Walks slightly further out now and possibly with a friend, good news!
From Doug. Hello All. I hope that everybody is keeping safe and well, much better than our weather at the moment.
The weather has put a stop to my mothing this week, so Jill and myself have been watching the birds on our feeders in the back yard. We have had an increase in visits mainly from juvenile Blue and Great Tits, Starlings, Goldfinch and Nuthatch.
The glowworm count is now up to 6.
On one of my walks in Knabbs Wood I spotted on a fallen log, probably oak, a fungus which I think is Pleurotus cornupiae ( Branching Oyster Mushroom). Cheers, Doug and Jill.
More from others in comments.
We had a few walks out too, finding galls (plenty) and we were pleased to see about two dozen Chimney Sweeper Moths flying around on the meadow at Worsbrough Country Park yesterday.
The bird feeders in our garden are still well frequented by a whole variety of birds, young and old, but recently also by a squirrel, a first, resulting in some Heath Robinson inventions. Annefie and Peter
A few comments from Gill R. Some wretched pigeons savaged my six cabbages the other day because the netting had slipped a bit. (The central shoots seem ok so they may recover- I only plant a few cabbages at a time because otherwise there is a glut for us and I am not that keen on cabbage!) Those Locke Park wood pigeons are like vultures! However, on returning there was a pile of pigeon feathers beneath the bird feeder and no tears were shed I can tell you.
A Nuthatch has returned attracted by the black sunflower seed and I am sure a second successful Blue Tit brood of five is using the suet/fat balls. The Chiffchaff and Blackcap are still singing and the Song Thrush seems to be having a second wind – another brood in the offing? A very bedraggled Robin appears briefly testament to a tough breeding season, an avian “Bad hair day” which touched a human chord. I was delighted to rescue a Long Tailed Tit youngster from the summer house yesterday. All the best – Gill R
Catching up with news: My brother Chris whilst out exercising has seen a Mute Swan pair with five cygnets on the Elsecar section of the Dearne and Dove Canal; the nest was nearby. He also saw an adult Grass Snake on the Trans Pennine Trail, west of Lewden Viaduct, in the 1st week of May.
Here in this part of Sheffield during the sunny weather in April/May I managed to obtain some photographs of solitary bees. Not easy to identify, even with Steven FaIk’s excellent book. I have managed to identify a male Andrena cineraria, a female A. haemorrhoa, and two females and a male Hairy-footed Flower Bee (Anthophora plumipes). In April one female of the latter was avidly feeding on Cowslips. Jeremy B