You've got to hand it to the common terns, their persistence is unyielding when it comes to a determination to procreate - they are still at it! Having suffered catastrophic losses thanks to the gulls, courting activity has resumed and hopefully this time one or two may just pull it off. The gull chicks are well on the way to independence now, which bodes well for the survival of any new tern chicks, let's hope so.
Common terns courting
News of the little terns it still disappointing, very few attempted to breed again after the devastation caused by a freak storm in June. For the chicks that did hatch being so few in number, life is a challenge when surrounded by many other mouths to feed, as lambs to the slaughter so the saying goes and in this case it couldn't be closer to the truth - any that do survive will have genuinely done so against all odds. The sandwich terns seem to have been the least effected by this years challenges. Starting to lay later than the gulls meant they avoided the May storm surges and the chicks were quite mature by the time the June storms hit. Judging from the photographs taken around the harbour food hasn't been a problem, with a lot of large fish being bought back to the chicks, around 70 have fledged so far, so a great year for them at least.
A good catch for this Sandwich tern
Why not take part in the Big Butterfly Count? We did. Running until the 9th August, it takes just 15 minutes of your time, you'll be helping to assess the health of the environment and it's fun too! Although a windy day, the sun was out and our sightings were good at the oyster beds on Hayling Island. There was an abundance of gatekeepers, as well as large whites, marbled whites were around too as were red admirals.
Marbled white butterfly
What we did see in great numbers were cinnabar moth caterpillars, every bit of ragwort (which they completely rely on) was covered in them wriggling around like John Travolta on the dance floor (only not in a white suit of course). Ragwort is contentious, as a horse owner myself the mere sight of a rogue yellow stem appearing in any of our fields triggered a 'dalekesque' reaction - exterminate, exterminate. Where it poses a threat to grazing animals it should be controlled, but eradicated completely from the countryside? No, it would be a terrible shame if we were to lose one of our most beautiful moths.
Cinnabar moth caterpillars on ragwort
The harbour and surrounding area has had some unusual visitors over the last few weeks. Barrel jellyfish have been seen in large numbers and the distinctive compass jellyfish have been spotted too, even a sunfish was photographed drifting along just outside the harbour. It's laterally flattened body gives it a bizarre look that rather reminds me of road kill! With a penchant for jellyfish they were obviously following their food sauce, which begs the question what eats sunfish? Well killer whale's among other things, now that would be something to see in the Solent. Perhaps not as dramatic as orca's, but nevertheless still quite amazing were the 50 or so Starry Smooth-Hound sharks seen at RSPB Medmerry recently - a rare sight indeed!
We're always out and about at community events, giving talks to local groups and generally trying to raise the profile of our work here . Exciting children about nature is a particular challenge, especially in an urban environment where their detachment from the natural world is often significant (I have spoken to children who live a 10 minute walk from the beach and have never been). However it is that lack of exposure that is almost always the source of their apathy. Getting children out there, seeing wildlife at first hand almost without exception brings out an inquisitiveness and indeed a fascination and hopefully a desire to learn more, given the opportunity. I've seen the toughest inner city kids making apple bird feeders, asking questions and for a few precious moments being allowed to be children again. It's a delight to witness their enthusiasm and their inquisitive minds deserve to be nurtured. I recently built a bug hotel with a group of children at an after school club, as I was leaving one of the girls came up and said "I'm not going to look at my iPad anymore, I'm going to look at the bug hotel instead" - result!
Daisy Chain Festival, Southsea