Dandelions.

 

 Goldfinches feeding.  Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge.

My wild front garden has produced a lovely crop of sunny yellow Dandelions which, once seeded, are proving to be a great food source for the Goldfinches.

News of my Cuckoo.

 The latst bulletin on the BTO's tagged cuckoos incuding mine,  Cuach Torc.

 

 

Cuckoos Trent, Cuach Torc and Sayaan are more or less neck and neck, some 100km south of KP. Trent is in a wooded area just north of the village of Belmez in Córdoba, Andalucia. Cuach Torc is just south of Trent, in the Parque Natural Sierra de Hornachuelos (which KP also visited). Meanwhile Sussex Cuckoo Sayaan is slightly further east, in the Sierra de Andújar natural park, part of the vast Sierra Morena mountain range.

The first Comma.

 The first Comma of the year appeared today in my front garden.

 

   Comma. Photo John Elliott

 

The Comma, Polgonia c-album, is one of the butterflies that regularly overwinter as adults, the others being Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Brimstone, and are thus the earliest butterflies to be seen in the spring. 

The Comma became very scarse in the 1800s, being confined to the Welsh Borders, but a remarkable recovery started early in the 20th century, with Dorset being among the leaders with the butterfly 'everywhere' by 1929.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cuach Torc

 

 

Latest bulletin from BTO.

As some of our birds have been in West Africa for several weeks, and we have had a few reports of Cuckoos here in the UK already, we have been waiting with baited breath to see when the first of our Cuckoos would attempt to cross the Sahara. We were very excited when we logged in on Tuesday to find that Irish Cuckoo Cuach Torc had travelled 2,364km (1,469 miles) north over the Sahara from Ghana to Algeria. Further updates received early this morning show that Torc has continued north, successfully completing his desert crossing and taking him into Morocco. He is now on the northern edge of the City of Settat, approximately 60km south of Casablanca. Having flown over 2,500km (1,553 miles) over the last week or so, will Torc now pause here before pressing on into Eur

Rooks Galore.

 When I was very small my Granddad lived in a small Yorkshire village that had a rookery in its churchyard. These were among the first birds I learnt to identify, their constant cawing fascinated me and I remember thinking how nice it would be, someday in the future, to live in a village with a rookery. Well, I made it.

A few Martinstown Rooks.  Photo. John Elliott

I now have 16 nests within a few yards from the house, with 32 ever hungery rooks waiting to be fed.

From my back door. Photo. John Elliott

 

Be carefull what you wish for in life.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The latest bulletin on my Cuckoo. Torc

Dear John,

Our satellite-tagged Cuckoos are funneling into west Africa now, with only one left in the Congo. One or two have already been out west for a few weeks so we can expect to see the first taking on the Sahara very soon. 

Over the last week Irish Cuckoo Cuach Torc has been the big mover, departing his wintering grounds in the Congo Basin and flying 2,102km (1,306 miles) west to Ghana. He is now in western Ghana, a few miles east of Bui National Park and the Bui Gorge Reservoir. Norfolk Cuckoo Joe is also in Ghana, 167km (104 miles) south-west of Torc.

 BTO.

 

  My Cuckoo.

   The latest bulletin from BTO.on  Cuach Torc

Dear John,

Earlier this week I was thrilled to receive an email from a recently retired BTO colleague letting me know that he had a Cuckoo singing at the bottom of his garden in Portugal. While we may have a little while to wait before the first Cuckoos arrive back in Britain and Ireland, it certainly adds to the anticipation and excitement.

When we last updated you, Worcestershire Cuckoo Trent had become the first of our tagged birds to make the move into west Africa. Through our tracking work we have established that this move to countries such as Ivory Coast and Guinea at this time of year is a very important part of the spring migration of our Cuckoos. Here they will spend a few weeks capitalising on the rich abundance of invertebrate life released by the rains to put on fat and muscle for the migration ahead. We have shown that the timing of departure from West Africa for the northward crossing of the Sahara is by far the most important determinant of timing of arrival to the breeding grounds. Our work has also shown that Cuckoos are struggling to build up their fat reserves quickly enough to allow them to migrate north in time to match the earlier arrival of spring here in the UK.

Irish Cuckoo Cuach Torc remains in northern Congo while Cuach Cores is towards the eastern reaches of  the Congo Basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We'll hopefully see these two heading west any day now.

We should see the first of our Cuckoos crossing the Sahara in the next couple of weeks, but which will it be? 

Our plans for tagging more Cuckoos in 2024 are coming together well and we are looking forward to introducing you to our new Cuckoos in early June.

I hope you've enjoyed this update, stay tuned for the next instalment! In the meantime, you can see the latest positions of all our tagged birds by visiting the Cuckoo tracking map.

Thanks for your support and all best wishes,

Ieuan

Dr Ieuan Evans

Director of Engagement

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First Butterfly of the year.

 I caught a glimpse of my first butterfly of the year, a Red Admiral, yesterday, 6th of March. It crossed my front garden at speed, so sorry no photo.

Rooks starting their nesting year.

 The sticky buds on the Horse Chestnut tree outside my bedroom window are showing no sign of opening yet, but the dozen or so Rooks who call it home have started building their nests. Only one nest survived the winter. That is being quickly restored and the other five have been rapidly rebuilt during the last three or four days.

Rooks Rebuilding. Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge.

Spring on the Way.

 Along the very muddy path a the back of the Manor House a few Dog Violets poke up through the greenery. Their old Dorset name was Snake Violets, goodness knows why. 

 Dog Violets.  Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge

This is a very early date for this violet which is said to bloom in April to June. The uncommoner Pale Wood Violet, which is very similar, appears from March to May, so am I mis-identifying or are we seeing yet another indication of climate change, as with the Daffodils. When I first came to the village fifty years ago we were lucky if a few came out for St. David's Day. Now they have been out long enough to look a bit straggly. And another change, the Gypsies don't come and pick them anymore.

(Since writing the above I note that Durston Country Park have Dog Violets in bloom, also a month early)

My Cuckoo.

 Here is the latest news of my cuckoo from the BTO.

 Meanwhile Cuach Torc has also departed his wintering area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and crossed into the Republic of the Congo. He is now in dense rainforest approximately 50km (30 miles) south-west of the town of Pokola.  

The year's first flowers.

 ,  Among the early flowers to appear, along with the ubiquitous Daisy which is with us all the year round, is the Butterbur. The flowers appear well before the very large leaves, which in olden days were used to wrap butter as the name implies. There is a flourishing patch just east of the pumping station on the Weymouth Road, and a much smaller one at West End near the sluice which controlled the flow to the former water meadows. It's Dorset names include Early Mushroom, from its appearance when it first pushes its way through the soil, and Snake's Rhubarb. The dried roots, powered and mixed into wine, were taken against fevers, especially the plague, to provoke perspiration and 'drive from the hart all venomwere taken against fevers, especiall the plague, to provoke persperation and 'drive from the hart all venom'

  Butterbur.  Photo. John Elliott