24th May

My only bird record of note was my first Little Owl of the year, heard calling from the footpath which runs alongside the railway. They have become sadly difficult to find recently and I only recorded a single bird last year. I’m not clear what has driven this apparent decline but on Langlands, which held up to three pairs, John thinks the very heavy flooding of a few years ago is the cause because it killed all the earthworms. Certainly when I went down there after the floods the tracks were covered in a sludge of dead worms.   

On the insect front I saw my first Red Admiral and three Brimstone, a good count for this species in the village. I also saw my first damselflies with Azure damselfly in the Magic Garden and a Large Red Damselfly down Greenhills Lane…

The railway running through the parish acts as something of a wildlife corridor and I have seen birds orientating on and following the line (including once a flock of Common Terns). It used to hold Common Lizards, still the only reptile I have seen in the parish, and because it has often been less disturbed has held on to a different mix of plants than much of the rest of the parish.

Obviously you are not allowed on the railway but where the Morton-Thrintoft path crosses the line you can see many of the typical mix of plants with masses of Forget-me-Nots…

And mats of the low growing, yellow-flowered Black Medic. These are backed by White Dead-nettle, (or Adam and Eve in a Bower from the little figures, stamens, lying next to each other under the petal) and the pale green of Crosswort. Amongst this there are patches of Dove-foot Cranesbill,  Prickly Sow-thistle and Herb Robert …

As well as the attractive little Wood Avens…

And where an undisturbed slope remains they have retained  Cowslips and a few violets…

The railway also has Common Liverwort, fascinating plants that are also known as Umbrella Liverwort for obvious reasons…

These ‘umbrella’ ones are female with the male in the form of flattened leaf-like discs.