By mid-November our trees were putting on a stunning autumn colour display, but what a crazy time this is – our daffodils are already emerging. I am busy collecting up all the fallen leaves – garden gold I call them because once they have rotted down by this time next year they will have produced the best ever compost.
This time last year I was busy building my bug mansion. It has not worked! On the other hand, various stacks of rotting logs around the garden have provided an excellent habitat for insects and have already attracted many …
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Paul’s Nature Notes October-November 2021
28 November 2021 By
The Disappearing Ram!
28 November 2021 By
By the time you read this my rams will have completed their work and will be back grazing on their own until next autumn. Last week, as I was putting them back in the field opposite the farm it jogged my memory about an event which took place a couple of years back. I had a couple of eccentric friends who wanted to borrow my Jacob ram for their ewes. I’m not keen on lending my rams out so instead they brought their sheep to Yellingham. The day dawned and the sheep arrived and given there was only a few I decided to put them near to the house in …
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Paul’s Nature Notes September-October 2021
28 October 2021 By
Wildlife volunteers urgently needed – The Natural History of Payhembury – a project to record the flora and fauna of Payhembury Parish
We have all heard the stories: huge declines in insect numbers over the past 50 years, moth numbers down by a third, many common butterfly species facing extinction within the next 20 years and in some places even the common house sparrow is in decline. More worrying is the news that bees are in serious trouble, as are many of our native trees.
Your help in protecting our local wildlife is needed but the …
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Visit the Countryside…it’s idyllic
28 September 2021 By
I seem to be a honeypot for single ladies. The phone rings:
“Oh, hello do you take single ladies? It’s just that I’m on my own and after reading a “glossy” magazine with amazing photographs of orchards, bunting, tables laid with linen, and afternoon tea and sheep and cattle grazing in the background, I thought to myself that’s what I need …. a holiday on a farm”.
I explained that we were a working farm and magazines often depict life in the countryside as a dream to be realised, but things are not always so perfect. Oh, my goodness she even …
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Paul’s Nature Notes August-September 2021
28 September 2021 By
With more people feeding birds these days it is easy to forget that attracting large numbers creates the danger of disease. Last May Nigel in Cheriton told us about Trichomonosis, which can prove deadly to Chaffinches. Despite regularly moving and cleaning the feeders and changing the water daily he and his neighbours stopped feeding for a period which happily resolved matters. More recently Colin and Lyn here in the village had casualties, even after daily cleanliness checks. When visiting Cern Abbass in August they were disgusted by the …
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Paul’s Nature Notes July-August 2021
28 August 2021 By
After the really bad start to the year we are seeing the return of a sense of normality. Nature has started to play catch-up - the cycle of life differs every year but it appears to remains intact despite all the obvious signs of global warming..
On 31 May we welcomed the return of the Spotted Flycatchers, which successfully raised a family again. Our bees have done less well. We lost four colonies last winter but thanks to friends and capturing some swarms we are now back to full strength, but it has not been a good year for honey. In fact, …
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Paul’s Nature Notes June-July 2021
28 July 2021 By
Many folk seem to have their pet loves and hates when it comes down to birds. Some people I know disparage House Sparrows, calling them Spugs, many others loathe Wood Pigeons especially in farming areas and some dislike Starlings, despite them looking really beautiful close up. When Bill Oddy recently announced that House Martins are the 10th most disliked bird in the UK I was truly amazed. Ours returned on April 30th only for last year’s nest to come crashing to the ground. Undeterred they soon built another with the help of a third bird – …
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Paul’s Nature Notes May – June 2021
3 July 2021 By
The low moth counts continued right into June and unfortunately there are many species which may now not appear at all this year, notable amongst which is the Puss Moth. This is such a truly glorious moth and one which surely should be a firm favourite of all the cat owners in the village. I have it on authority that this has been the worst spring for insects since records began. Reports have come in from all over the country of Blue Tit broods failing due to lack of food. Oak trees came into leaf at least a month late and this meant that there …
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Paul’s Nature Notes – April/May 2021
28 May 2021 By
Sorry about my typo last month when I confused months with moths. On the other hand, perhaps I should have been talking about moths. In almost two decades of monitoring moth populations I have been really shocked by how few there have been during April and early May. The constant frosty nights have held back the emergence of so many early spring species and I am left wondering if they will actually appear at all this season. During that lovely warm period at the end of March numbers peaked at around 50 but since then I have been able to count …
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Paul’s Nature Notes – March/April 2021
19 May 2021 By
Having lived for most of my life in the home counties and London and watched the decline in so many species it is easy here in Devon to take for granted what is quite rare in other parts of the country. We were involved with breeding bird surveys and although Sussex is very rich in birdlife it simply does not compare with Payhembury, where we are blessed with an abundance of nature in all its glorious forms. Despite the really cold patch in April, many old favourites have returned to breed: male blackcaps and chiffchaffs are vocal in setting up …
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