Nature Notes - March 2022
Sickleholme Nature Notes
As was forecast last month, March saw the beginning of the Network Rail related plantings on the course and everyone playing will have noticed areas such as that shown in this month’s photo image. More detail was shared in the email sent on behalf of the Greens Committee but the headline figures of 150 mature trees and 15,000 smaller plantings are impressive. Even more reassuring from a personal point of view is the wide variety of native and wildlife friendly species that have been selected.
The month started with a still very wet course (and ended with snow!) but much of the period saw sunshine and warmer temperatures. Pollinators were soon taking advantage of the winter flowering heathers and early wildflowers, and amongst those Trevor Hoyland and I were able to identify the aptly named Early Bumblebee. My appeal for the first butterfly sightings resulted in a tie in that Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell were both seen on 14th.
On the 10th, I was shown the first Lesser Celandines of the year only minutes after four of us had enjoyed splendid views of a large female Goshawk above the 8th fairway. That hopefully means that the pair that nest nearby are ready for another breeding season.
Half a dozen members reported Curlews seen or heard with the 13th seemingly the first date. After that, the wonderfully atmospheric calls of birds in display flight were a regular sound from the field around the eastern boundary of the course. A very small number of Chiffchaff winter in the UK but the rest are amongst the earliest birds returning from Africa and the onomatopoeic song was first noted on 17th. By the 29th, numbers had built up and I was able to count seven males holding territory and advertising for females.
A real highlight, however, was undoubtedly Simon’s report of a Red Kite early in the month. To the best of my knowledge, only the second ever reported here and evidence of how the species is moving northwards in its colonisation of the county. I firmly believe that records will become far more frequent now.
Bryan Barnacle