Tom discusses some of the wildlife goings on in Swindon and its surrounds this June.
With a collective sigh of relief the grey horrible start to 2018 is finally making way for some much needed sunshine as we head towards summer. The grass is starting to grow tall in my little suburban meadow and I have started to strim down the tall grass heads and open up some areas for the smaller summer flowers.
Orchids are starting to spring up in meadows including Common spotted-orchid and our roadside verges are blanketed in beautiful drifts of Oxeye daisy. Oxeye daisy has a much larger flower than Common daisy and the flowers can grow to 6cm across. Oxeye daisy tends to be found in all sorts of grasslands including fields and meadows, but rarely ventures into the more lush urban lawns around the town. One of Oxeye daisy’s old names is ‘Moon Daisy’ due to the large white flowers glowing in the soft glimmer of the moon in meadows at night time.
Bats are now in flight and the females are nursing young, having established their roosts for this year. Common pipistrelle bats are easy to find around Swindon and can be found anywhere where there is a row of trees and limited street lighting. They are easiest to see hunting for insects around sunset and sunrise and, if you are lucky, you might be able to hear their high pitch echolocation call at the very top of your hearing range.
There are some wonderful wildlife events going on around and near Swindon this June including something a bit hands-on at Clayhill Meadow in the Cotswold Water Park on 10th June at 10am as part of their ‘Help the Rangers’ day. This is a practical wildlife protection day and will focus on helping the rangers pull up Himalayan Balsam, which is an invasive annual plant that spreads across rivers and streams. It can be a tricky plant to pull up as the stems are large, hollow and break easily, so make sure you wear some gloves and suitable old clothes. Contact: kieren.thomas@waterpark.org if you’d like to come along.
Morningside Farm in Wootton Bassett is host to National Moth Night on the 15th June, where attendees will spend the evening looking for all manner of majestic moths on the farm, which is an extra special opportunity as this is the first time any moth records have been collected for the farm! Wiltshire Wildlife Trust will be hosting the event and will use a series of lights that attract moths and then collect the moths and pass them around in clear cases before releasing them back into the wild. Please wear old clothes, bring a torch and a chair and book in advance by contacting neilp@wiltshirewildlife.org.
