Sussex Living Animals In Nature Emag

ANIMALS in Nature

THE BEST OF SUSSEX LIVING!

Welcome to our Animals in Nature e-magazine A message from the Hidden County team...

We've always loved our local creatures, and we've always loved featuring them in our magazines. With the height of summer finally upon us, what better way to celebrate the great outdoors than taking a closer look at some of its inhabitants?

So for our June e-magazine, we bring to you the most favourite of our articles on outdoor wildlife, examining some of the most beautiful animals you can find on your doorstep, and their fascinating habits.

Read on, and prepare to be bewildered by these curious creatures...

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ANIMALS IN NATURE

BEE

business Witnessing a natural marvel in her very own back garden, Ruth Lawrence takes a close look at the truly amazing world of bee swarms on the move

A

bout to pick a crop of apples from the laden tree in our garden, I found the ultimate gift to mark the end of summer; a swarm of bees has set up a temporary home on one of the gnarled branches.

Bees form a new colony when their present hive is full, nearly every cell holding nectar and honey, pollen or bee larvae. A signal goes out to the colony that it’s time to reproduce itself and the older bees leave their established location for the younger bees to inherit. The older bees, including the old Queen, swarm together to find a new place to inhabit. A week before swarming, nursery bees prepare vertical combs to hold eggs that will develop into new queens, only one of whom will become the reproductive force for the colony. When these eggs are halfway developed, the bees realise it’s time to swarm.

A signal tells each bee to take a drop of honey and they pour 4 SUSSEX LIVING

from the hive by the thousand.

Their only intention is to protect the Queen during flight as she flies in their midst; early this summer I walked through a swarm in flight on the Downs and the air was filled with deep humming as they passed. The Queen’s fertility is

When 80% of the scouts have agreed on the most suitable nest site, the swarm departs once more

apparently restored by this flight when she at last leaves the darkness and flies in sunlight – this happens throughout her natural life.

The swarm settles on a branch or other suitable resting place. This is where they will stay for a few hours or days while scout bees go out looking for a more permanent location for the colony. When the scouts return, they communicate the direction and distance of the potential location to other bees by a special dance that may convince other scouts to go and check it out for themselves. The scout conveys her enthusiasm for the new location in her dance and gradually a selection process occurs. Eventually when 80% of the scouts have agreed on the most suitable nest site, the swarm departs once more. They may fly a kilometre to a new nest site, which must be just right.

It must be large enough to accommodate the swarm, be well protected from the elements and receive a certain amount of warmth from the sun.

I have been able to view the swarm at close quarters. The bees are gentle and avoid me even when I’ve been taking photographs nearby. I’ve seen the scouts dancing to convey the potential new nest site; they turn and waggle their bodies while the others ‘listen’. In a day or so they’ll have flown on so I’m keeping a close eye on them, hoping to witness their flight together to a more permanent home. l

ANIMALS IN NATURE

A Delicate

BALANCE The delicate balance of wildlife in our gardens and environments often hangs on the weather and seasons.

Ruth Lawrence learns more about feeding birds

T

his winter I’ve been lucky enough to watch a tiny goldcrest feeding in my garden and its appearance has brought home to me how existence is so finely balanced for the species that share our local environment.

You’d assume that a warm winter would be beneficial for the UK’s smallest bird as its size makes it particularly vulnerable to cold snaps and plummeting temperatures. However, it is warm weather that can spell starvation for the strikingly beautiful goldcrest; higher temperatures allow soil bacteria to survive the winter and infect the insects upon which the bird feeds. When insect numbers drop, birds such as wrens and goldcrests cannot find enough food to feed their chicks later in the year, who starve and lead to decreased populations.

Bees too can have a tough time in mild winters; cold weather causes them to stay put and conserve energy, meaning that they are more economical with their honey stores. When it’s unexpectedly mild they become misled into going out

Once you establish a feeding routine, try not to change it as birds time their visits to coincide with the appearance of food foraging and if they are caught in rain they can be drowned.

It’s therefore vitally important to continue helping the wildlife that visit your garden whatever the temperature.

The complexity and interdependence of species means they may be struggling in unexpected ways. During the winter birds require a high energy diet to maintain their fat reserves; remember to use high quality scraps and food and don’t allow uneaten food to accumulate around the feeders. Once you establish a feeding

routine, try not to change it as birds time their visits to coincide with the appearance of food. Of course, the seemingly impossible to deter squirrels will try and raid any feeder they can climb to so it’s well worth buying squirrel proof containers although you may need to make even more adjustments to cope with their endless tactics. Remember though, as the breeding season approaches to resist putting loose peanuts, hard dry foods or large chunks of bread out as these can cause chicks to choke.

It’s important to clean the feeding area and keep it clear of droppings and leftover or mouldy food as diseases can quickly occur. Rinse out water containers daily and clean the bird table and feeders with a 5% solution of disinfectant and move the feeders every month to prevent droppings accumulating underneath.

It’s best to use a bird table or hanging feeders as putting food directly on the ground not only makes birds vulnerable to predators but encourages rats and their accompanying diseases.

