My Cuckoo crosses the Sahara.

   Llangollen Cuckoo JAC has not only crossed the Sahara but continued on into Spain. He has flown 3,047km (1,893 miles) north since our last update, taking him from south eastern Guinea over the Sahara and the Strait of Gibraltar into southern Spain. He is now close to the town of Gaucín in the mountains of Andalusia in Málaga. Last year he stayed in southern Spain until 26 April when he moved north again, arriving back in Llangollen on 29 April. It'll be interesting to see whether he takes a break in Spain this year before embarking on the next stage of his migration. 

What an amzing journey.

My garden Hedgehog.

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 Over the last fifty or so years night-time visitors to my garden have included Badgers, Foxes and Hedgehogs, with the latter the most easily seen, as they seem not terribly worried by either light or sound from me. I even managed to tread on one on one occasion, and once rescued a rolled up, squealing hedgehog which a badger was trying to unroll. 

 Kind neighbours gave me a Hedgehog Feeding Kit for my .recent 93rd birthday. I started this off at the far end of the garden and gradually moved it nearer the house until it became illuminated by the house lights and I could see what was happening. Here is last night’s picture -  now for some video.

   Hedgehog in Tregerrick garden.   Photo: John Elliott.

 

My Cuckoo on the move.

 

 Yesterday's BTO bulletin on my tagged Cuckoo, JAC

 Since arriving in Guinea on 28 Feb JAC has flown a short distance north and is now halfway between Diassadougou and Guieredougou in eastern Guinea. He has spent approximately 20 days in this area preparing for the next leg of his northward migration. Last year he began crossing the Sahara on 7th April, so be prepared for JAC to migrate within the next 3 weeks. 

Snake Violets.

 

 Dog Violets.  Photo: John Elliott

Species come and species go. During nearly fifty years in the village there have been quite a few changes, birds in particular have suffered losses, Greater Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and Tree creepers being notable examples. These are typically woodland birds likely to fall prey to Grey Squirrels. Among plants Brooklime with its attractive blue flowers, seems to have gone from the stream, but Hemlock Water Dropwort, Britain’s most poisonous plant, is flourishing, largely due to the riparian owners ‘gardening’ in the name of flood prevention.

It was a pleasure therefor to see a patch of about 35 Dog Violets (Snake Violets in Dorset dialect) beside the footpath behind the Manor House this morning. I don’t recall seeing these in the village before. Violets are the food plant for all the Fritillary species, the most likely of which is the Silver Washed Fritillary, since there is a sizable colony of these up on Black Down and they might well spread from there into the village.

A further delight today, the sulfurous yellow of a Brimstone butterfly in my front garden, with one reported further down the village

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Local nature artist.

 

Jindra Jehu is a visual artist and educator living in Martinstown. Her work is concerned with nature and science and is influenced by her local environment, including the Winterborne Valley.

 It was short listed in the Woman Science Photographer of the Year competition.

  Photo. Jindra Jehu

A paper and engine oil structure transformed by the growth of pink oyster mushrooms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jindra Jehu

A paper and engine oil structure transformed by the growth of pink oyster mushrooms, by Jindra Jehu (above);

My Cuckoo is on the move back to Wales.

 An update on my sposore Cuckoo JAC, received today from the BTO.

 

JAC reaches Guinea Llangollen Cuckoo JAC

Dear John, Since our last update both JAC and Joe have made the first big moves of their spring migrations. Having spent the last few weeks in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a new update received on 22 February showed that JAC had flown 1,915km (1,190 miles) west to Nigeria. A few days later he flew a further 1,390km (864 miles) west to his current location in south eastern Guinea. He is now approximately 200km south east of Cuckoo Ellis. In 2022 JAC stopped off in Ivory Coast from 27 Feb to 7 April when he embarked on his desert crossing, arriving back in the UK on 29 April.