High Summer Meet in August

 Our Meet on 22nd August 2021was held on a bright, warm, sunny and humid day more typical of summer than our July meet, but with rainclouds hovering in the wings, ready to displace the sun at any minute. Wildlife is adapting to what is likely to be a short summer and butterflies are no exception. It has been good to see so many Gatekeepers about at last but they have a short flight time and are usually scarce by the end of August. They are an indicator of healthy ecology where hedgerows are allowed to grow old and strong with a good diversity of native species bordering wild meadows. They can often be seen chasing other species of butterflies which invade their territory along a hedge.

Gatekeeper butterfly (Pyronia tithonus) with another in the background, nectaring with many other small insects.

Butterflies, Dragonflies and other insects together with amphibians and small mammals keep the riverside active whilst birds are mostly still quietly hiding.  Robins will soon break the silence....

The July Storm

 OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

Our Meet yesterday - Sunday 25th July 2021 was one of uncertainties - will anyone brave the elements or will it be completely washed out?  If not - what will we find ? 

As it happened the rain had lessened somewhat before 09.00, encouraging some of us to set out early, only to experience a downpour on setting out. This time the massive oaks did not provide much shelter, the direct downward weight of the rain overcoming canopies in full leaf. We continued nevertheless with the rain turning to light drizzle and abating for almost two hours. By the time the rain started again, we had finished, There has been far less rubbish to collect  so far this summer than last year.  The weather  took a turn for the worse in the afternoon when the area took a direct hit from a torrential rainstorm followed by a close thunderstorm. This drifted away gradually threatening to return several times. As soon as the rain struck, birds had retreated to cover and stayed put until well after the thunderclouds had gone. Woodpigeons were the exception, some flying out from the trees undeterred.

As there was no wind, damage was only done by the weight of the rain battering down grasses and more fragile plants and leaves.

The next morning after the rain, on Monday 26th July 2021:

One of the embankment fruit trees bearing a good crop

of undamaged fruit  with many weeks to go before they will be ripe.

The embankment grasses were somewhat flattened by the rain but recovering and drying out, with Gatekeeper butterflies attending, attracted by thistle and Senecio jacobaea flowers.

These butterflies also patrol the Hornbeam hedgerows keeping to the sunny side.

The Green June Meet

 OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

Our Meet on Sunday 27th June 2021 took place before the rain came on an overcast day. The riverside walk and surroundings had escaped much littering - the weather again being unsuitable for such pastimes apart from a refuge under an oak providing shelter from the rain on the cycle path.

With green vegetation growing quickly in the warming humid drizzle and occasional bursts of hot sunlight, the countryside was fast transforming into a 'tropical rainforest' with invertebrate life abundant. Birds were making up for lost time, many busy with second broods with no shortage of insect food for their young.

Not all insects benefit from drizzle however, especially butterflies. The Holly Blue butterfly appeared late this year but the Hollies and Ivies it uses, being evergreen, provide good shelter from rain. In spring, Bramble blossom provides nectar for it to feed on and patches of the earliest blossom were few and far between, in sunny locations.

The female Holly Blue has a distinctive wide black border  on

the forewings and all Holly Blues have small dark dots on the 

'silvery' underside without any orange colouring.

As  bright bonus on such a a grey day, a kingfisher was seen making a fast flypast under the footbridge, low over the river.

see date for next meet.

May Delayed

 OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

Our May Meet took place on 23rd May 2021 on a day typical of May this year, cool, becoming windy.

The month had been cooler and windier than in recent years with signs of spring delayed by about two weeks. This continued to be the case in the flowering of wild flowers, trees coming into leaf, blossom appearing and migrant birds nesting.

Our work was carried out according to the current HDC COVID-19 restrictions with activities such as hauling a trolley out of the river postponed until our next meet on 27th June 2021when we were expecting Lockdown to have been lifted on 21st. The haul was not large as the wild May weather had put off plans for litter generating outdoor activities. 

