I spoke about the continual presence of Buzzards in the June blog - well, it continued on into this month on a daily basis, no matter the weather. On one early evening I counted 16 of them flying above me and the house. I have never seen or heard that many before, possibly a field had been ploughed somewhere in the vicinity and they were watching for food, or it was family groups gathering together with their young, which can happen, according to the RSPB. I think I could call it a 'sonic' experience - there was quite a cacophany going on. The Buzzards share a collective noun with the Vultures, a gathering of these birds is called 'a wake'. The word 'wake' is derived from a funeral tradition of the Irish Catholics (as far back as the 6th century), in which family and friends could sit by the coffin of the dead person to pay their respects, to watch over and guard and to mourn. When the Buzzards/Vultures gather around to feed on a carcass they are definitely not paying their respects but they are said to resemble a family gathering around the deceased - according to birdfact.com
There were also Rooks in their dozens lining up on the telegraph wires at the top of our field. I venture out early in the mornings for the dog walks and there are certain spots on the telegraph wire systems that appear to attract the Rooks as the sun rises, they are jam packed with dozens and dozens of these birds. By the time I return from the walk they have all disappeared, gone to forage for their breakfast I suspect.
Aside from the larger birds, the Swallows have been very busy and have taken over two of the barns in the yard. We get the acrobatic display most evenings and a lot of chatting during the day. One of the highlights of the month was the spotting of Ladybirds down in the field - the 7 spot variety. I don't recall seeing any since we have been in The Lizard and this happened on several occasions and up to 3 Ladybirds at a time. From a number of sources across the wildlife charities there is concern about the decline in the number of Ladybirds in Britain, thought to be around 60%. Various guilty parties have been named; the overuse of pesticides, loss of habitat and the arrival of the Asian Harlequin Ladybird. The Harlequin is a much larger species and a greedy predator, it arrived on our shores in 2004 (wildlifetrusts.org). Its appetite for Aphid prey is voracious, leaving our native Ladybirds with less food. It will also eat the eggs and larvae of the smaller native Ladybird. Our changing weather, as always has also impacted on their numbers, the continual downpours we experienced during the Spring will have washed away the first of the Aphids. I hope to see them back again next year.
Back in June 2021 we had a very thorough survey done on the field, (courtesy of Dr Rod Gritten), this was two years after we had stopped cutting the field for silage and it was described as 'an extremely uniform grassy sward.' It was dominated by several standard grasses; Cocksfoot, Common Bent, Yorkshire Fog, Rye, Soft Brome and Timothy Grass with large colonies of nettles, docks and thistles. Flowering plants were rare and scattered throughout the field. Hogweed, Yarrow, Creeping Buttercups, and Dandelions were amongst the most popular inhabitants. No tree seedlings were found. A small patch of common Knapweed was found in the middle of the field and to quote from the survey, 'This is an exciting find and it would be good to see if the plant spreads into the field more widely. It is known to seed prolifically. It is an indicator of ancient hay meadows.' Well, the good news, as I have reported before, is that there are now several large colonies of Knapweed in the lower part of the field and 11 Oak trees that have self seeded.
We had a new 'rapid assessment' survey done this month as we are part of a meadow match project which is taking place across The Lizard. Not many new species have occurred but slowly it is building up; Ox eye daisies, Common Fleabane, Birds foot Trefoil, Comfrey, Wild Angelica, Meadowsweet, Cut leaved Cranesbill, Bird Vetch, Mouse Ear, Cats Ear to name a few. Although we have planted several species of trees and mixed hedges we have not brought in any wildflowers to the field - they are arriving here by their own means. The top half of the field will be cut for silage sometime next month and at some point we will be matched with seed from another site with a similar Ph. It takes 3 to 5 years for a meadow to come to fruition - patience is not one of my skills but clearly I'm going to have to practise it.
The cold weather theme from June continued well into this month with the addition of heavy rainfall. By the middle of the month Cornwall had already surpassed the average rainfall for the whole of July. All the plants and produce were behind in the garden and suffering from an overdose of slugs. There were no strawberries in this house for Wimbledon. But suddenly, the warmth arrived and we got a run of beautiful, hot, sunny days and by the end of the month the Sweet Peas bloomed, the Strawberries blushed deep red and plump Blackberries hung in clusters off the bramble. At last.
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