June 2025

Whilst much of the UK had the sun beating down on them, here on The Lizard we had our usual mix of Summer weather.  Several hot days, never above 24 degrees around here, often with cloud cover, a kind of humid, close weather.  Breezes accompanied the real heatwave and it never got uncomfortable or worrying.  Most of the plants, trees and meadow got the rain it needed, as we got the thunderstorms and floods in the middle of the month which brought closure to the train service from Exeter to Cornwall.  All fairly normal weather patterns for this neck of the woods.

The field and garden has been alive with the sounds of Birdsongs, Bees, and Wasps and accompanied by many other flying insects and and butterflies. On the 21st, we had our longest day, the Solstice. I ventured outside at the 5am sunrise and sat for sometime in the copse as the world woke up around me and the landscape went from flat shapes to its more familiar three dimensional shape. It was warm and promising a hot day.  As the day progressed I  wandered around the field and took notes.

The Hogweed, although not the giant version still rises to 2 metres and dominates the landscape of the field.  The colours from the Docks and the Sorrel plants also stand out against the fading colours of the grasses in the field.  Bright green and rust. There are mass colonies of Ox Eye Daisies accompanied by the ever prolific Pink Campions, they are such a glorious riot of energy and colour. There are scattered splashes of lilac, in the shape of Meadow Thistle.  I know many gardeners and farmers regard them as the enemy but not me. I'm a fan.  The colour, the shape the honey smell in the early morning sun and the food it brings for all the insects.  It's a winner in my mind.

The Chestnut trees are growing well in the copse and one of the three Flowering Cherry trees has suddenly put on a speedy growth spurt and is now towering over the others. The other two which grow on the outside of the copse, facing the Westerlies are almost half the size. That wind takes its toll on the trees. The fruit on the Apple trees and the Gooseberry plants are promising good crops this year and my new Blueberry bushes are thriving and their fruit clusters are already on display. The two Chilean Guava bushes - given as presents - have settled in well and one is showing signs of a good crop of fruit. The History books tell us that it was brought to England in 1844 and was the favourite fruit of Queen Victoria.  It was sent to her table via the train from Cornwall where it grew well due to its mild climate. Finally I'm in the right place for fruit production! I've yet to taste it as the fruit doens't ripen until Autumn. The berries are used in a Chilean dessert called Murta con membrillo, in which they are mixed with Quince and sugar.  Sounds delicious, I hope the birds don't get to the berries before I've had a chance to try it out. A few Damsons have apeared but only on one side of the tree,  I suspect the orchard still gets hit too hard from the Westerlies, inspite of our efforts to grow various trees, hedges and bushes for shelter. We are also seeing large colonies of Mushrooms appearing in the allotment, no surprise really as we had a trailer load of spent Mushroom compost delivered earlier in the year and have been spreading it on various beds.

The birds are still in peak condition for their early morning choir practice. There's all sorts of reasons that birds sing at dawn, (and it is usually males making all the noise - why am I not surprised?). It's 'too dark to search for food, too dark to be spotted by predators, making it a perfect time to sing. There's less background noise, the air is still and the sound carries twenty times further than it will later in the day' (woodlandtrust.co.uk) The recordings this month have shown a consistent turn out from our regular visitors in the shape of BlueTits, Jackdaws, Chiffchaffs, Pheasants, Wood Pigeons, and Blackbirds at the 5.30am sessions, the Crows and Wrens turned up a bit later at the 6.30 practice.  Later in the month we had regular recordings of the Blackbird, Goldfinch and three new visitors, the Skylark, Blackcap and the Sandpiper.  I wasn't fully convinced about the Sandpiper.

In the meadow I thought I'd spotted Yellow Rattle - I spread lots of the seed last year and it was also included in the Lizard meadow mix.  It appeared in small colonies on the top part of the meadow area. It's an imporant plant as it can reduce the bulk of the dominanat grass species, reducing competition and allowing other wildflower species an opportunity to become established. (countrywildlife.co.uk).  Sadly, I later identified it as Yellow Bartsia, not such an important plant. In the 'Wild Flower Finder', it says, 'not to be confused with Yellow Rattle'.  But it was.