The week has brought little in the way of relief from the continuing drought. Everywhere is bone dry and the Mere water level is of course even lower.
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| The Mere water level goes down and down |
The crops are being harvested now so at least the weather is good for that activity.
The wildlife seems to be coping OK but I'm sure things are suffering that I'm not aware of. Plants are withering, especially nettles, and some trees seem to be losing leaves. They present a nice photo opportunity when caught in spider's webs 😂
Here's hoping there's enough nutrients left in the plants for the moth and butterfly caterpillars.
Dragonflies look to be carrying on regardless...
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| Common Darter (female) |
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| Ruddy Darter |
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| Migrant Hawker |
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| Migrant Hawker |
We had two pairs of Common Darters ovipositing at our pond this morning! The first of many to come over future years I hope.
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| Common Darters at our pond |
On one of my days away from the Mere I walked up to Bewholme as it's been a while since I visited. It was a pleasant morning and as I was early there was next to no traffic about so I could wander down the lanes without dodging cars. Bewholme itself was a little busier with people going off to work I guess.
Apart from the birds singing there was little wildlife to report, but I did have a close encounter with a dog 🤣🤣 Walking into the village a little brown spaniel attached itself to me and where I walked she followed me. She was well behaved and sat and stayed when I asked her to while traffic was coming.
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| Dolly from Bewholme |
I spent some time looking for an owner, assuming the dog was out on a walk and had somehow got separated from her owner, but I could see no one around. I asked a young man getting into his car if he knew the dog at all but he didn't. I eventually gave up looking and checked the dog's collar tag for a contact number. It turned out that Dolly had wandered off through an open back door and her owners were very happy that she was returned safe and sound.
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| Bewholme |
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| A seat with a view |
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| Another seat with a view |
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| The view - Bewholme village pond - dry unfortunately |
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| Brown Hare |
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| Hen pheasant following her brood |
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| Rabbit and juv Pheasant |
A
Glossy Ibis visited the Mere briefly on Thursday but it landed out of sight behind the reeds. It took off after a few minutes and flew south, prompting lots of photos with little end result 🤣🤣
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| Cormorant and Glossy Ibis 😀 |
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| Cormorant and the same Glossy Ibis going South |
Today we had a bit of a wader fest at the Mere with Ruff(2) Wood Sandpiper, Redshank(9) Greenshank(2) Dunlin(9) Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit(4) and, although I missed it, a Green Sandpiper. These totals are those that I saw but more birds were seen by Jon and Dale.
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| Waders off first field this morning incl. Wood Sandpiper and Ruff |
Also this morning I saw my first Lesser Whitethroat for a few weeks, they along with most of the warblers, are keeping their heads down going through post nuptial moult.
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| Lesser Whitethroat |
Other birds such as Robin and Wren are also moulting so you don't see or hear them as much at the moment. One Wren popped up for nosey at me today though.
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| Wren |
Great Spotted Woodpeckers are heard all over as I walk through the fields and woods, usually youngsters finding their own way in the world after mum and dad did their bit then left them to their own devices.
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| Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker at the Mere |
Butterflies have been abundant this year compared to last year and a Holly Blue was a nice sight today.
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| Holly Blue |
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| Holly Blue |
Yet another new hoverfly species for me at the Mere today - a Wasp Plumehorn (Volucella inanis) which was impressive but not as impressive as the Hornet mimic (Volucella zonaria) that I found last year.
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| Wasp Plumehorn hoverfly |
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