Visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 26th July 2023

Date: 26th July 2023

Time: from 10:15 a.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 18°C to 20°C

This was my first visit to the site since way back on 8th July 2023. This was due to a number of factors, not least poor weather but also other commitments including attending the 3-day Global BirdFair plus some birding in Lincolnshire (see here).

The main purpose of my visit was to primarily record and photograph butterflies and dragonflies and damselflies plus to undertake my first Big Butterfly Count of 2023.

It proved to be an exceptionally good visit with 14 butterfly species and 6 dragonfly/damselfly species recorded. However, there was a marked decline in the numbers of Marbled Whites, "golden" skipper species and Meadow Browns since my last visit on 8th July 2023 but Gatekeepers were much more abundant.

My records included a new addition to my site list (Brown Argus), 2 additions to my 2023 site list for butterflies (Small Copper and Peacock) and 2 additions to my 2023 site list for dragonflies and damselflies (Migrant Hawker and Common Darter).

This year has already proved to be much better than 2022 ….

Butterflies: 17 species in 2022, 23 species to date in 2023

Dragonflies and damselflies: 7 species in 2022, 11 species to date in 2023  

I recorded the following during my visit ….

Southern section north of St. Nicholas Lane (including a 15 minute Big Butterfly Count): Marbled White (1), Small Copper (1), Brown Argus (1 or possibly 2), Holly Blue (1), Ringlet (1), Red Admiral (1), Speckled Wood (1), Gatekeeper (at least 30), Meadow Brown (at least 10), Large White (at least 5), Migrant Hawker (2), unidentified medium-sized dragonfly species (possibly Migrant Hawker) (c.5)

This area is also already suggesting that there may be a good blackberry crop this year ....

Photo: male Migrant Hawker

Photo: female Migrant Hawker

Photo: Brown Argus

Photo: Brown Argus

Photo: Brown Argus

Photo: Brown Argus

Photo: Brown Argus

Photo: Marbled White

Photo: Large White

Photo: Gatekeeper

Photo: Gatekeeper

Photo: Gatekeeper

Photo: Meadow Brown

Photo: Meadow Brown

Photo: Meadow Brown

“Hilly Road” to St. Nicholas Church: Common Blue (1 male), Gatekeeper (at least 5), Meadow Brown (at least 5), Common Darter (1 or possibly 2 females)

Photo: female Common Darter

Photo: female Common Darter

St. Nicholas Church and cemetery (including a 15 minute Big Butterfly Count at the Buddleia bushes in the central section of the cemetery): Peacock (7), Red Admiral (2), Comma (1), Gatekeeper (at least 25), Meadow Brown (at least 5), unidentified “white” species (Large White and/or Small White) (at least 5), medium-sized dragonfly species (at least 5)

Photo: Comma

Photo: Comma

Photo: Peacock

Photo: Peacock

Photo: Gatekeeper

Photo: Large White

Wooded area at the end of the track from Larkins Tyres: Speckled Wood (1), Gatekeeper (1)

Northern section and pond: Marbled White (1), Small Copper (1), Common Blue (3 males), Red Admiral (1), Peacock (1), unidentified “small skipper” species (Small Skipper and/or Essex Skipper) (3), unidentified “white” species (Large White and/or Small White) (at least 10), Gatekeeper (at least 15), Meadow Brown (at least 5), Emerald Damselfly (at least 2), Azure Damselfly (at least 1), Emperor Dragonfly (2), Ruddy Darter (at least 2 males)

Photo: male Common Blue

Photo: male Common Blue

Photo: Small Copper

Photo: male Ruddy Darter

Photo: male Ruddy Darter

Photo: male Ruddy Darter

Photo: male Ruddy Darter

Photo: male Ruddy Darter

Photo: Emerald Damselfly

Photo: Azure Damselfly

Bird activity was almost non-existent and I only recorded 8 species! However, this did include a female Sparrowhawk flying low and fast through the central section of the cemetery, 1 calling but unseen Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 calling but unseen Green Woodpeckers, 2 contact calling but unseen Chiffchaffs and 2 singing but unseen Blackcaps.

Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):

Blackcap

Chiffchaff

Blue Tit

Sparrowhawk

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker

Magpie

Woodpigeon

Marbled White

Small Copper

Brown Argus

Common Blue

Holly Blue

Comma

Ringlet

Peacock

Red Admiral

Speckled Wood

Gatekeeper

Meadow Brown

Skipper sp.

Small White

Large White

Migrant Hawker

Emperor Dragonfly

Emerald Damselfly

Azure Damselfly

Common Darter

Ruddy Darter

Site totals for 2023 to date (2022 totals in brackets):

Birds = 41  (45)

Mammals = 3  (5)

Butterflies = 23  (17)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 11  (7)

Reptiles = 0  (0)

Amphibians = 0  (0)

Total species list for the site:

Birds = 63

Mammals = 7

Butterflies = 25

Dragonflies and damselflies = 12

Reptiles = 1

Amphibians = 0

#DefendNature .... Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife 

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature

Ask political leaders to make 5 General Election pledges to save nature

For so many reasons we need a General Election. Not least, we need a Government that takes the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis seriously.

