The last full month of summer is here and soon our summer migrants will be packing up and leaving their summer territories behind to spend their autumns and winters in warmer Africa and southern Europe.
Though most broods will now have fledged, and we won't be seeing many of our autumn migrants for a few months yet, there is always something to look out for.
Ripening Brambles
Image by Christel from Pixabay
As we approach the autumn season there will be an abundance of fruit, nuts and seeds for the wildlife to eagerly take advantage of. Already brambles - also known as blackberries - are beginning to ripen, providing a vast array of species with an important food source. Thrushes such as the blackbird and song thrush, robins, various finches, foxes, badgers and mice will all feed upon the fruits and in turn disperse the seeds in their droppings in a mutually beneficial relationship.
Bramble thickets are just as important in the other seasons however. The thorny tangle of branches provides a safe nesting site for small birds such as the dunnock whose alternate name of 'hedge sparrow' alludes to this habit, with bramble and hawthorn hedges being their favoured choices. In turn in the summer when the bramble flowers bloom they provide a rich source of nectar for a variety of insects.
Many gardeners may find themselves battling to remove brambles, however, consider leaving a small patch and the wildlife will thank you - plus there'll be tasty fruits for you to enjoy!
Dancing Dragonflies
Dragonfly and damselfly numbers are at their peak during August so cast your eyes towards the water and you're likely to see a number of different species flitting around. Just like birds many Odonata species are territorial and can be seen patrolling their claimed patch or chasing off intruders.
While dragonflies are most familiar in their adult form this only accounts for a small proportion of their entire lifecycle, with many adults only living for a few short weeks. In comparison the aquatic nymph stage usually lasts for a few months or even several years in some species! Dragonfly nymphs are important - and voracious - predators who spend their early lives feeding on everything from insect larva to small fish.
At Lochwinnoch look out for species like the four-spotted chaser and common darter, or the smaller damselflies like the common blue and large red.
Golden ringed dragonfly by Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)
Wader Movements
August is arguably the best month to catch sightings of some uncommon wader species both at Lochwinnoch and in other wetland and coastal sights around the UK.
Many waders spend their summers in the Arctic, making the most of the long daylight hours and abundance of food as temperatures rise and the snow melts. In the late summer and throughout the autumn an array of species will begin the return flight to their wintering grounds in southern Europe and Africa.
One of the first species to begin this journey is the Green Sandpiper and already July has brought a number of sightings. These small waders are very occasional breeders in the UK but commonly occur on passage as they move south, with a small portion choosing to spend the entire winter season here. Other species we're likely to see include increasing numbers of Curlew and Lapwing as our resident populations are boosted by individuals arriving from northern Europe.
In August last year we were visited by a particularly unusual wader, the Ruff, which will also be on the move. Ruffs not only display sexual dimorphism between males and females, but there are three different morphs which males can display! The most common variety is the 'territorial male' which have the typical showy chestnut or black coloured 'ruff' of feathers around their neck which gives the species its name and aggressively defend lekking sites during the breeding season. 'Satellite males' make up anywhere from 10-20%of the male population and instead have a striking white collar of feathers. Unlike the territorial morph these males don't defend mating sites and instead visit already established territories where they attempt to woo females. The last is the most unusual - the cryptic male - of which only a small proportion of males belong to. The plumage of the cryptic male is near-identical to the female and one theory is that this allows them to sneakily mate with females without other males noticing.
Green sandpiper by Tim Hughes (rspb-images.com)
This year a whopping 13 wader species have visited the reserve, so keep your eyes peeled this month - perhaps we'll see that number increase.
Written by Lauren Mclean - Volunteer