What an amazing spring we’ve experienced this year! The hot dry weather has meant that many plants have flowered weeks earlier than usual and the number and variety of butterflies have been exceptional. With so much to see and record, most naturalists would love the month of May to be twice as long! The same applies to June.
A great time to spot birds
If you have a garden and attract the birds, you’ve probably noticed several resident species feeding their young we’ve spotted young blackbirds, robins, chaffinches, greenfinches and wood pigeons in the garden, plus adult great tits and a great spotted woodpecker collecting food for growing nestlings.
On nearby heathland I saw a female yellowhammer with nesting material in early April. The yellowhammers have now had their first brood and a pair of adult birds visited the garden in late May to take seeds and build themselves up before starting the second of their three broods. Likewise, a pair of bullfinches have recently visited the garden for seeds after first brood parental duties.
Worth taking a closer look!
Meanwhile, early summer migrants including chiffchaffs can now be seen taking food to their first brood nestlings. Before the month is out young swallows will be on the wing and will recognise the warning calls from their parents when hobbies appear overhead. There’s a lot of pleasure to be had from observing the family lives of our familiar birds, so stop for a moment and take a closer look.
Join a guided walk this month
With half-term upon us and the long days of summer to enjoy, there seem to be endless opportunities to join guided walks and rambles to see flowers, insects, pond-life, seashore life and the birds, moths and bats that come out after the sun has set. Have a look at the Dorset Widllife Trust events guide here
Wildflower meadows at their best
Wildflower meadows, whether on some of our treasured DWT reserves such as Kingcombe and Fontmell or elsewhere are well worth a visit this month.
In addition to ox-eye daisies, hay rattle, numerous members of the pea family and a fascinating array of different grasses you may find common spotted orchids, bee-orchids and pyramidal orchids.
Of course, what you see is dependant upon the underlying soil type and the history of the site, so try to visit reserves on chalk, neutral and acid grassland to experience for yourself the stunning variety of Dorset in summer.
Don't forget the heaths
On local heathland there is also ample evidence that insects are appearing earlier than usual. Silver-studded blue butterflies, heathland specialists whose caterpillars and chrysalis have a very close relationship with black ants, were seen flying on 25 May and will become more noticeable in June.
In addition, adult males of black-tailed skimmer dragonflies have been patrolling and defending their territories along wet ditches. Before long, male keeled skimmers, with their narrow powdery blue abdomens will also be seen over our heathland bog pools surrounded by Sphagnum moss.
Meanwhile the caterpillars of the brimstone butterfly have been visibly munching through the leaves of alder buckthorn on our heath since hatching from eggs laid as early as 21 April a full two weeks earlier than usual. Soon, those that have escaped the attention of warblers, wasps or parasites will be fully grown, move off their foodplant and change into a chrysalis. Then begins that miraculous re-organisation of their tissues, culminating in the emergence of a brimstone butterfly by July. A couple of great heaths to discover are Upton Heath and Higher Hyde Heath
Take an evening stroll
Finally, I urge you to go on an evening stroll and take in the heady scent of honeysuckle in our hedgerows, whose scent also attracts pollinating moths.
In some of our woodland reserves with hazel coppice, honeysuckle also climbs through the branches and forms an important resource for dormice which strip fine shreds of bark for nest building and use the flowers as a source of sugary nectar.
Written by John Wright
Dorset Wildlife Trust Member & Volunteer
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