When Sunak finally has the courage to ask the UK public for its verdict on 13 year years of incompetent and corrupt government, we need to ask all political leaders to make 5 pledges to save nature.

Politicians in the UK have made many big promises for nature and the environment but the Government's own advisors agree: they are not doing enough to protect, conserve and improve the natural world.

That is why, ahead of the next General Election, over 70 environmental charities in the Wildlife and Countryside Link coalition have joined forces to create a 5-point plan. 

Nature 2030 campaign launches

This 5-point plan needs to be reflected in the manifestos of all political parties to reverse the UK's appalling record as one of the most nature depleted countries on the planet with over 1 in 7 native species facing extinction and more than 40% of species having declined over the last 50 years.

The importance of nature continues to be overlooked by the Government with the UK meeting only 3 out of 10 global targets for nature set in 2020. 

2030 is an incredibly important date for the natural world. In 2020, the UK committed to a global agreement to restore 30% of land and seas and halt the loss of nature by 2030.

In England, the Government backed up that promise by creating a legal duty to stop the decline of species by the end of the next Parliament.

Time is running out. There is a real risk those targets will be missed. Only 3.2% of England’s land and 8% of England’s seas are protected and managed for nature so far. 

No political party has yet set out the ambitious action needed to set the UK’s nature on the path to recovery, despite the environment being a key issues for many voters.  

As the impacts of the biodiversity crisis and climate emergency worsen, it is clear that any incoming Government will be increasingly judged on their environmental record and the expectations from voters remain high. 

The 5-point plan published by the Wildlife and Countryside Link in the Nature 2030 Report includes these specific actions .... 

A pay rise for nature and farmers: Doubling the nature-friendly farming budget to £6bn pay for ambitious farm improvements and large-scale nature restoration

Making polluters pay: Putting a nature recovery obligation in to law, requiring polluting big businesses to deliver environmental improvement plans and funding to counter the damage they cause to nature

More space for nature by 2030: A 30 x 30 rapid delivery programme restoring protected sites and landscapes and creating a Public Nature Estate to fulfil the promise to protect 30% of the land and sea for nature, and deliver more nature in all communities.

Delivering the green jobs we need: A National Nature Service delivering wide scale habitat restoration and creating thousands of green jobs

A right to a healthy environment: Establishing a human right to clean air and water and access to nature, building nature into decision making, enabling people to hold decision makers to account and driving changes that will recover nature and improve public health

Support the campaign .... Nature 2030: Support our plan to restore nature. (wildlifetrusts.org)

#DefendNature .... Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife 

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature

There is a climate emergency!

Our planet is literally on fire!

A series of climate records on temperature, ocean heat and Antarctic sea ice have alarmed some scientists who say their speed and timing is unprecedented.

Here are 4 climate records broken so far during the summer of 2023 .... the hottest day on record globally, the hottest June on record globally, extreme marine heatwaves, record low Antarctic sea ice .... and what they tell us.

BBC News - Climate records tumble leaving Earth in uncharted territory - scientists

This is what we are doing to the planet which is our home and the home to all the wonderful biodiversity that we share it with ....

Yet we have recently learned that the Government is drawing up plans to drop the UK’s flagship £11.6bn climate and nature funding pledge.

The Guardian - Revealed: UK plans to drop flagship £11.6bn climate pledge

The Guardian - Rishi Sunak signals he could abandon green policies that cost consumers

The Government is giving all sorts of lame excuses to then claim that dealing with the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis is unaffordable whilst still supposedly expressing its commitment to the various national and international targets.

That is like saying I want to lose weight but I don’t want to eat less and exercise more.

The truth is clear …. we have a grossly incompetent and corrupt Conservative Government pandering to a small minority of party members, supporters and corporate donors, not to mention the right-wing press and TV stations and the tiny proportion of people who are openly climate change deniers.

Meanwhile, surveys show strong levels of concern about climate change amongst the UK public.

Ipsos - 8 in 10 Britons concerned about climate change – half think net zero target should be brought forward

Overall, 84% are concerned about climate change with more than half (52%) “very concerned”.

Similarly, when asked when the UK will start feeling the effects of climate change, 72% say we are already feeling the effects.

With regard to the hot weather in July 2022, 40% say the main cause is climate change because of human activity. Just 12% say it has been caused by natural weather processes and 45% think it is a mix of both.

When asked about the UK government target of bringing the UK’s contribution to climate change to “net zero” by 2050, 52% think the UK should bring all emissions to “net zero” before 2050 and 26% think the target is about right. Just 7% think the target should be achieved more slowly and only 11% say there should not be a target.

The solution is obvious.

We need a General Election and we need a new Government that takes the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis seriously and implements the progressive and radical polices to mitigate and prevent the worst of this rapidly escalating catastrophe.

Above all ....

#DefendNature .... Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife 

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature