I like hot weather, though I rarely seem to find it when I go on my occasional holidays to the North East of England. But like many other sun-starved Brits, I have been enjoying the recent dry, sunny spell that we’ve been experiencing here at The Lodge.
But not all Martins are such big fans of the dry weather. House martins, for instance, have been struggling with the recent lack of rain. Or, more specifically, with the shortage of wet, sticky mud.
The dome-shaped nests that house martins build under the eaves of houses are made from pellets of mud, so we’ve been asking everyone to provide containers of mud, or water the edges of flower borders. It’s the perfect excuse to re-live your childhood and make a messy mud pie.
You won’t just be helping house martins. Swallows, blackbirds and thrushes also use mud for their nests. And watering the edges of a flowerbed may turn up a tasty worm or two for a passing starling.
The media have picked up on the story. It’s been in the Independent, the Telegraph and on the BBC. So hopefully lots of people will be encouraged to have a thoroughly dirty weekend....
The dry spell has also put us on alert at our reserves, as it increases the risk of wildfires. Heathland is especially vulnerable. This is a particular concern for us, as some of our most threatened birds are ground-nesting heathland birds. As I have discussed previously on this blog, nightjar, woodlark and Dartford warbler are all at risk from fire, while we reckon that up to 40 per cent of England’s twite population may have been affected by the recent fires in the South Pennines.
And the mini heatwave has not gone unnoticed by the politicians either. On Monday, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman held an emergency drought summit, to make sure that farmers, businesses, householders and wildlife are all prepared for possible water shortages.
Unfortunately, this may be a sign of things to come. Last year, the Committee on Climate Change used projections from computer models of climate change to forecast a higher incidence of extreme weather events such as floods, heatwaves and droughts.
I’m all in favour of a little sunshine but, like so many other pleasurable things, it's best not to overdo it.
Think heathland fires must be a contentious issue as lots of wildlife must lose their lives in these fires especially lizards and all spiders,beetles etc.
Why do RSPB hate wildfires? Im on the edge of an RSPB nature reserve, which is a mountain heathland. Traditionally this area would have been burned by man, and before that by nature. We understand the importance of this kind of disturbance for certain biodiversity and its a part of dynamic ecology. I know RSPB do burn, but they dont do it here.
Considering the failure to meet biodiversity stabilisation targets by 2010, after having followed a pretty concerted effort to save species, should we not be now moving toward saving ecologies? and for heathland like it or not, that involves fire.
PS Welcome Martin I don't post here much, but all the best with your new job.