Wildlife at St Nicks has been flourishing this spring. Wildwatch volunteers would normally be meeting every week to record – and enjoy – this. Alas, this is impossible right now. However, several Wildwatchers have been able to visit individually and share their sightings with us all. And of course staff members continue to do essential […]
New life sprung forth this March at St Nicks – as always. Despite inevitable difficulties, the Wildwatch team was still able to enjoy some great wildlife sightings. Wildwatch groups met as usual on the Wednesday mornings of the 4th and 11th of March – seventeen of us on the latter date. (What a long time ago this […]
Hard times for us all. So many pressing concerns. Not least of these, for many of us, is the way in which our access to the natural world has suddenly become so constricted. Absence, it is said, makes the heart grow fonder. How true this seems now, regarding not just family and friends, but also […]
Highlights The flowers that bloom in the spring (tra-la!).. the year’s first butterflies appear, and the Harlequinade begins.. mewing in the air and creeping in the garden! Weather Temperatures started to creep up during the month, starting with a cool 4C on the 1st and reaching 11C later on subsequent Wildwatch Wednesdays. There were some […]
Highlights Shieldbugs shine while hoverflies put on an autumn show… summer lingers on in the bird world… and autumn turns fruitful Weather Once again, we were blessed with rain-free Wildwatch Wednesdays! We had sun or sunny intervals on most days and temperatures stayed in the mid teens. Invertebrates Butterflies were scarce during September with the […]
Highlights First summer bird visitor returns.. insects slow to awake in cold month but first hoverflies of the year seen, then a butterfly.. trees in flower! Weather Temperatures stayed around 7C on all four Wildwatch Wednesdays, but managed to creep up to 10C later on the 25th. Most days were sunny, or had sunny intervals, and […]
Highlights: Three new plants & six new plant galls.. more “blue flashes” and sightings of the “tree mouse”.. spiders and harvestmen abound, and grasshoppers spring a surprise! Weather: Nationally, and locally, a very dry September, but with just enough rain to keep the two becks flowing. Temperatures on “Wildwatch Wednesdays” ranged from 12C to 20C, […]
Weather: Warm (17C to 21C), overcast, but with sunny intervals. Occasional light SW breeze. Observers: Amanda, Declan, Ian, Janetta, Kaj, Kaye, Linda, Preeyus With eight of us on the Wildwatch today, we decided to split into two groups. Ian and Linda took Declan and Preeyus round, aiming to record birds and butterflies, whilst Kaye and […]
Weather: Hot, with sunny intervals: 20C to 28 C. Occasional calm and cooling breeze Observers: Amanda, Carrie, Declan, Ian, Linda, Natasha, Sarah, Tracey Well, at the height of the plant flowering season, we were without our plant and flower experts, Janetta and Kaye. But Linda and Carrie stepped nobly up to the line, and with […]
Weather: Warm with sunny intervals Observers: Hazel, Ian, Janetta, Kaye, Kaj, Linda What a contrast in the weather from the pouring rain we experienced last week! And the weather change was reflected in the quality of our sightings today. Our bird count was higher than in the past three weeks, butterflies were on the wing […]