A Cotswold Year - Charting the seasons in the South Cotswolds


Sunday 29 June 2014

Hornet

The hallway window was buzzing the other day and on investigation we found it was this Hornet. We managed to move it outside using a jam jar and it settled on the patio where we were able to photograph it. In fact the trauma of it all meant that it moved itself to the wall and remained there until it warmed up the next morning.
Hornets have a reputation for being aggressive but they are said to be less so that many other wasp species it is just their noise that makes them appear so. They can be up to 2.5 inches long this one was only around 1.5" so possibly a young one. 



Monday 23 June 2014

Bee Orchid

Look out for the unmistakable Bee Orchid in grassland over the next few weeks.

Sunday 22 June 2014

Cinnabar Moth

From mid May to early August the colourful Cinnabar moth can be seen on grass and heathland. We spotted some on a visit to Alney Island nature reserve in Gloucester on the flood plain of the Severn.

Saturday 21 June 2014

Summer Solstice

The longest day draws to a close and it was another superb sunny day. The hay is cut and bailed in the fields. Let's hope for lots more sunshine for the rest of the summer!

Friday 20 June 2014

Pyramid Orchid

Conservation work with controlled grazing has been successful in encouraging the growth of orchids in the limestone grassland of Uley Bury and pyramid orchids are looking their best as we approach mid summer.

Sunday 15 June 2014

Hot air balloons

A nice calm morning brought large numbers of hot air balloons near to our house early this morning. We counted 21 but think we missed some earlier ones.

Saturday 14 June 2014

Elderflower cordial

It's that time of year when the hedges are full of Elderflowers so here we go...

Thursday 12 June 2014

Common Spotted Orchid

Orchids are now flowering in abundance in unimproved calcareous grassland. This is the Common Spotted Orchid so called for the black spots on its  leaves.

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Dipper

The Dipper is a delightful little bird which lives near fast flowing shallow streams where  it dives for invertebrates.
It is usually found in upland areas but this stretch of the Frome in Stroud near the Waitrose supermarket is a good place to look for them.

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Approaching mid summer



Sorry for the recent lack of posts, we were away enjoying a trip to the Lake District with our local Ramblers group.
We have returned to enjoy the mid summer sun setting over the Severn Vale between the showers.