few plants. However, Digitalis lutea, a small perennial foxglove really thrives, and so I have been raising other similar species from seed. I've tried three different ones now, with pinkish and russet colour, but as I have discovered, most seem to be identical to lutea. Seems like there is a problem with seed my supplies (which are all garden collected and supplied by the groups I belong to), either misidentification, or hybridisation. 
 Anyway, most of the pottering and tinkering actually means relaxing, contemplating the garden and chilling, watching the wildlife. I am getting visits from lots of young birds at the moment. There are three juvenile Dunnocks, along with the adults, varying numbers of House Sparrows, with perhaps five young (there are around 20 pairs locally visiting many garden feeders at the moment). The roving flock of Goldfinches drop in from time to time and there have been juveniles present at times. Unfortunately I don't know if the regular Robins have had any success, there is a pair visiting. The same with the Blackbirds, I did see a young one locally a few weeks back, but not since. Unfortunately, I definitely have young Wood Pigeons, and being so clumsy I've had to protect some of the plants in pots.
There are lots flying over. Buzzards were displaying last weekend, the Kite is seen daily-cam usually alerted by the resident Carrion Crows, and Swifts have been regular, in fact more common than they have been for many years. About two weeks back, I was working under the Rowan when I heard a clear but distant tu-tu-tu-tu repeated a few times. I couldn't place it at first but I knew it was a wader of some kind, and I eventually twigged that it was a Greenshank. Apparently the second record for the Stevenage area.
 
My local walks around Fairlands Lakes have not produced anything new. One pair of Grebes have tried to nestle and there have been a few successful Moorhen and Coot broods. Common Terns visit from time to time, along with a few of the local Lesser Black Back Gulls, and Swifts fly over the water feeding from time to time.
The woods are starting to get a bit quiet now, though there are still some Chiffchaff and Blackcaps singing. Treecreepers and Nuthatches have been seen occasionally carrying food, so they must be raising young, and of course there are a lot of Blue and Great Tit chicks around. The only notable insects have been the expected Speckled Woods and a very unexpected female Black Tailed Skimmer a long way away from any water.

 Aston End and the river Beane are also getting quieter now. Most of the Linnets seem to have gone, with only one or two pairs being seen. The warblers are also settling down so are far less vocal. While checking the Garden Warblers in High Wood, I was surprised to find a pair of Willow Warblers bringing food to a nest. I certainly didn't hear any singing earlier in the year. 
 An evening stroll on the 2nd was about as successful as the last one. The bat detector produced several Noctule and Common Pipistrelles again, but the only other mammal was a Fox. Unless you count the horses and sheep of course. I took the camera in order to try a few evening landscapes, and this one with the horses and the moon came out quite well.



 The daytime walks have been dominated by plants and butterflies, and the warm weather has really boosted the latter, with large counts of Meadow Brown, Small Heath and Small Tortoiseshells. Coming back from the ford at Aston End on the 7th, I had a frustrating experience of a large strong flying orange butterfly cross the lane in front of me and behind the hedge. I retraced my steps, entered the field but couldn't find it again. I was convinced it was a Fritillary and not a Comma.
Two days later I did the route again, and after crossing the ford I found a Dark Green Fritillary on a thistle. Whether it was the same as I saw previously a few hundred yards away or not I don't know. What I do know is that it is well outside the normal range for the county, and may be a first for the Stevenage area.

 

 Unfortunately (though not for my garden) it has been a bit wet and windy, though the rain has largely been intermittent light daily showers rather than the several inches I would like, and as a result I haven't yet been back to check the area. There are a couple of spots that might possibly be suitable breeding habitat, so I am hoping that there has been an expansion into our area rather than a wandering vagrant.