Tawny Owl returns.

 On my late evening 'getting a bit of fresh air' stroll down the village street it was good to hear the hooo-  ho ho ho hooo of a tawny owl from somewhere behind the Manor House. In past years the calls of both male and female owls were heard regularly in the village, when they were able to nest in the old coachhouse beside the Manor, but the renovation of the building has denide them this accomodation. 

In recent years they have usually been heard in the autumn when juveniles are seeking new territories, so a January occurance is unusual.

My Tagged Cuckoo, JAC.

 

My Cuckoo JAC.

 

 

 

The cuckoo's journeys back to the UK can start anytime from early January to early March and the first leg typically takes them up to a few hundred km north from their wintering grounds in the Congo Basin. They then move west through west Africa with some moving as far west as Liberia and Guinea. This stop off in west Africa during the spring migration is a very important time for our Cuckoos, a time when they must find good feeding opportunities which will allow them to lay down fat deposits which will fuel the next leg of their journeys across the Sahara Desert. Five Cuckoos remain from the 12 tagged birds that set off from the UK this summer. My Llangollen Cuckoo JAC is 430km west of Joe and Ellis and just over the border in the Republic of Congo. JAC is currently at the edge of a forested area close to the town of Gamboma in the Plateaux region of central Republic of Congo.

Village Pond resurrected

 

   Old Village Pond.  Photo. John Elliott.  Click to enlarge

After drying up completely during the late summer, the South Winterborne lived up to its name and started to flow again overnight on 21st October/22nd October.  This ' Wherry breaking ' as it was known by old villagers,is due to the rapidly rising ground water level. which for a while was increasing at 40cms/day. It is now slightly over the normal maximum level but has levelled off to 1cm/day or less so the risk of flooding has eased. One of the former village ponds  in the old cricket field (did you know that if you hit one of the sychamore trees it counted as a six?) now has water in it, presumably spring fed. This pond and the one on the corner opposite East Lodge (now filled in) are shown as permanent features in the maps of 1896 and had a direct connection to the South Winterborne.

 

Magnificent Mushrooms.

 

                              Shaggy Inkcap.   Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge.

 

A fine clump of Shaggy Inkcap, Coprinus comatus, which has appeared for a second year by Fouracres gate at the eastern end of the village. Sometimes known as the Lawyer's Wig from the shaggy, woolly scales that form on the surface. this fungus is regarded as one of the best edible species while the fruitbodies are still young and the gills white. The gills finally liquify and turn black releasing the spores.

If drinking alcohol while eating this mushroom, make sure you are not confusing it with the Common Inkcap (C. atramentarius). Alcohol and Common Inkcap consumed together lead to vomitting and palpitations.

My Cuckoo JAC

    JAC.

Just over the border in the Republic of Congo is Llangollen Cuckoo JAC. JAC is currently at the edge of a forested area close to the town of Gamboma in the Plateaux region of central Republic of Congo. He is still south and west of his 2021 wintering grounds over the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo, maybe he will join Joe and Ellis in DRC soon?

Late Butterfly.

 The very mild autumn has led to a much longer butterfly season, with Clouded Yellows persisting in the valley, as they have elsewhere in the county. In fact a weekoago they were the  butterfly most often reported to Butterfly Conservation, (www.dorsetbutterflies.com) The top spot has now been taken by the Red Admiral which has appeared in my garden for two days running.

   Red Admiral.  Photo. John Elliott.  cte.

The Wherry Breaks.

 

Older residents in the village will remember the excitements of ‘the Wherry breaking’ each Autumn as the South Winterborne suddenly resumed its flow after weeks of being perfectly dry. In recent years this pattern of behavior has been interrupted by the activities of Wessex Water, but this year the classic flow pattern has been evident. It is well known that the flow in the stream is controlled by the annual rise and fall of the aquifer, the ground water level being easily available online for the borehole at Ashton. After falling at around 5cm per day throughout the summer months the rate dropped in August to 2cm per day and the stream dried up at Ashton, though there was still a small flow through the main channel in Martinstown. The ground water fall of 1cmpd then continued until the 21^st October, with the stream bed being dry. On the 22^nd of October the ground water movement reversed direction suddenly with a rise of 5cm. And low and behold, there was again a small but steady flow through the village, The Wherry had broken.

 

                                                                                                     video.  John M Elliott