Day three of the Wildlife Trusts #30DaysWild Challenge

this evening about an hour or so ago I went for a jog and a walk round our local nature reserve 4 acre wildflower meadow, I'm pleased to say that I spotted two  very new Bee Orchids to add to the one I spotted two days ago and a freshly flowering Pyramidal Orchid. That is quite an achievement because we rarely see more that say a dozen bee orchids but hundreds of pyramidal and they may well be a bit later than the bee orchid. Also almost in flower is Ladies Bedstraw and Yellow rattle is flowering over much of the 4 acres. Knapweed is coming along but not in flower in our field but I noticed in an adjoining farmed field margin.Grass vetchling with its small brightly coloured purple flow is visible every where. Grasses are flowering so would make a very good identification exercise. We have found 15 different species of meadow grass and I saw tonight a patch of quaking grass.
So that is my contribution to the 30 day challenge and I'll have to keep looking for the rest of the month.

Here is a link to a blog written by Jane who has been blogging on wildlife for quite a time. She is also following the Wildlife Trust national challenge to record some contact with wildlife for 30 days and this is her 3rd dray post

Day 3: Running, owls and butterflies

Day three of the Wildlife Trusts #30DaysWild Challenge

Try this link to the Wildlife Trust web site:    http://www.mywildlife.org.uk/30dayswild/

Barcroft Hall, South Somerset

One of the items covered in this blog was the Field of Dreams. It was a big attraction in 2011 and 12 and then I recall it was closed in 2013 be3cause of bad weather and reopened again in 2014. Mixed reactions were reported by visitors. The web site shows that it is not open in 2015 with no other explanation. I thought I should add this note to bring the situation up to date.

Local wildlife news, wild orchids

We haven't heard from our nightingale for a couple of weeks now. and we don't know what has happened to it.

Early this morning about 5am noticed a fox out in the nearby field. Looked as if he was trying to find some food, even chasing after birds on the ground but unsuccessful. The usual group of rabbits was nowhere to be seen.

Mowing our front lawn I was looking out for signs of wild orchids and just in time I spotted one. See photo below. We found one last year also but in a different location. You can see in the photo that its leaves have been cut a little. That must have happened when I did an early cut on the lawn. The flower spike is intact and should be opening as a pyramidal orchid soon.

Nightingale interrupts live coverage of the UK election count!

I've edited this earlier post to bring our news up to date.

Whilst enjoying the all night TV coverage of the UK election I dragged myself away from the TV and went into the garden to listen for bird song. I was not disappointed. At 1am and again at 2am I found our local nightingale in full song and apparently much closer than previously. It was a  very satisfying experience and long may it continue.

I don't know anyone locally who has seen this bird but here is a summary of times we have heard it singing.

16.4.15 First report.
19.4.15 Night time walk at 2300 hrs confirms location.

Then heard daily until:

27.4.15 no reports then for nearly two weeks  till 7.5.15. Weather was cold and wet  during this time.
New report on 7.5.15 Election day!
Then heard daily up to present 11.5.15
We have made our own recording of the song using a mobile phone and last night using an iPad so we have a very clear and good record.  Using an App on the iPad we can compare the two recordings.

Links for more information:

RSPB:
On this site you can see a photo of a Nightingale and hopefully hear the bird song, if the link works!

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/n/nightingale/

Somerset Wildlife Trust.

http://www.somersetwildlife.org/wildlife_in may_2012

We would be pleased if you would visit our new blog for the Heart of the Levels Wildlife local area group. The Groups official blog for information about our activities.:

http://heartofthelevels.wordpress.com/

Another report of our Curry Rivel nightingale!

I had an email from a neighbour this morning saying they had just heard our nightingale again early this morning.They confirmed they hadn't heard it for two weeks which is my experience too. It seems its still alive and well and living in Curry Rivel!
I shall redouble my efforts to try to confirm this report.

Nightingale in Curry Rivel. The Phantom of the Opera.

