Dorset reference in British Wildlife.

 

A note of local interest from the current issue of British Wildlife (June 2024) .

CONSERVATION NEWS.

Elsewhere the 'nutrient neutrality' debate continues - Chris Loder MP for West Dorset attacked Natural England's purchase of the Lyscombe Farm (whch includes an SSSI) with money that will be recouped from house builders needing to buy nutrient credits in the Poole Harbour catchment. Mr Loder, already infamous for his views on White-tailed Eagles, Haliaetus albicilla, claimed without evidence that the Lyscombe purchase (which means Dorset Wildlife Trust take on the site as a nature reserve) 'will enable' a controversial urban extension to Dorchester. (https://tinyurl. com/2eh48dbz).

Cuach Torc goes South.

The latest bulletin from the BTO. My Cuckoo is on its way back to Africa.

"Another of the Irish Cuckoos, Cuach Torc has also been quick off the mark. After 45 days on his breeding grounds in Ireland he set off and stopped briefly in Cornwall on his way to Normandy. He has kept moving since then, progressing through France and into Switzerland. After a couple of days in and around the UNESCO Entlebuch Biosphere reserve at the foot of the Alps, close to Lucerne, he has now crossed over the high peaks and is heading towards the Italian border."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hedgehog Feeding 2

 My very kind neigbours gave me a hedgehog feeding kit for my birthday earlier in the year and I now get nightly visits, usually just one, but sometimes a pair arrive. They usually  appear soon after dark, but occasionally just before sunset when the are easy to photograph. This is usually a sigh that they have young hogs needing to be fed. I have made numerous attepts to obtain video of them eating, usually with very indifferent results. Last nights results, taken by torchlight through the kitchen window, were not too bad however. Click on the image to run.

Weymouth Relief Road in bloom.

A walk down the footpath running through the Weymouth Relief Road cutting is a delight at the moment, with a glorious display of butterfly friendly flowers.  The brilliant yellow Kidnet Vetch is the sole food plant for the Small Blue butterfly. One of the first butterflies to arrive after the opening of the road, it has thrived and is now found along the whole length of the cutting. Ox Eye Daisies provide nectar for numerous species of butterfly. I believe 31 species have been recorded now on the regularly walked Butterfly Conservation transect of which the footpath forms a part. Bird's Foot Trefoil and Horseshoe Vetch provide food for the other blues occurring here, Common Blue, Brown Argus and the brilliant, unmistakeable Adonis Blue. Unfortunately a stiff breeze kept butterfly numbers low, with only six Common Blues seen plus a solitary Meadow Brown.

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              Weymouth Relief Road Butterfly Transect. Photo. John Elliott.

  Click to enlarge.

                                                                                                           

The tall blue spikes of Viper's Bugloss are prominent in the foreground. This is one of the food plants that provide food for Painted Ladies as successive waves of them move north in their remarkable journey from south of the Sahara.

Beautiful Demoiselle Damselfly.

 Haunting my garden today, a male Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly. Its brilliant blue body distinguishes it from the greeny yellowy female photographed a couple of days ago.

Beautiful Demoiselle Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge