This months nature report begins even before I can get down the garden path. Nesting in a hole in the branch of an apple tree is a family of blue tits.

The photo on the left shows one of the parents just returning to the nest to feed its young, while the photograph on the right shows a pair of hungry mouths eager to receive whatever mum and dad bring them.

Just a few yards further into the farm yard and this young rodent was spotted.

It is a young rat and needless to say is not a welcome visitor. Rats are serious pests being carriers of numerous diseases.

Immediate action was taken to remove this particular guest from the premises.

You may remember from Phil's report that June has been a rather warm dry month, yet surprisingly it appears that on at least one day it snowed.

As you can see from these photograph we appear to have had a light flurry of snow in the middle of summer.

Here you can see a light dusting covering the grass.

However as the next photograph shows it is actually a little trick of nature.

 

The "snow" is actually the seeds from the willow trees along the banks of the River Dane.

This photograph shows the seeds before they are released from their parent tree.

They can be carried great distances even on the lightest of winds.

Seeds were not the only objects to be seen in the sky.

High above flew one of the fastest hunters in our sky, a Peregrine Falcon.

This hunter of the sky attacks its chosen target with a very high speed dive which can reach speeds of up to 180mph (290kph) striking its victim a blow with its talons as it passes.

Also in the sky at this time, on the edge of my photographic range and having a much harder time, was this buzzard.

It was being given a very hard time by what may have been a rook.

The buzzard will normally fly away from the harassing bird but I have seen one instance when the buzzard did a mid-air role and took out one of the aggressors which got too close.

Somewhat closer, an almost silent movement directed my eyes towards the branches of a nearby tree.

Yet another bird of prey, this time a Tawny Owl.

When I say almost silent movement I refer to the movement of the branch it landed upon for the flight of the tawny is silent.

A nocturnal hunter, the Tawny owl usually rests during the day so to see this one active was a little unusual.

On a gentler note and this time on the ground I spotted this young Lapwing (aka Peewit).

The lapwing is a useful bird for farmers as it feeds upon the likes of snails, slugs and leatherjacket's (larvae of the crane fly) all are pests to crops.

Lapwings are a little unusual in that they nest on the ground in shallow depressions. At one time you could see them in large flocks, Today they seem to be less common.

Still on the ground, and an example of community feeding. This Small Tortoiseshell butterfly and a bee share a meal of nectar on this dandelion.

While the bee looks like a small Bumble bee it is in fact a Digger bee.

I don't think that this Orb Web spider has the nectar of the dandelion in mind as it spins its web. The butterfly might look quite tasty to it though.

Spiders are not everyone's favorite (myself included), however most UK species are quite harmless. Some of the larger ones may give you the occasional nip in self defense, though you probably hardly feel it. Some unlucky people have been known to have quite a strong allergic reaction to a bite. Love them or hate them they are very beneficial in controlling insect pests.

One benefit of this dry weather is that it has lowered the level of the water in the River Dane.

This has meant that the wooden structure that I found is once again becoming visible.

I hope to have a update on this archaeology in next months report.

Finally its back to the air. As I was walking back into the farmyard this goldfinch came to rest upon a power cable.

These are a very colourful bird and has a pleasant song to listen to.

Well that's it for another month, hope that it's been interesting

See you next month, Andy.

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