Birds in Danger.

 My Bullfinch family  Photo: John M Elliott.

 

A pair of Bullfinches lived in my garden over the summer, regularly eating at my bird table, They disappeared for a few weeks, and have now returned, with one extra male. Checking the latest lists of Birds of Conservation Concern, I see that they are Amber listed, so great to feel that I am doing something valuable in feeding them. Somewhat alarming though in going through the Red and Amber lists is that half the birds that visit me are on either the Red or the Amber list.

Red listed are House Sparrow, Greenfinch and Starling, all constantly present, plus Herring Gull which has been recorded. Looking back 80 or more years I can’t help thinking of the farmyards of my youth which rang all day with the chirrups of 30 or 40 House Sparrows, then still regarded as a pest species.

Amber listed are Wood Pigeon, Rook, Wren, Dunnock, Bullfinch and Song Thrush, all once very common birds. Moor Hen and Grey Wagtail have occurred and on one never to be forgotten occasion a Nightjar sat on the ridge of my old cedar greenhouse for a whole day.

 

Tawnies return.

 A very welcome sound last night, after months of absence, were the calls of two Tawny Owls from somewhere just to the north of the church. The 'hoooooooh........ho, ho ho,ho, hoooooooh call' comming from both birds is commonly associated with male birds, but this is debatable, as is the idea that the sharp 'kewick' often heard as well comes from female birds. Young owls disperse at the latter end of the year looking for new territories to occupy, which is probably what these two were up to. For many years tawny owls lived in the Manor House coachhouse and could be heard nightly,but  conversion into a flat put a stop to that.Perhaps the Green Martinstown group could consider buying an owl nesting box and installing it on one of the farms to the north of the village.And how about a webcam to go with it!

News of My Cuckoo.

 

 

               JAC    

 The latest bullletin from the BTO  on its tagged cuckoos, including my JAC.

Approximately 600 km (372 miles) east of this group of Cuckoos and over the border in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are three of our other birds. Llangollen Cuckoo JAC is 500km due east of Calypso, currently close to the town of Bolomba on the Ikelemba River in north west DRC. Just 70 or so km away to the south east is Trossachs Cuckoo Ellis. Sherwood Cuckoo AJ is also in DRC, approximately 385 km south of JAC and Ellis. He is on the western edge of the North Salongo National Park. This very isolated area which is only accessible by boat is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve. Here AJ could be crossing paths with endangered species like the Congo Peacock, Pygmy Chimpanzee or the Bush Elephant. 

New garden bird arrives.

 

 

Jay joins Wood Pigeon.   Photo: John Elliott.

 While eating breakfast this morning I was very surprised to see a Jay happily feeding alongside one of my regular Wood Pigeons. This is the first time in my 47 years here that a Jay has appeared.in the garden. This is normally considered to be a woodland bird, and is described in the book as 'vigilant and shy, difficult to approach', so why is it coming into the village? The usual reason for such behaviour is that its normal food supply is scarce and the bird is forced to overcome its shyness and seek the food we provide.Has this year's crop of acorns, which form most of its winter food, failed? Certainly the Horse Chestnut tree outside my bedroom window has produced very few conkers this year, perhaps a dozen in all. Perhaps the Oaks are the same.

My Cuckoo.

 

 

 The latest report from my cuckoo, JAC.

 Over the border in Republic of Congo is Llangollen Cuckoo JAC. JAC arrived here from Cameroon over the last few days and is in dense rainforest close to the Likouala River, a tributary of the Congo.

Autumn visitors to Ivy.

 One of the most successful butterflies in this very odd year weather-wise has been the Red Admiral, which has continued to fly well into October. No less than six were nectaring on the Church Cottage Ivy when I passed this morning.

Red Admiral.   Photo. John Elliott Click to enlarge

Honey bees from the Weymouth Road apiary were numerous, as were flies of several species but most exciting was a single insect that at first sight I mistook for a hornet.

Volucella zonaria.   Photo. John Elliott Click to enlarge

 

It was indeed a hornet mimic, copying the European hornet Vespa crabro, It is completely harmless but hopes to protect itself from predators by looking like a far from harmless hornet. 

A Mediterranean species, only two had been recorded in Britain prior to 1940 and it was considered rare,, but it has since spread over the south of the country, and this is the second one I have seen in Martinstown this year. The females lay their eggs in the nests of hornets or wasps and the larvae then live as commensals  (that is both species benefit from the relationship). After the larval stage the pupae overwinter in the soil and emerge the following spring.