Fruit blossom after the wind and rain. The results this year will probably be very varied depending on location, with some areas sheltered from the wind, rain and hail. Different varieties have very different blossoming times as well. Certainly all the trees have blossomed this spring.

The May blossom was late enough to avoid much damage. This is a Hawthorn tree planted as part of a protective hedge with Hazel and Hornbeam, with fruit trees here and there all of which have borne fruit each summer.

Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys)

Thought to bring travellers good luck on their way. Seldom noticed by passers-by in recent times - due to the speed with which people travel ... we hope it will survive to brighten verges and corners.

 

April 2021 - but no showers

 OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

Our April 2021 meet was held on Sunday 25th April - a fine clear start to the day with a cool ENE breeze. The ground was very dry after many days without rain (although it did snow for a short while on 12th!).

Blackthorn blossom appears before the leaves. The blossom remained in bud for longer than usual this spring.

The morning started early with very loud calls from a Grey Heron - an altercation with a Herring Gull - the gull may well have been hoping for a free meal freshly caught on the river or nearby ponds. Later a sparrowhawk was seen sailing above, turning to avoid a gull. Another grey heron or maybe the same one was seen by two of group that morning. 

It was a successful meet with a family group making short work of removing a muddy discarded trolley from the river bed and another family group collecting a large amount of  litter previously hidden from sight. Others worked their separate ways ways along collecting litter. Hopefully the constraints of working according to Covid - 19 protocol will only last another month or so.

Our next meet is on Sunday 27th JUNE 2021. (see NEXT MEET) 

A New beginning in March 2021

 OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

Our meet for March 2021 was held on Sunday 28th working  according to the Covid-19 instructions for the first easing of Lockdown which began on 8th March. Before this date group members had not been idle however, using the opportunities during exercise walks to clear litter along the riverside walk. Group members on this meet were joined by several new helpers, colleagues of one of our regular group members who helped to make distanced light work of planting 30 donated hedging (Hazel and Hawthorn) trees along the riverside where they were needed to fill gaps, whilst most of our regular group continued with litter collection, working singly distanced across the whole area.

This flowering Cuckooflower plant ( Cardamine pratensis ) was seen on the damp river bank during our meet on 28th March. It is the food plant of the Orange tip butterfly which should be appearing soon, ranging across the banks, one of the first butterflies of spring.

2021 and another Lockdown on the Riverside

 January 6th 2021 and another Lockdown. This meant that our January Meet, scheduled for Sunday 31st was postponed, meanwhile the group were permitted by HDC to carry out litter collection whilst out on individual exercise walks - and what a difference this made to the landscape! The weather was cold, with the ENE wind dominating and temperatures down to 3 degrees C. 

See Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation for the full survey for 31st January 2021.

Later in the month it became warmer with rain.

Long awaited by wildlife, Ivy berries eventually ripened, attracting numerous bird species:

Often overlooked by humans as dark and unattractive, they are instantly visible to birds once ripe and provide food just as other berries are becoming scarce. The flowers had been attracting butterflies in the autumn, especially Red Admirals but also many other insects which in turn provided food for birds before frosts and snow arrived.

Never underestimate the value of Ivy to wildlife throughout the year.

February 2021 - and the Lockdown continued, with group members busy on exercise walks as before, even in the snow- flurries that arrived during the second week. It felt too cold for snow and the wind just blew away any that had settled. The NE wind gave way to SW winds and warmer weather later in the month, bringing a welcome hint of spring before temperatures fell again, 

Our February Meet scheduled for Sunday 28th was again postponed as the restrictions were unchanged.

A sure sign of spring is always the appearance of Lesser Celandine flowers bursting through last years fallen leaves and dry grasses at the first sign of sunlight bringing warmth to the ground:

Lesser Celandine on the river bank 24th February 2021

Our Meet on 28th March 2021 will go ahead according to the first step of the un-lockdown - which commenced on 8th March 2021 please see NEXT MEET.