The weather is warming up and wildlife is on the move. It is a dry Spring which means it is easy to see all the insects from bees to butterflies such as Brimestones and Speckled Woods. When watering my newly planted hedge plants last evening, a pair of Swallows flew over, so Summer is on its way. What type of Summer will we have - who knows yet but there will be warmth and plenty of wildlife about. If you watch carefully the birds are collecting materials for their nests and feeding up (they seem to be eating me out of house and home), so that they have plenty of energy to rear their young. If you are still feeding the birds remember to keep your bird feeders clean to prevent diseases being spread. More information from the RSPB website ( https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/how-you-can-help-birds/feeding-birds/keep-your-bird-table-healthy/ ). The lack of water is making the grass grow slowly but think if you really need to cut the lawn. A major study by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, published on Tuesday 26 March 2019, ( https://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-media/news/widespread-losses-among-pollinating-insects-britain ) shows widespread losses among pollinating insects including wild bees and hoverflies. If you can allow the dandelions to flower in your lawn for a while, you will be helping these insects as most of them have short tongues so rely on open flowers such as dandelions.
The newts are starting to lay eggs as shown in the picture above. They carefully lay an egg on the underside of a leaf in the water, then fold it over to give the egg protection from predators. The egg of the newt has a jelly outside which sticks the leaf together. In this case it was either a Smooth (Common) or Palmate newt. This pond has both species to add to the confusion. The egg was rounded and an off-white (grey/brown) egg. Please remember you need a licence or be with a licenced person if there are Great Crested Newts in the pond, which there is in this pond. This is the time to carry out newt surveys for your project, either by traditional methods or eDNA. If you require a newt survey give me a call or email me as per contact details below.
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