South Winterborne flood prevention.

 There stilll seems to be uncertainty in the valley as to what should be done about flood prevention. Perhaps we should note what Dorset Wildlife Trust are doing, namely --  Slowing the Flow.

 

My Cuckoo makes it across the Sahara desert.

     JAC.

  The latest bulletin from BTO brings good news of my tagged Cuckoo, JAC, now some 7,000 miles from home.

Llangollen Cuckoo JAC has successfully completed his desert crossing. He is now in the rainy Sahel of eastern Mali, 24km (14 miles) north east of the city of Goa.

My Cuckoo.

 An exiting bulletin from the BTO .

The big mover over the last few days has been Llangollen Cuckoo JAC. Having spent two weeks in northern France, by Tuesday evening he was close to L'escala on Spain's Costa Brava. But he didn't hang around for long as further updates received that evening showed him crossing the Mediterranean on a bearing for Mallorca. The next updates arrived between 04:55 and 08:35 this morning by which time he had reached northern Algeria. His most recent location showed him approximately 200km south of Algiers, and just south of the vast Zehrez Chergui salt lake in the high steppes between the Tell Atlas and Saharan Atlas mountains. Last year his desert crossing took him via Mali to Burkina Faso and then on to Nigeria.

Valley Orchids.

 For a second year running we have  Orchids blooming in the valley. A single Southern Marsh Orchid has reappeared in last year's locaton, and a single, rather small, Pyramidal Orchid has appeared in a new location. The Pyramidal Orchid which was found last year was, most unfortunately, dug up and all that remains in that location is a trowel shaped hole. Orchids do not transplant, so, please, if you do come across one, do not pick it or attempt to move it. The seeds of Orchids are described as very numerous and very small. They are wind borne and a single bloom can, if left undisturbed, result in large numbers of flowers.

My Cuckoo leaves the country.

 The latest BTO bulletin on my Cuckoo JAC.

 

  Our other Welsh Cuckoo JAC has left Havant and flown 315 km (196 miles) south-south east, crossing the Channel and arriving in France. The most recent update from his tag showed him in woodland to the north of Fontaine-la-Guyon in the Eure-et-Loire department of northern France.