Birds

30/07/18 2 Barn Owl were seen on the Area 10 nesting box by John McGowan.

28/07/18 Finally the rain and a breeze have appeared this morning at 05:00 after an absence of 56 days. This has coincided with an upsurge on the Area 5 garden feeders. Seen today were 3 Goldfinch , Robin , a lot of Wood Pigeon , Collared Dove , Great Tit , Blue Tit , and a male Blackbird feeding on the freshly moistened grass. Carrion Crow were flying over the garden calling .

25/07/18 At 16:00 a screaming flock of 15 Swift were repeatedly flying over my Area 5 garden .

23/07/18 Noisy calling Herring Gull were again flying over my house at 04:15 and 05:15 this morning, denying me much needed beauty sleep. A Coal Tit was also seen moving through my Area 5 garden this morning.

18/07/18 A Barn Owl was seen at the entrance to the box in the Area 10 paddock by Simon Marlow. 2 Song Thrush have started to appear regularly in my Area 5 garden.

16/07/18 6 Swift flew over Paul Bright Thomas's Area 4 garden and a Kingfisher was seen flying SW through it.

15/07/18 In Area 10 a Barn Owl was seen quartering the paddock adjacent to the Emm at Lavells Lake by Paul Hawkings(Photo courtesy of Paul Hawkings). A Moorhen was heard calling from the river in Area 5 this morning.

10/07/18 There appears to be a second wave of juvenile Starling around the garden feeders this morning. In Area 8 at lunchtime a male Chiffchaff was singing from a prominent perch to lure in a mate.

09/07/18 At 05:30 on top of my Area 5 garden Yew tree was a tatty looking juvenile Nuthatch .

08/07/18 A Grey Wagtail was seen feeding in the river in Area 5 this morning. Also seen was an abandoned Moorhen nest with 5 eggs in Area 4. In Area 10 , 6 Ringed-necked Parakeets were seen flying across the car park field by Bob Bennett.

06/07/18 Whilst moth trapping at 21:00 in Area 6 around Clifton Road a screaming party of 17 Swift were seen overhead. The largest count so far this year.

05/07/18 In Area 10 at Lavells Lake field the 4 Barn Owl owlets were measured weighed and ringed this morning. Photo courtesy of Alan Rymer .

04/07/18 During early evening Balsam pulling in Area 6 around Emmbrook school a Buzzard and 3 screaming Swift were seen overhead.

02/07/18 In Area 10 in the Lavells Lake field, 2 juvenille Barn Owl were seen at the entrance to the Barn Owl box by Geoff Emmett.

01/07/18 July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 183 days remaining until the end of the year. It is the first day of the second half of the year. In Area 10, 3 Coal Tit were seen near the bridge over the Emm by Fraser Cottington.

Insects

25/07/18 A lunchtime visit to Area 10 and a Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas butterfly was in the Car Park field.

22/07/18 Seen in Area 5 of the Emm Brook by Kingfisher Bridge was the Hoverfly Leucozona lucorum . .This is a striking hoverfly with a white band across the upper abdomen and black wing patches that align with the black abdominal band . Also seen on the Oak by the bridge were Knopper Galls Andricus quercuscalicis . These are formed by a tiny gall wasp, Andricus quercuscalicis, who lay eggs into embryonic acorn buds. The oak responds in an entirely specific way to this wasp by producing growths known as knopper galls, from a German name for a type of helmet. They weren’t seen in Britain until the 1960s. The Galls eventually fall to the ground and the wasp larvae wriggle out of vents in the galls next spring. The emerging wasps are exclusively female.

17/07/18 At this time of the year all along the Emm Brook the Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva can be seen usually on Umbellifers .When I was a boy this beetle was known as "the bloodsucker". Who knows why, it was a long time ago.

15/07/18 In Area 5 near Ripple Stream Bridge an Immature male Southern Hawker Aeshna cyanea dragonfly was seen resting on a riverside tree.

12/07/18 During Balsam pulling in Area 3(Molly Millars Lane) the first Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus Butterfly of the year was seen.

11/07/18 In Area 8(Old Forest Road Meadows) a Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus was on the wing another first for the FOTEB list.