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Autumn Flowering.

 As the evenings draw in and the days grow colder one of our most important plants for insect life, the Ivy Hedera helix,  will increasingly burst into flower. The summer flowers which provided nectar for numerous butterflies, flies, hoverflies, and bees of all sorts, are now over, and it is left to the Ivy to provide a feed of nectar before many of these valuable insects enter their over-winter stage. Prominent among the Honey Bees Apis melifera, which were feeding in large numbers on my garden Ivy today was a Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta.

Red Admiral on Ivy.   Photo. John Elliott.

 Red Admirals may over-winter in this country if we get a very mild winter, and perhaps will do so increasingly as we fail to deal with climate change, but most of them are now migrating south to Central or Southern Europe where they will mate to produce the first generation of next year's migration northwards and a welcome return to our shores.

Ivy makes a nice hedge and does not damage trees so if you are lucky enough to have it on your land do preserve it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Fungus.

 The permissive path to Ashton has provide several species new to the valley this year. The Pyramidal Orchid which appeared just past the Clandon track perhaps the most exciting, though someone appears to have pulled it up and taken it to die in their garden. Also new were the six or so Common Broomrape plants. These lack chlorophyll, which is what gives plants their green colour, and so are mainly brown with hints of red and other colours, and are often mistaken for dead orchids. There was one single plant of Hop, beer making anyone? 

The most recent arrival, and a first appearance for the valley, was a handful of Shaggy Inkcaps Coprinus comatus   by Four Acres gate.

   Shaggy Inkcaps.   Photo. John Elliott

 

Sometimes known as the Lawyer's Wig from the tiers of shaggy, woolen scales on the cap, this is considered to be one of the best edible species when the gills are still white, but it soon deliquesces into drops of black liquid, a source once of black ink. If you plan to drink alcohol while eating this mushroom make sure not to confuse it with Common Inkcap. Alcohol and Common Inkcaps together cause vomiting and palpitations.

Dragonfly.

The untidy wilderness that is my wildlife garden is beginning to show dividends in  the insect life it supports, none more welcome than the dragonflies and damselflies that are now becoming frequent. However I was not prepared, when testing a new kitchen fluorescent tube, for  the large fluttering insect that attacked it.

Hawker Dragonfly.  Photo. John Elliott

A Hawker of some species, it finally settled and I was able to get a photo, though in silhouette it didn't reveal much. On switching the light off it went to the next best thing, the window and I was able to get a better shot, it was a Southern Hawker.

Southern Hawker. Photo. John Elliott

 

Let out it flew happily round the garden for a while before disappearing over the hedge.

My Cuckoo on the move.

 

The latest BTO bulletin on my Cuckoo - Jac.

03 Aug 2021 - JAC moves to Nigeria via Niger and Benin

Since leaving Burkina Faso, it looks as if JAC has been on a mission to tick off as many countries as possible over the last few days. In the space of 187 Km, he has visited Benin, Niger, and Nigeria. He is now in north west Nigeria

Great Green Bush Cricket.

 The permissive path to Ashton is still covered in flowers, with the delicate blue of Devil's Bit Scabious  being a recent addition. This is the food plant of the Marsh Fritillary caterpillar which unfortunately was nowhere to be seen, but the flowers were providing nectar to dozens of Common Blue butterflies as well as Meadow Brown and Gatekeepers. Also nectaring were two Clouded Yellows, the first I have seen this year.

 A first ever, for me at least, was a Great Green Bush Cricket walking along the top  rail of the the small gate just north of the cricket field. It is a common enough species but normally it lives in trees, bushes and rough vegetation, not on steel gates, so not easily seen.

 Great Green Bush Cricket.  Photo. John Elliott.

 

 

I was hoping along the walk to check on the Pyramidal Orchid which was growing at the path edge (see below), but sadly there was no sign of it. It might have gone over by now but the dried up remains should have been there if it had. No sign of digging which often happens, so I can only assume it was pulled up, roots and all, by persons unknown.  Great pity.

My Cuckoo.

 The latest BTO bulletin indicates that my tagged Cuckoo, Jac, has now not only crossed the Mediterranean but also the Sahara.

