July-Sept Nature Notes for the Launceston Area

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These three months see the season change from high summer into autumn. After the long cold winter, we are at last enjoying warm sunny days.
Events programme:
In early July, on the 3rd, we visit Wimalford, a moorland farm in the upper Fowey valley with SSSI marshland, hay meadows and some interesting archaeology. The marsh supports some un-common plants and insects and we may be in time to see the Marsh Fritillaries & Small Red Damselflies. Then we will be at Launceston Show on Thursday, July 15th, with a focus on insects & mini-beasts.

In August, we hope to have a moth & bat evening at a local garden; date to be confirmed.

We plan to visit Trebartha garden in September. Open under the National Garden Scheme, it will give us the opportunity to walk up beside the cascades of the Withybrook, down stream of where we walked between three tors in March. Fast flowing water between moss laden boulders and shady ferneries!  And I expect that nut-hunting for dormice will be arranged somewhere.

Other activities:
Don’t miss the opportunity to use Sue’s expertise with the OPAL pond check kit. (Contact her on 01566 86761) 

‘Save our Butterflies Week’ follows Launceston show with the 'Big Butterfly Count' (see website) from July 24th to August 1st.                                                                                          

And Cornwall Mammal Group still needs as many records of mammals as possible for their planned atlas.We need to make sure that the atlas covers as much of the county as possible.

What to look for in this third quarter:

See the following sections: Birds, Butterflies, Moths, Mammals, Bats, Plants, Insects .

This information is regularly updated to reflect what we are finding from our own observations. Contact us if there is anything you feel we should add. If you want to tell us about species species you have seen then include Who saw the species, What the species was and any notes about the observation, Where the event was seen (description or grid reference) and When it was seen. We need all four pieces of information to make it a scientific record.

Birds. Because of the late spring, we may well find that many birds are still nesting; Siskins and Song Thrushes continue to sing although most birds will soon go through their summer moult and are reluctant to advertise their presence by singing. The first few weeks of July is the last period to note where our summer visitors are located by their song within the parish. The summer migrants will be leaving us later in this period, starting with the Cuckoo in July followed by the Swifts in August. Please note any locations where you think Swifts are nesting as next year the BTO plan a national survey.

Towards the end of the period, resident birds will be leaving their breeding areas and grouping together in small, often mixed flocks, so take a careful look at such groups. If you are around in the Launceston Area and notice any of the following birds, then recorders can add the details on their special events form and others can contact us with the information: Willow Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher are important species to note as they seem to be in decline. Look out also for Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Swifts, Wheatear, Yellowhammer, Green Woodpecker, Kingfisher, Dipper, Grey Wagtail, Skylark, and any birds of prey - there appear to be a few more Kestrels about so take note where you see them. Occasional reports continue of Red Kite, this time from Lezant parish so they are about. 

Butterflies. We have had good numbers of most of the spring butterflies except for Holly Blues. There were some early Red Admirals so their offspring should appear soon. Meadow Browns, Ringlets and Skippers have just started to appear and this is the quarter when we should see most numbers so look out for: Gatekeepers, Peacock, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Holly Blue, Common Blue, Small Copper, Wall Brown, Ringlet and Silver-Washed fritillary.

It is important to record the maximum numbers that you see at any one time in your own patch on the checklist, so we can follow any fluctuations in populations from year to year. Many of us have seen Green Hairstreaks but what about the Purple Hairstreak that flies high in the tree canopy. Especially in oak so binoculars are required! The Clouded Yellow is another species to look out for - although the first immigrants of this species start to arrive to our shores in late May or early June, much larger numbers can appear in July and August and favour sunny warm sites.

MothsThere are several day-flying moths to look out for in this period, especially the pink Elephant Hawkmoth and the Humming-bird Hawkmoth. Sooty black Chimneysweeper moths fly amongst the grasses in pasture.  We are starting to get more information about the range of night flying species in our area, now we have four moth traps. Dave Groves 01566 86416 is coordinating this study. Ask Dave or your parish coordinator if you want to have use of one at your home. We can also advise on a cheap UV source that will attract moths to your window.

Mammals. All species will have young in this period making observations more interesting. Parents need to find food for their young and this can make them more adventurous. Under recorded species include Hedgehog, Brown Hare, Grey Squirrel, Common Shrew, Water Shrew, House Mouse, and Common Rat. Remember that a road kill is a valid record. The Hare is a rather special mammal, only present in small quantities in only some of our parishes, but the others should be quite common - please record all that you see anywhere in the parish on your Special Events form. Muntjac or the Barking Deer  is believed to be in our area, so keep a look out for a very small, odd-looking deer! Keep up to date on Dormice in this area, through Jenny's notes on our site.

Bats. - a special group of Mammals. Bats also produce their young in this period and inevitably some get lost trying to find their way back to the roost. If you find any, protect them from cats, but try to leave them as close to where you feel the roost is. If you are aware of the location of nursery roosts, it is a good opportunity to count them out of the roost at dusk. Typical numbers could be 50 to 100. Different species come out at different rates. For those close to Lanson, keep a look out for the very large bats that appear on Windmill Hill, Coronation Park, just before dark- if you see them, spread the message for others to enjoy the experience. Last year breeding numbers were believed to be very low, so we are very interested for you to do counts on bat roosts in your area. Please contact Tony Atkinson 01579 370433.

PlantsWe hope that members are finding the Common Plants Booklet useful. Many of our events include plant interest so we have not arranged any separate meetings this year. If anyone would like to have a copy of the booklet or would like to organize a meeting, please contact Jen Bousfield on 01566 782661.

Insects. We mentioned these last year for this quarter, as this is the most interesting time of year for them. For many species, especially beetles, this is near the end of their breeding cycle and they are effectively hibernating. However, this period is good for dragonflies, damselflies (look out for the White Legged Damselfly north of Launceston), grasshoppers etc and it is an important time for adult glow worms - 9th July to 19th August is supposed to the time to record them. Their breeding cycle is 3 years, so if you see adult glow worms every year, then you have a substantial colony. Tell us how many you see and where they are. The number of known sites in our areas is increasing. Lezant and St Stephens, Launceston are known sites. See our own section on Glow-worms.

Wildlife Gardening: Just enjoy the huge variety of insects that will be visiting your garden this quarter. (They are not all bad!) Fuchsias, Sweet Tobacco and many scented flowers have rich stores of nectar and attract long tongued bees and many moths & butterflies. Always have some fresh water available; not only for the birds but many insects will come into drink on hot sunny days. Go out at night with a dim torch or infra red lamp and smell the scents of flowers and warm cut grass and, as your hearing adjusts, you'll be amazed at just how much is going on. make sure that you allow some grasses and plants to set seed to provide feed for the autumn.  

For updates on Wildlife in Cornwall from other organisations, look at the following:

Cornwall Wildlife Trust - latest Wildlife news, ERCCIS for issues related to recording species in Cornwall;
What's on, Ask a question from the Wildlife Information Service

BBC Cornwall Nature - with features, images, video and A-Z of Wildlife; Wildlife Extra, Cornwall - useful links to latest wildlife news in our county, with maps

Cornwall Mammal Group - information about the atlas, information sheets and maps, events,