Swifts departing?

At around 6pm this evening I noticed lots of Swifts flying over the village. I had thought they had already left on migration south as the last couple I saw was over a week ago. I counted 30+ all flying really high and circling. I tried to photograph them but they were flying very fast and the grey sky gave little contrast to focus on.

After about ten minutes it started to rain and as quickly as they had appeared they had all gone. Be interesting to see if they appear again tomorrow or that was their last appearance until next "summer"!

Posted with Blogsy

Fox on the Blackdowns

On a recent walk from Neroche, up on the Blackdowns, I spotted a movement on the edge of a field of newly cut grass  and was able to watch a young fox in broad daylight as it idly sniffed the ground and listened for possible prey that might have escaped the tractor blades.

It was completely oblivious of us, even though we had a dog with us, and it caught no scent of us as the wind was blowing towards us.
Its attention was distracted by a gull  and it watched it as it flew close to the ground before disappearing.

Finally it must have heard us as it gave us a meaningful stare before it loped across the field back in the direction from which it first came and disappeared through the hedge line.

Slow worms on the move

Twice in the last week I have seen Slow worms on the move.
The first was seen on the road in Wadeford and at first I thought it was dead as it was completely still.
It was missing the end of its tail and only when we tried to move it onto the verge did it move its head and then twirled about as we lifted it up with a stick.

Now I am very fond of most types of wildlife but I do have a phobia about snakes or snake like creatures. I know it is irrational, especially with Slow Worms as they are really legless lizards, but I think  it is the way they move that causes me to shudder. I thought I was very brave getting the close up shot!

The second encounter was even more scary (well for me at least!) I was doing some weeding of the raised bed in my front garden and felt something drop on my foot. I was wearing sandals and looking down saw a slow worm had crawled across my foot! I moved rather fast to the safety of the doorstep and watched it slither in a side way movement across the tarmac of the drive coming to rest under the car. This time my husband managed to pick it up and put it back on the grass but needless to say, that was the end of the weeding that evening!

Butterflies and Moths make an appearance in the sun

Yesterday morning actually started warm and sunny for a change and at last there were more butterflies and day flying moths in SSW than there had been for weeks. There were quite a few Meadow Browns flitting about, occasionally landing on the grass.

Meadow Brown

I also spotted this lovely creature below on a Corn Cockle flower, and my thanks to Rob Grimmond, who identified it for me as a Large Skipper, apparently the first record for the wood!

Let's hope we get some more if the weather deigns to warm up now.







Large Skipper (female?)



Robins are still feeding their young

Many birds have been having a go at second or even third broods, especially if they had to abandon earlier attempts because of the wet, cold weather this year.
Robins are certainly still doing so and a pair have been visitng my Mum's garden to collect the live meal worms she put out for them three or four times a day.
They have become quite tame and even sit on her window ledge looking into the kitchen as if to say where are our worms!
Once the worms are placed in a pot on the wall outside the kitchen, they waste no time in dashing down to see what is on offer

and choosing a tasty morsel!

Mum is now looking forward to when they bring their spotty offspring down to collect their own worms. Going by the number of worms they must have been eating (£7 worth per week) they are likely to be quite tubby!

"Ducks" on the River Isle

Today, the Duck Race took place on the stretch of the River Isle that flows beside Court Mill Lane.
The Ducks were not the usual Mallards, often to be found swimming to and fro here, but more like the ones you might float in your bath!

They were launched at 11am and accompanied on their journey by a duck herder, who was there to ensure they did not get ensnared on the lush undergrowth along the banks.
Everyone dashed down to the bridge over the river and waited in anticipation for the first Ducks to arrive.

 After some anxious minutes, the first Duck finally "swam" into sight, closely followed by the rest of the flock, and of course the duck herder!

The winning Duck in the first race was number 71 and despite appearing to arrive on its side, survived the ordeal with no lasting damage!
(Apologies to the more serious readers of this blog, but this local event deserved a mention, occuring as it does on the River Isle which rises in and flows through the parish, before wending its way to Ilminster and then on to join the River Parrett downstream before reaching the Severn Estuary at Bridgwarer Bay. As such it provides an important habitat in the parish for wildlife, so whilst today's Ducks were not real, records of Kingfisher, Dipper and even Otter have been recorded here, so it is worth keeping an eye open when passing by).

Orchids seem to like the damp weather!

Whilst many plants have not relished the damp, cool weather this year, the orchids seem to have done very well.
The ones I saw earlier in the season on my "Magical evening" have now been joined by some beautiful Common Spotted Orchids (I think?) in SSW

and a good few Pyramidal Orchids along the verges near the Humpty Dumpty fields in Combe Wood Lane. Sadly, the cattle in the field have eaten the ones that have appeared on their side of the fence!

Apologies for quality of the pictures below, taken with my phone!