 

When we last updated you, Llangollen Cuckoo JAC was nearing Barcelona. He has made very good progress since! By 18:45 on Friday night he was in or around the Hoggar mountains in the central Sahara, southern Algeria. The highest peak in this mountain range, Mount Tahat, is 2,908 m (9,541 ft) high. Isn't it extraordinary to think of the sorts of landscapes our Cuckoos pass through on their incredible journeys? By 09:23 Saturday morning, he had made it as far as eastern Mali. By 7pm on Monday evening, he had covered the remaining 560Km over the Sahara in southern Mali and had arrived in Burkina Faso.

Over the last 24 hours he has flown 98km (60 miles) south east, and is close to Arli National Park in eastern Burkina Faso. He'll have elephants, hippos and lions for company as he stocks up on hairy caterpillars! The temperature there today is 24° with a high probability of thundery heavy showers.

Cuckoo Jac moving south.

 

Jac.

 

The BTO have just issued a bulletin on the movements of this year's tagged cuckoos, including mine.

A series of updates from JAC's tag on Wednesday showed that he had flown 672Km (418 miles) south from his last location near Maintenon, France, over the border into Spain. He was on the slopes of the Sierra de Manga mountain range, close to the village of Ainet de Besan. He was approximately 8Km north east of the town of Llavorsi. Subsequent, low quality signals showed him pressing on further and by late Wednesday night he was 25Km north west of Barcelona. Will he carry on to Africa from here, or stop for a rest?

 

Jac's track from Wales to spain

 

Valley Orchid.

 

Pyramidal Orchid.  Photo. John Elliott

 

Every so often a new species is added to the valley flora, and it was exciting therefore to find last week the first orchid that I have seen here, a Pyramidal Orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis.  It doesn't seem to have been recorded here before. The nearest ones I know of are on the Weymouth Relief Road where the Pyramidal Orchid was the first to arrive after the road was constructed. Orchid seed is very fine and produced by the million and could easily have been wind blown from the Relief Road. There the Pyramidal was quickly followed by Bee Orchids which have proved prolific and now number in their thousands. Are we about to be invaded by a horde of Bee Orchids?

I am not disclosing the exact location of this flower as, all to often elsewhere, keen gardeners have dug them up and they do not transplant.

Cuckoo Jac.

 The British Trust for Ornithology have been able to catch and fit transponders to several of this year's brood of Cuckoos, and will be following their progress as they fly south on their first migration to Central Africa. I am sponsoring one bird which was born in Wales, near Llangollen, which has been named Jac. The previous Welsh bird which I sponsored came from mid Wales and tracked directly over Martinstown several times on its migrations, but Jac has now been located in France and missed us by miles. The latest report from BTO:-

 

  Llangollen Cuckoo JAC flew 340 km (211 miles) south-east across the English Channel, arriving in Normandy yesterday morning. He is close to Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Taille.

Jac now faces the long journey down through Spain, across the Med with perhaps a stop off to refuel in Morocco, and then the perilous crossing of the Sahara. But how on earth does he know the way?

Water Vole Returned.

 For some weeks now I have been patrolling the South Winterbourne in the evenings in search of signs of Water Voles, once a common resident of the stream, After a many barren evenings it was a delight to see two evenings ago a juvenile Water Vole in the stream by Shepherd's Cottage, contentedly nibbling away at thin stems of Hemlock Water Dropwort, and it was there again tonight. This plant, reputably the most poisonous in the British Isles and having caused fatalities to both humans and dogs, doesn't seem to affect the Voles. I remember seeing them eating it some years ago  further upstream. The count, which will continue until mid July, is part of a national survey, and I will now, after three years of zero counts will at last be able to enter a definite 'one'.

 

Down the path to Ashton.

The quickly warming, south facing bank at the side of the permissive path to Ashton is ablaze with flowers at the moment, Red Campion, with rose -red , pink and occasional white-bloomed plants, forms prominent clumps among the almost continuous Cow Parsley and the occasional very poisonous Hemlock. (The picture used to illustrate the article on Hemlock in Richard Mabey's Flora Britannica was taken from the Weymouth Road with some of the stream side plants in the foreground and the permissive path in the background) . A single plant of Hop has appeared, but most excitingly several specimens of Common Broomrape,  Orobanche minor have appeared just past the track up to Clandon farm.

