Very late House Martins nesting.

 Most of the village House Martins and Swallows are now on their way to somewhere in Africa, but one or two are still flying around stoking up their fat reserves for the long journey ahead. Somewhat surprisingly one pair of House Martins are still feeding two young ones in a nest that has not been peviously used for breeding this year. Whether the adults or the young ones will now be able to build up enough energy reserves to get across the Sahara must be doubtful.

House Martins.  Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge

They don't seem to mind visitors.  They are up the path to Steven's Farm, just past the Air Ambulance box for milk bottle tops.

 Autumn Fruits

September is Blackberry time but this year it is proving disappointing. A few weeks ago it looked as though we were in for a bumper harvest but late ripening has resulted in berries that are dry and not very sweet. So goodby to my ideas of making blackberry jelly.

                                              Blackberries on the way to Ewelease Dairy. Photo. John Elliott

 

The Bullaces, wild plums, have however had a good year and I now have, thanks to a kind neighbour whose garden has several trees, four pounds of  'damson' jam. The trees by the Reading Room, much appreciated by villagers in former years, have had a bumper crop this year but this is now rotting on the ground as the trees have been trimmed and the fruit can't be reached. 

 

                                             Reading Room Bullaces.   Photo. John Elliott

Cuckoo.

  

                                                                                                                                           

     My Cuckoo, Valentine, is now covering large distances in Africa.  Here is the latest bulletin from the BTO.

      Valentine has also been busy over recent days. Since our last update he has flown 1,351 km (811 miles) east from Burkina Faso to Nigeria. He is 3.5 km (2.2 miles) north of the town of Bebeji in Kano State in northern Nigeria. In 2019 he stayed in Burkina Faso until mid-November, not reaching Nigeria until 24 November so it is interesting that he has moved east so much earlier this year.                                                                                                                                                                 

Uncommon moth.   15th August 2020.

 On first inspecting the moth trap in the morning the moths, which are mainly night flyers, have all settled down under the egg boxes where they will remain until nightfall. Recently there was a wildly fluttering moth, a Jersey Tiger, when I first looked.  These are not as common as the similar species the Garden Tiger and are worth a photo. However I made the mistake of defering the picture until after breakfast and it managed to escape. I am indebted to a Devon friend for a picture of one of three Jersey Tigers which appeared in her garden.

                                                            Jersey Tiger.       Photo. Jill Weller

 

 My Cuckoo reaches his winter quarters.

My tagged Cuckoo has reached his winter quarters. Here is the latest bulletin from the BTO.

Since arriving in Mali, Valentine has moved 20 km (12.5 miles) west, towards the Sahel river. He is now 22 km (14 miles) north east of the town of Niono in the Ségou region of Mali. The temperature is currently 31 degrees C and it is the rainy season. In Niono, most rain falls during the 31 days centered around August 13, with an average total accumulation of 5.7 inches. Last year Valentine stayed in west Africa until mid-November so we don't expect him to make any more big movements anytime soon.

New moth.

Most of the moths caught in my nightly moth trap are old friends, seen many times before, but at not infrequent intervals a new one will turn up. Quite often it will turn out to be a species not recorded in the 2x2 Km square in which Martinstown sits. This is not surprising, as far as I know I am the only one recording in the village and there are 1876 species of moths known in the county.

Last night this dramatic moth ,a Black Arches, arrived. Moth names often give a clue to their appearance, this is no exception.

Black Arches              Photo: John Elliott

 

My Cuckoo crosses the Sahara.

             My sponsored Cuckoo, Valentine, has now completed his crossing of the Sahara. Here is the latest report from the BTO.   Over the last few days Valentine has made a huge movement south, flying 2,840 km (1,764 miles) from his previous location in southern Spain across the Sahara into Mali. At 05:37 this morning he was in southern Mali, approximately 320 km (199 miles) north-east of the capital Bamoko. In 2019 Valentine first stop after crossing the Sahara was a few hundred miles east in Burkina Faso, where he stayed until mid-November.