1992 June to August
A
few pages only survive beyond August 1990, tucked into the
back of an earlier volume.
June 7th
Near the Ash tree I
saw a dappled Daddy Long Legs in the sunshine. There have
been two male Goldfinches hanging around the Clough lately;
I think they must not have paired this year. The sun is hot,
the sky blue with Summer clouds, and a refreshing wind is
blowing.
June 20th
Saw a Meadow Brown
and a Skipper down the Clough for the first time this year.
There was a brown and black barred fly, with large brown
eyes and a sting - it kept pushing out of its abdomen, about
quarter of an inch long. I think it was a Hornet. Just
lately I have seen two olive-coloured Finches, with
finch-like beak and pink legs. I think they must be
Greenfinches.
June 27th
I saw a family of
Long Tailed Tits in the valley. The young were a grubby
black and white and I couldn’t see any pink on them, unlike
the parents who had streaks of pink. Also the young Tits had
not the long tails of the adults.
July 6th
Near the carp pond,
baby Toads are hopping around. Many were less than a cm
long. It’s very rare I see adult Toads in this area. In the
Hay Meadow I saw a large adult Orange Underwing Moth.
The
Thyme Leaved Speedwell has had pale blue flowers all June in
the grass verges. White and Yellow Stonecrops can be seen in
gardens and the wasteland. I think the yellow is Unreflexed
Stonecrop.
July 31st
Today I saw the
first Black Ladybird with two red spots, on one of the Ash
trees. They always hatch out in the Autumn. Many more are
still in larvae form. About a week ago I saw a Red Dragonfly
flying over the Clough, one of the first I’ve seen this
year.
August
2nd
A real delight
today. For the very first time, I saw a Comma Butterfly on
thistles down the Clough. There were Meadow Browns flying
about, and a dainty Small Copper. But the Comma, which I
have never seen before, stole the show. It was an orange
butterfly with black markings. I recognised it from a
Tortoiseshell by the zigzag outline of its wings.
August
4th
I found the three to
four inch long brown Caterpillar of the Elephant Hawk Moth.
I have never seen one of these moths, but recognised the
caterpillar by its sheer size. I believe they feed on
Rosebay Willow Herb and found this to be correct, so I took
the caterpillar to its food plant as it was on a pathway
nowhere near any.
August
5th
Went a lovely walk
round Wayoh with Gina. The purple Heather is out and we saw
a few lovely delicate blue Harebells. About thirty Canada
Geese flew off the reservoir and over our heads. We saw a
few Mallard on the water. Hemp Agrimony was flowering with
Yellow Loosestrife around the water edge.
August
6th
As well as
seeing a few black Ladybirds with two red spots on the
Ashes, I also saw two small Red Ladybirds with white heads
and two Black Spots. I wonder if they are related to the
Black ones by a recessive gene, or are in fact another
species.