Common Broomrape.  Photo. John Elliott

  Looking more like withered Orchids than anything else, due to their lack of chlorophyll, Broomrapes are parasitic, relying on nutrients derived from other plants, in this case probably from nearby Hop Trefoil and Bird's Foot Trefoil. It doesn't seem to have been recorded in the valley before so I will be entering it.

Butterflies are enjoying this bit of floral wilderness. Species recorded so far are Brimstone, Orange Tip, Peacock, Green Veined White ,Small Copper, Small Heath, and Painted Lady.

Are our Beeches Dying?

 Up the hill to Ewelease Dairy this afternoon.  Cow Parsley is now in full bloom on both sides of the bridleway, punctuated by frequent patches of Red Campion and occasional  bits of Garlic Mustard. This latter is the food plant of the Orange Tip butterfly, which has frequently appeared in the village in recent weeks, and should have the round, yellow eggs on it. I haven't been able to find any so far, perhaps I need a magnifying glass.

Our three commonest ferns,  Hart's Tongue, Male Fern and Soft Shield Fern are now unrolled from their tight spirals, but the mystery is why they only proliferate on the left hand side going up. 

Disturbing though is the sight of the Beech trees on the lower part of the hill, where the leaves are turning brown and dying (necrosis).

Leaf necrosis on Beech Tree. Photo. John Elliott

Leaf necrosis is a symptom of a plant damaging oomycete (water mold), Phytophthera kernoviae,which was found in Cornwall in 2003 and has been making its way east ever since.It is known to have reached Devon and South Wales. Has it now reached Dorset?

These beech trees were planted in the late 70s by the Cub Scouts led by Akela, Maurine Marchant. It would be a great pity to loose them.

Lords and Ladies.

On my recent walks up the hill to Ewelease Dairy to see if the Swallows have returned (they haven't), I have been struck by the profusion of one of our oddest looking plants, Lords and Ladies. Arum maculatum in the hedgerow.

Otherwise commonly known as Cuckoo Pint,though there is a host of other local names, the male flowers are the prominent purple or greenish spikes (both forms occur in my wildlife garden). The female flowers are hidden in the base of the flower and will eventually, after the foliage has died down, emerge as scarlet, poisonous berries. This is thought to be the only plant in the British Isles which has a one-to-one relationship with its pollinator. In this country it appears to be pollinated by just a single species of Owl Midge, namely Psychoda phalaenoides, though other fly species are involved in the rest of Europe. The larvae of the Owl Midge feed on Cow dung, in plentyful supply in the old cricket field due to the constant presence of the Highland Cattle. So has the introduction of the Highlanders led to the profusion of Lords and Ladies?

Village Elm Trees.

 Many of the older inhabitants of the village will remember the magnificent avenue of Elm trees that lined the Bridport road as we went into Dorchester, all now felled by Dutch Elm Disease. Elm was never prominent down in the valley, where Ash was the most numerous of our native trees, but there are still scattered remants. Elm is an important food source for the caterpillars of 59 moths and two butterflies, the Comma and the White Letter Hairstreak. The Comma will also eat Nettles (plentiful in my wildlife garden ) and Hops, but the White Letter Hairstreak sticks to Elm and Witch Elm, which probably explains why they haven't been recorded in the valley so far. There is a county wide effort this year to locate surviving Elms and check for White Letter Hairstreaks, so what can we do in Martinstown? Our one Witch Elm by the Pound, which survived the Dutch Elm Disease attack, died three or so years ago, but there are six Elm saplings at the side of the bridleway up to Ewelease Dairy. Easily identified by their heavily ridged bark, they are at present abundantly in flower and look healthy. The butterfly is known to use saplings as well as mature trees, so in the absence of the latter it may well be forced to use the former.  We must keep our eyes open as we climb the hill.

White Letter Hairstreak. Photo.  David Simmond

Elm Blossom.  Photo. John Elliott

Elm Bark. Photo. John Elliott.

The Start of the Butterfly Counting Season.

Having been released today from 'Shielding' and the weather being good I took the opportunity to visit the Tadnoll Nature Reserve to firstly, check on the condition of the transect route and, if any, count the butterflies. Pleasingly the transect was much drier than it often is at this time of year. The heathland section drains rapidly and is usually dry but the old water meadows can be difficult after a wet winter. This area is now destined to becom 'mere' and many of the old drainage channels seem to have been blocked and are no longer  difficult to cross. I got round the transect quite easily, in spite of the fact that I forgot my boots and went round in shoes. A team of seven of us covers the 26 weeks of the counting season, doing three or four weeks each, and I upload the counts into the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme data base.

