Well at last it is officially summer! Even if the weather has been a bit slow to recognise it!
We should see the wonderful colours of the wild flowers in the meadows and on the roadside verges this month. A mixture of plants such as the yellow bird's foot trefoil that is often known as 'eggs and bacon' because of their colour, the lovely ox eye daisy, the different species of the buttercup family and the red of the poppy.
Orchids are flowering at this time. The bee orchid attracts bees to pollinate it, the common spotted orchid has spotted leaves and the fragrant orchid are amongst the many species of the orchid family seen at this time of year.
Another common sight are the many different species of the carrot family. These include cow parsley, hemlock which is very poisonous, angelica which can be used in cooking and hogweed, a plant that can cause allergic skin problems. So again it is wise to take someone with you who can identify these plants as they all look fairly similar.
The elderberry is in flower and the blossoms make a really summer drink. When you are walking around you may smell the lovely fragrance of the honeysuckle, a climbing plant.
All these flowers attract many insects in June and there are plenty of butterflies such as the meadow brown, the fritillary species and the blue butterflies. At this time all the the damselfly species including the beautiful demoiselle and the banded demoiselle have emerged as adults, as have the dragonfly species.
Amphibians such as frogs and toads have left the ponds and watery habitats and live on the land. Frogs live in damp habitats and hunt in the evening for insects, slugs, snails and worms. Toads live under logs and stones during the day and hunt at night for worms, insects, young frogs and mice.
Occasionally toads may go back into a pond to cool off!
Frogs hop and leap using their long, muscular legs and don't crawl at all while the toad, which is larger than a frog, is much slower and crawls with the occasional little jump but does not leap as a frog does. Both frogs and toads have long, sticky tongues to catch their prey.
Newts spend summer, autumn and winter on land and feed on snails, slugs, worms, insects and other newts.
Birds sing less at this time of year and are concentrating on raising their young. One of the common bird calls still heard though is the yellowhammer with its 'little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheese'. Flying high up in the sky catching insects are the swallow, swift, house martin and sand martin. These remarkable birds migrate from Africa to Britain each year to breed. The swifts build nests in colonies and use the eaves in the rooftops of old houses and churches. The house martin traditionally used mud nests on cliff faces but now often nest on the outer walls of buildings under the eaves and occasionally inside roofs and in sheds. The swallow nests in outbuildings with ledges and can squeeze through small entrances to get inside. Sand martins are slightly different as they excavate tunnels in sandy, dry, vertical banks, sandpits and gravel pits. Sometimes artificial holes are put into walls for the sand martins to use for nesting.
All juvenile badgers will be familiar with their surrounding territory around the sett where they live, whether it be in a woodland, garden or a moor. The cubs will be fully weaned by now and eating the same as the adults. The diet of the badger is very varied although their favourite food are earthworms. This makes up the main part of their diet along with other invertebrates but they also will eat cereals, green plants and occasional small mammal, frogs and toads. If there is a food shortage because of exceptional weather conditions badgers will eat hedgehogs.
Badgers also have a sweet tooth! They will raid wild bee nests and the occasional hive for the honey. They eat the grubs of wasps and seem to be able to cope with the stings from the aggressive insects.
Fox cubs and badger cubs living in the same area are often seen feeding and playing together.
So, again get out there with your books and cameras and see what you can find!
We should see the wonderful colours of the wild flowers in the meadows and on the roadside verges this month. A mixture of plants such as the yellow bird's foot trefoil that is often known as 'eggs and bacon' because of their colour, the lovely ox eye daisy, the different species of the buttercup family and the red of the poppy.
Orchids are flowering at this time. The bee orchid attracts bees to pollinate it, the common spotted orchid has spotted leaves and the fragrant orchid are amongst the many species of the orchid family seen at this time of year.
Another common sight are the many different species of the carrot family. These include cow parsley, hemlock which is very poisonous, angelica which can be used in cooking and hogweed, a plant that can cause allergic skin problems. So again it is wise to take someone with you who can identify these plants as they all look fairly similar.
The elderberry is in flower and the blossoms make a really summer drink. When you are walking around you may smell the lovely fragrance of the honeysuckle, a climbing plant.
All these flowers attract many insects in June and there are plenty of butterflies such as the meadow brown, the fritillary species and the blue butterflies. At this time all the the damselfly species including the beautiful demoiselle and the banded demoiselle have emerged as adults, as have the dragonfly species.
Amphibians such as frogs and toads have left the ponds and watery habitats and live on the land. Frogs live in damp habitats and hunt in the evening for insects, slugs, snails and worms. Toads live under logs and stones during the day and hunt at night for worms, insects, young frogs and mice.
Occasionally toads may go back into a pond to cool off!
Frogs hop and leap using their long, muscular legs and don't crawl at all while the toad, which is larger than a frog, is much slower and crawls with the occasional little jump but does not leap as a frog does. Both frogs and toads have long, sticky tongues to catch their prey.
Newts spend summer, autumn and winter on land and feed on snails, slugs, worms, insects and other newts.
Birds sing less at this time of year and are concentrating on raising their young. One of the common bird calls still heard though is the yellowhammer with its 'little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheese'. Flying high up in the sky catching insects are the swallow, swift, house martin and sand martin. These remarkable birds migrate from Africa to Britain each year to breed. The swifts build nests in colonies and use the eaves in the rooftops of old houses and churches. The house martin traditionally used mud nests on cliff faces but now often nest on the outer walls of buildings under the eaves and occasionally inside roofs and in sheds. The swallow nests in outbuildings with ledges and can squeeze through small entrances to get inside. Sand martins are slightly different as they excavate tunnels in sandy, dry, vertical banks, sandpits and gravel pits. Sometimes artificial holes are put into walls for the sand martins to use for nesting.
All juvenile badgers will be familiar with their surrounding territory around the sett where they live, whether it be in a woodland, garden or a moor. The cubs will be fully weaned by now and eating the same as the adults. The diet of the badger is very varied although their favourite food are earthworms. This makes up the main part of their diet along with other invertebrates but they also will eat cereals, green plants and occasional small mammal, frogs and toads. If there is a food shortage because of exceptional weather conditions badgers will eat hedgehogs.
Badgers also have a sweet tooth! They will raid wild bee nests and the occasional hive for the honey. They eat the grubs of wasps and seem to be able to cope with the stings from the aggressive insects.
Fox cubs and badger cubs living in the same area are often seen feeding and playing together.
So, again get out there with your books and cameras and see what you can find!
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