Environmental News October 2009
What a great month for nature, with a little rain, gentle winds and lots of sun.
Most species of insect fared pretty well, but as yet I have seen little evidence of the plague of daddy-long-les that was threatened. More wasps than previous years, and I hear that bees are making a slight recovery.
Butterflies had a pretty good year too, and have kept going well into September.
But now the visiting birds are preparing for the journey home. Birds come south until they reach the coast. Then they stop a while, both to fatten up and to form sizeable flocks – possibly they don’t all know the way back across the sea. Durlston is a good place to visit, as is Hengistbury Head. There was an estimated sighting of 15000 house martins there, last week.
Strange that we see all the birds and butterflies coming in the Spring, we only see the birds on the return journey.
Most trees are beginning to look Autumnal, although our poor horse-chestnut tree has looked pretty sick since July. However it managed to fruit before the moth got busy, and our conker crop has been quite good.
The number of events dwindles after schools start again. Not so many walks, now that school holidays are over.
The only local event is a Canford Heath walk ( 11th, Gravel Hill, 14.00), but several bird seeking events, together with some fungi finding, astronomy and Halloween horrors.
Most of the areas run practical conservation groups, and details of these and further interesting walks should be available at the numbers below. Broadstone Library has, at last, obtained copies of Coast and Countryside, where you can get your own free copy, and find information about lots of events throughout Dorset.
Useful Numbers for tasks and events :-
| Local Dorset Wildlife Trust | 01202 692033 |
| Durlston Country Park | 01929 424443 |
| Avon Country Park | 01425 478470 |
| Poole Countryside (BoP) | 01202 265265 |
| Moors Valley | 01425 470721 |
| NT (Studland) | 01929 450259 |
| Natural England | 01929 557450 |
Other useful wildlife web sites for wildlife news in this area are:
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