And did I see any butterflies?  Yes, 3 Peacocks and 1 Comma.

My Cuckoo.

 

Valentine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My tagged Cuckoo, Valentine, sadly didn't make it back to this country.

BTO. 19 Mar 2021

Sadly, it looks as if we have heard the last from Valentine. When his tag last transmitted, the battery in his tag was low on charge and had been for some time, but there's also an indication of a problem based on temperature. The temperature sensor in the tag reported about 8 degrees C lower than any of the previous readings in Angola, including those from similar times of day, and we don't think the move north by a few hundred km explains this. We suspect that Valentine perished between the last location in Angola (2nd Feb) and the ones in southwest DRC (16th Feb). Valentine was tagged in June 2019 so we have benefited from a lot of valuable data from Valentine, helping us extend our knowledge and understanding of this amazing species.  

BTO hope, coronavirus restrictions permitting, to tag some of this year's hatch. If succesful I will be able to sponsor another bird and follow its amazing journeys to and from Africa.

Buzzards galore.

The most amazing sight of the year so far,  no less than fourteen Common Buzzards circling and tumbling in the air above Grove Hill Bottom yesterday afternoon.

My daughter reminds me that when we moved to Martinstown from West Wales in 1974 we were very disappointed that there were no Buzzards to be seen here.  We had been used to seeing them every day and everywhere around Cardigan, but in the eighties they began to appear in small numbers and finally to nest annually within half a mile of the village.

Pussy Willow.

  Pussy Willow.   Photo. John Elliott

 The two warm spring days which brought out the Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies which had overwintered are now but a memory, and we are back to chilly wintery days. Plant life however is pressing on, with the delicate leaves of Cow Parsley and the triangular hastate (arrow head shaped) leaves of Lords and Ladies  prominent along the hedgerows. Hazel, with its long yellow catkins and Sallow, better known as Pussy Willow, with its silvery, furry catkins, both flower early in the year and before the leaves appear.  Both these are wind pollinated, with the pollen from male trees being carried on the breeze to flowers on the female trees.

 

 

 

First Butterflies of the Year.

Clear skies overnight resulted in a frosty start to the day, but also meant the sun soon warmed things up later, resulting in reports from neighbours of early Brimstone butterflies on the wing. (Last year the first I saw didn't appear until the 11th of March.) None in my garden though, but a stroll down the permissive path to Ashton in the afternoon did yield three Small Tortoishells, all rather tatty having over-wintered by hibernating.

Cuckoos on the move.

BTO have just posted news of their three tagged Cuckoos which have just started to move north from their winter quarters in the rain forests of Central Africa. My Cuckoo, Valentine, is number three in the queue. "A low quality location received from Valentine's tag suggests that he may also be on the move from Angola towards Democratic Republic of Congo. Hopefully he will emerge from the forest canopy soon and his tag will receive enough sunlight to send us a more reliable location." The birds will be feeding and fattening up in preparatiom for their Sahara crossings.

Garden Visitors.

 Welcome visitors in the back garden yesterday were a pair of Bullfinches which arrived after a gap of several years.

Pair of Bullfinches in Elder bush.  Photo. john Elliott

The handsome male is easy to spot, but the not quite so handsome female takes more finding, She is up and well to the left of the male, her black head picking her out. Click to enlarge.

They are still here today, clearly visible as they have an early morning feed.

Pair of Bullfinches.  Photo. John Elliott

Exciting news from Dorset Wildlife Trust, a pair of Beavers have been installed on a West Dorset site. See  www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/BeaverProject for a video of their release.

Welcome sighting.

Returning from my walk up to Ewelease Dairy I was delighted to see, as I passed over the bridge by Shepherd's Cottage, a Water Vole,  feeding on the newly emerging Fool's Water Cress.  I took part last year in a national survey of Water Voles, covering the length of the village, but sadly had to report that there weren't any signs of them.  Their territory can cover a km. or more of river so perhaps it had wandered down from West End where there were Voles reported last year. Good to see one in the village again. No picture I am afraid as it quickly sensed that I was watching it and it slid silently below the water.