As we head into June, many wildlife watchers have been reporting in on their sightings. Many told me about when they heard the cuckoo (one person had a close encounter in their garden, how thrilling), others about the return of swifts, swallows and house martins. Some were about butterflies and I personally was thrilled to see many brimstones in one week toward the end of May.

The red kite has been seen more and more, often in pairs over the silage making fields. The little owl has been seen back in its old haunts and many barn owls have also been spotted at dawn or dusk.

There are many people living in the urban parts of our rural area that have reported seeing hedgehogs large and small but less have been seen in the more rural areas.

 I have seen one badger as road kill but not any during the hours of darkness, although Mr and Mrs Fox are lurking about looking for a tasty meal to feed their young, one of which did not make it across a road.         

With the wet, the greenery has gone berserk. One person wrote me a note to say that even in part of their garden grasses were over four foot high and daisies in the lawn were prolific and one, when measured, had a stalk of seven inches long. As I walk many of our footpaths the bramble, nettle and thistle growth has been immense so chopping tools are needed when out and about to make a passage through. There seem to be the return of orchids near footpaths, bridleways and in the fields, all have been the common spotted but still beautiful to see.    

The birds are fledging, and I have enjoyed watching the young woodpeckers, nuthatches and the many others learning to use the feeders. So far no casualties with the windows, hopefully due to the bird silhouettes I have on them. Visiting a friend’s beautiful garden I sat with them quietly on the ground as they worked on the beds and a male and female blackbird were mopping up worms and grubs as fast as they could. I was so still the male even popped onto my foot on my outstretched leg. They took their morsels to fat fluffed up fledglings who were positioned around the lawn. Other than the robins I have not had such a close encounter since I used to visit the Isles of Scillies.

I am writing everything I do in the wild for my ‘30 Days Wild in June’. It’s amazing how much you can see or do even in a small part of a day.

Happy holidays and if you can find time visit our local reserves Bodenham Lake, Oak Tree Farm, and at Queenswood Country Park & Arboretum where you will find fun things to do and great things to buy.

Jess Tidball, June 2024