Our special visitor arrived about mid April, sang every night for a couple of weeks but then the weather changed to wet and cold nights and the singing stopped. We haven't heard it for the last two weeks now. So did it move on, to somewhere more sheltered and warmer? Perhaps if it was looking for a mate and failed and  decided to go elsewhere?
We miss its cheerful bright song, all the more because it was remarkable to be out in the field , under the stars and with no traffic noise or aircraft and with a tiny bird to entertain us!
We never saw it in the dark and hidden in the top of an overgrown blackthorn hedge.
The Phantom of the Opera!

Mark Lynas and the Climate change debate

Here is an extract from any article written by Mark Lynas in the Guardian Newspaper recently. He highlights  some important problems which are preventing world governments from taking urgent action on this issue which is hardly getting a mention in the current political election mania.

"Alarmists and deniers need to climb out of their parallel trenches, engage with the developing world and work together to end the crisis 

Depressingly, all this confirms what social psychologists have long insisted: that most people accept only scientific “facts” that are compatible with or which reinforce their political identities and world views.

Forget the political myths: here’s the hard reality. The emergence from poverty of the developing world is non-negotiable. Humanity will therefore double or triple energy consumption overall by 2050. Our challenge is to develop and deploy the technology to deliver this energy in as low-carbon a way as possible, probably using some combination of efficiency, renewables, next-generation nuclear and carbon capture. We need to pour vastly more resources into R&D, and put a significant international price on carbon.

But to make any of this happen we will need to recapture the climate debate from the political extremes. We must then work to come up with inclusive proposals that can form the basis of a social consensus that must last decades if it is to have any meaningful effect on the climate change crisis that faces us."

Use this link to the article http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/12/climate-change-reclaim-debate-political-extremes

Nightingale still singing every night.

The earliest local report this year of hearing a Nightingale singing at night here in Curry Rivel was Thursday 16th April. Maybe a single bird but it has been heard every night since and once in the morning in daylight. Just been listening from home at 2300 hrs.
As a summer visitor I am hoping to find out more about where it may have come from?
In its migration does it fly at night?
Now it's here why does it sing at night as well as in daylight?
Is it likely to be a male bird hoping to attract a female?

The planned walk being organised by our local Heart of the Levels Wildlife Area Group has had to be cancelled so maybe I can help out!

Nightingale update. Luscinia megarhynchos

Our night time walk was very successful and a rewarding experience. I was joined by one other neighbour and we easily located the singing bird at around 11 pm in the top branches of an old overgrown hedge, mainly Blackthorn.We didn't try to see it directly but it didn't take any notice of us within about 10 metres  away. It was singing again last night at midnight. Other local reports say it was first heard last thursday , 16th April.

Here is  some information from the RSPB web site. Next question: where did this bird spend the winter?


It seems that in the middle of Somerset we are on the normal western end of their summer visits.


Luscinia megarhynchos

Where to see them

A secretive bird which likes nothing better than hiding in the middle of an impenetrable bush or thicket. In the UK they breed mostly south of the Severn-Wash line and east from Dorset to Kent. The highest densities are found in the south east: Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Kent and Sussex.

When to see them

They arrive in April and sing until late May and early June. They leave again from July to September. They can be heard singing throughout the day, as well as at night.

What they eat

Insects

Population

Europe	UK breeding*	UK wintering*	UK passage*
-	6,700 males	-	-

* UK breeding is the number of pairs breeding annually. UK wintering is the number of individuals present from October to March. UK passage is the number of individuals passing through on migration in spring and/or autumn.

Nightingale song

Not spent a lot of time watching birds  but when a neighbour emailed me yesterday to say she had heard a nightingale singing around 11 pm two nights ago I did my own walk about this evening and sure enough at least one bird was singing at about  the same time. Will try again tomorrow and try to pin down its location. Could be near our local nature reserve and wild flower meadow, which incidentally is showing a very impressive number of cowslips this year. To crown the day I saw an Orange Tip butterfly in the garden this afternoon. Not the first one this year . Have seen one or two over the last week.

My wife has an app on her iPad which gives identification details and songs for birds which is very useful.