10/07/18 Back to Area 8(Old Forest Road Meadows) at lunch time. Several Butterflies were on the wing including a Marbled White Melanargia galathea and a Painted Lady Vanessa cardui .

09/07/18 A visit today to Area 8(Old Forest Road Meadows) in the blistering lunch time heat. The Sweep Net was deployed and found in the grass were Meadow Grasshopper Chorthippus parallelus and Hairy Shieldbug/Sloe Bug Dolycoris baccarum. Cinnabar Moth Tyria jacobaeae caterpillars were feeding on the Ragwort. In a slightly bizarre moment a Lesser Diving Beetle Acilius sulcatus was found on the windscreen of my car.These are able to fly and can move between bodies of water.It was taken back to work ,placed in water, photographed and later returned and released.

08/07/18 During the walk up the river today pulling Balsam in Area 5 , Beautiful Demoiselle Calopteryx virgo damselfly were seen and Comma Polygonia c-album and Green veined White Pieris napi Butterflies.

03/07/18 In the carpark field in Area 10 at lunchtime, seen was a male Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius . Bombus lapidarius is probably the most easily recognised bumblebee species, with its black body and bright red/orange tail. The workers have the same colouring as the queen but are much smaller. The males also have similar colouring but with more yellow hair.

02/07/18 I was again in Area 10 carpark field at lunchtime, and seen was what I believe to be the larvae of the 14 Spot ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata . Also seen was the day flying Cinnabar Moth Tyria jacobaeae on Ragwort. .

01/07/18 In Area 10 on a Dog Rose by the bridge over the Emm was a Smooth Pea Gall Wasp Diplolepis eglanteriae/nervosa. The gall is caused either by cynipid wasp Diplolepis nervosa or by Diplolepis eglanteriae on the leaves of the Dog-rose (Rosa canina). The galls are more likely to be seen than the adult wasps.Each gall is, in effect, a hollow, fleshy nursery chamber for a small white grub, the larva of the Diplolepis gall wasp, which feeds on the chamber wall. The galls appear to detach from the leaves before leaf fall and will lie in the leaf litter until the grub pupates and emerges as the small adult wasp in the Spring , only about 4 mm long.

Plant/Trees

25/07/18 In the car park field in Area 10, despite it being cut Field Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis can be seen on the edges.

14/07/18 Balsam pulling in Area 8 this morning in Old Forest Road Meadows and Branched Bur-reed Sparganium erectum was on display.

11/07/18 In Area 8 at lunch time in Old Forest Road Meadows Common Fleabane Pulicaria dysenterica and Bulrush Typha gracilis , were seen despite no water in the pond. Oxeye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare were also seen.

08/07/18 Whilst undertaking Balsam pulling in Area 5 this morning Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria was seen along the river. . Also seen were Branched Bur-reed Sparganium erectum on the margins of the river and Water Figwort Scrophularia auriculata .

06/07/18 Despite the efforts of removing it by hand in previous years there is still a lot of Ragwort Senecio jacobaea in the Area 10 car park field.

01/07/18 All along the Emm the aptly named Meadow Sweet Filipendula ulmaria is in bloom. If you get a chance give it a sniff as you walk past.

Other Wildlife

Amphibians and Reptiles

Mammals

16/07/18 A Hedgehog Erinaceus eoropaeus was seen early evening in my Area 5 garden. As it didnt look quite right and I was concerned about its welfare, I picked it up and put it in a box.Following cat food and water it revived and was released back into the garden later in the evening.

15/07/18 During Balsam pulling in Area 8(Old Forest Road Meadows) a solitary Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus was disturbed from the longer grass.

10/07/18 During a visit today to Area 8(Old Forest Road Meadows) at lunch time 3 Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus were disturbed from the grass.

07/07/18 Speaking with a dog walker today, it appears that in Area 5 around 22:00 on the fields to the rear of Morrisons a Fox Vulpes vulpes and, from the description a Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus were seen.

03/07/18 Still plodding into my Area 5 garden in the early hours is a Hedgehog Erinaceus eoropaeus caught on the trail-cam.

Molluscs

Fish

Fungi

27/07/18 During my walk to work this morning I noticed the Oak Bracket Inonotus dryadeus fungus on an Oak Tree in Area 4 by Ripplestream Bridge.