Nature Notes - June 2023
Sickleholme Nature Notes
Bats have not featured in the monthly notes before but during June, two members asked about what species we might have on the course. Apart from a couple of small pipistrelle type bats, seen by someone attending an evening function, I can find no record of any other sightings and it is difficult to discover more without a bat detector (a gadget that identifies species by their flight calls). It seems that we do have a few old bat boxes around the site but neither Patrick nor Matt know where they came from, and it requires a license to examine bat nest locations. I would be delighted to spread the word if anyone can provide me with more information. They are, of course, mammals and it would be good to know what occurs within our boundaries.
In recent months some bird species regularly seen or heard overhead have been sighted on the ground in the playing areas. Mick Cartwright added to that list when he saw three Curlews feeding on the course. Our resident Pied Wagtails have been observed feeding two young and juvenile Kestrels have been heard calling for food in the plantation to the right of the 9th fairway. A good site for them as this woodland is rarely disturbed by any of us. Young Blue/Great Tits and House Sparrows have also been present at the clubhouse feeders, so the breeding season is well underway.
Anne Riddick mentioned a Stoat sighting whilst she and several others also noted Brown Hares. The latter are now scarcer than our Rabbits and are arguably more popular, as they don’t excavate burrows or bunkers! Meadow Brown butterflies have appeared in good numbers and in places the longer grass has held clouds of small grass moths. The three commonest being Inlaid Grass-veneer, Garden Grass-veneer, and Straw Grass-veneer. These micro moths lack the strong colours of many larger moths and go largely unnoticed.
The land that the club owns around our perimeters is always worth a look and in summer is often a riot of wildflowers. My photo this month is from the meadow to the left of the 8th fairway and shows some Hogweed in the foreground plus hundreds of Meadow Buttercups and Ox-eye Daisies. Keep the records coming in, please.
Bryan Barnacle
