Residents and Visitors

               The recent sunny weather has brought out a few different butterfly species. Bright yellow Brimstones are a real sign of the arrival of Spring; the males surfacing from their long hibernation first and cruising the wood looking for the females to appear. Most of these early butterflies, like Peacocks and Commas, hibernate as adults hidden away for the winter period in thick vegetation and places like log piles, where the cold cannot reach them. The hot days have produced good thermals for the local Buzzards to make use of. The males soar up high, swoop down with wings closed and loop straight up again to impress any watching females, calling all the time, as its time to choose a mate and get nesting. It is still too early for most visiting migrant birds to appear although one or two Chiffchaffs are out and about calling from the tree tops with their characteristic chiff chaff, cliff chaff ! And on the ground the Primroses are flowering well. The first Wood Sorrel are appearing too, their delicate white flowers pushing through the covering of dead leaves. These little plants are important indicators of the age of the wood as they grow and spread very slowly only where the woodland floor is relatively undisturbed over what might be hundreds of years.

             Most of the mammals that occur in the wood are much harder to observe, with the exception of the many Grey Squirrels, that is. Badgers, deer and foxes are occasionally caught on my remote camera and Rabbits show their presence in the holes and burrows they dig in the drier parts of the wood. Very sadly, I spotted one this week with all the signs of Myxomatosis. I normally try to end the suffering of any that I do find as it's a horrid, slow killer but impeded by my crutches I could not reach this one. The disease visits on a cyclical basis as the resident population reaches a certain level. Another unwelcome visitor was the person (or persons) who decided my large bird feeder would make a fine target for catapult practice as indicated by the 1cm diameter lead shot found underneath. The occasional abuse of the wood like this is not worth getting upset about - it is just as well that I have another feeder stored away for such an eventuality. It would be much more helpful if the culprits devoted their undoubted shooting skills and lethal ammo to killing the wretched squirrels.

                                                 A Roe Deer caught on camera

Like most of the mammals rabbits are more active at night

A male Brimstone feeding on a Primrose flower

The Buzzards are getting frisky

A Comma butterfly

...and a Peacock

The delicate flower of Wood Sorrel

 Shot !