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

Village Pond Resurrected

 Manor Farm Close houses are reflected in the reborn village pond in the old cricket field. Once a permanent feature with an infeed from the South Winterborne, it now only arises when ground water levels are above normal. The western half of the original pond has been filled in and built on as part of the Close. The second village pond, originally on Mallards Green, has also been filled in recently .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Cuckoo.

 The latest BTO bulletin on my sponsored cuckoo, and one of his companions.

    Cuach Torc.

 

  Over the last week or so Cuach Torc flew 260km (160 miles) north-west from his last location, towards the border between the Republic of Congo and DRC. He has since flown a further 135km (84 miles) east, deeper into DRC and is close to the Busira River approximately 10 miles north-east of the town of Ingende. Cuckoo Joe is also close to the Busira River, some 30 miles upstream as the crow (or Cuckoo) flies of Torc

Red Admirals galore.

 The butterfly success of the year must be the Red Admiral, which has been numerous throughout the summer and lasting, unusually, well into November. This is true nationally as well as locallyt

 

  Red Admiral.  Photo: John Elliott

 

The Wherry has broken.

 

"The Wherry has broken", as old time Martinstown people used to say when the South Winterborne resumed its winter flow after the summer dry period. This year, though there were dry islands in the stream in the village, the flow did not cease completely as it did last year. The stream flow closely follows the ground water level: this year the lowest level recorded at the Ashton borehole was 2.3m higher than last year's, which probably explains why the stream didn't go completely dry this year. The borehole figures clearly show the sudden increase in stream flow on the 26th of this month.

23rd. 65.80m,  24th. 65.81m,  25th. 65.84m,  26th. 66.00m,  27th. 66.23m,  28th. 66.47m,  29th. 66.83m,  30th.  67.33m

Pesticide free for all.

 

The current issue of ‘British Wildlife’ reports that notwithstanding claims that it would make environmental protections stronger, one of the opportunities that Brexit provided was to diverge from EU rules on such things as pesticides, phasing out chemicals that pose threats to human health or the environment. But the opposite has happened. The Pesticide Action Network has found that the UK has decided to retain 30 pesticides which the EU has banned since the time of Brexit, and also allowed onto the market six more which the EU has yet to authorise. Thirteen of these are regarded as highly hazarded pesticides by the UN, including several that are highly toxic to bees and aquatic organisms.

I kept bees in the village for over forty years but finally had to give up due to the difficulties posed by disease and pests. There are still half a dozen hives on Mallards Green, lovingly tended by Liz, but I fear that the valuable pollination services that bees provide are in serious jeopardy due to Government inaction on pesticides And of course many other insects besides bees that are useful pollinators will be affected.