Adhering to these simple procedures will ensure as healthy a bird population as possible whatever the weather and provides some sense of continuity in the face of increasingly unpredictable seasonal variation. l www.rspb.org.uk SUSSEX LIVING 5

ANIMALS IN NATURE

W

hile the New Year may herald fresh beginnings for us, nature is at her slowest; branches are bare, fields are empty and the woods are quiet and still.

One of the sights I miss in winter is the glimpse of a passing butterfly. So symbolic of warm summer days, they seem to disappear once the cold weather bites. Yet all lay waiting in one of four forms throughout the darker, shorter days. Britain has nearly five dozen types of butterfly and just over half spend the winter as caterpillars, the remainder existing as either eggs or chrysalises while only six hibernate as adults.

Their life cycles are perfectly timed so that the caterpillars emerge alongside their specific food plants; some depend upon a single plant and here on the South Downs, we have a perfect example of nature’s synchronicity. Caterpillars of the Chalkhill blue and Adonis blue both feed on one plant alone, horseshoe vetch, found on the unimproved chalk grassland of the Downs. If both caterpillars emerged simultaneously, they would be

in competition, so the Adonis caterpillar emerges at the winter’s end and the Chalkhill six weeks later, by which time the Adonis has become a chrysalis, leaving the vetch for the hungry Chalkhill.

The only adult butterflies to survive in a state of torpor over winter are the colourful species such as the Red Admiral, Brimstone, Comma, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell. They lie dormant in sheds, log piles and tree hollows, waiting to be ignited by warmth. Sometimes, an uncharacteristic prolonged winter sunny spell can awaken them, which can be fatal if there is no food to sustain them. If you find a dormant butterfly over winter, leave it undisturbed so long as it is dry

and sheltered; if it has woken in your house because of the central heating, some action can be taken to help it return to dormancy.

It can be placed in a shoe box with ventilation holes and after being kept in a cool dark place for an hour, it can be placed somewhere sheltered and dry like a woodshed to sleep out the winter. If you decide to let it remain in the box in a dry cold place, make sure you cut a couple of slits 5cm high by 1cm wide in the box so it can emerge in spring when it awakens.

The coldness makes sure it does not wake before its food becomes available and the dryness avoids fatal fungal infections.

Special insect hibernation boxes are available or can be built; they resemble bird boxes with the same waterproof roofs, but have slits instead of a hole in one side and can be placed with the slits facing the brightest part of the garden.

For me, knowing that the butterflies are waiting out winter in one form or another makes the short days more bearable with the promise of delicate wings taking to the skies once more. l

Awakening Missing the flutter of summer butterflies, Ruth Lawrence discovers how these delicate creatures winter out the cold months, and looks forward to their return in the spring

The only adult butterflies to survive in a state of torpor over winter are the colourful species such as the Red Admiral, Brimstone, Comma, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell 6 SUSSEX LIVING

ANIMALS IN NATURE

HOME TWEET HOME Ruth Lawrence comes across a wind blown nest left under a willow tree, but which one of our feathered friends built this tiny home?

A

fter the recent storms, many nests left empty after summer blew down from leaf stripped trees; I found one beneath a willow, undamaged by its fall and tumble across the grass.

Birds typically spend a few days nest building and instinctively form a structure that is unique to their species.

They investigate a nest site warily, checking if they are being observed before disappearing into a shrub, tree or hedge.

Although to humans, a beak may not seem an easy tool with which to build a nest, it is in fact perfectly designed for weaving, collecting and sorting through materials.

Spider webs are often used in nest building; their sticky composition is ideal for making pads on branches to anchor the nest and chaffinches can often be seen collecting webs to use as mortar. Long tailed tits spend weeks creating a domed nest stuck together with cobwebs to make

it elastic before placing lichen on the exterior for camouflage. They fill their nests with up to 2,000 feathers for softness and warmth. Some species use holes in trees or roofs in which to construct a hasty nest; house sparrows and starlings simply have to line the site with grass, which gives them more precious time to settle into egg laying and rearing their brood.

A long tailed tit will fly up to a total of 700 miles to find enough suitable items to build its complex nest!

Although its still winter, you can start collecting materials to give the birds a helping hand when they begin nest building in late March and early April.

Keep hair gathered from your hairbrush ready to leave out in a hanging basket

in spring as many species prize it as a valuable material. Dog hair, moss and wool can be left out too, and if you find clumps of sheep’s wool caught on fences, you can add this to the mix for it is the ideal insulator and easy to weave into the nest structure. Some species use mud to construct or line their nests so make sure there are wet, muddy patches in the garden where song thrushes, blackbirds and house martins can collect what they need.

Some birds clock up many miles searching for nest material. A long tailed tit will fly up to a total of 700 miles to find enough suitable items to build its complex nest! The nest I found contained horse hair, moss, lichen and fine grasses; delicate but strong enough to survive its fall, it seemed a perfect combination of sturdiness and beauty. Although it turned up under a willow tree, there was a river nearby and plenty of hedges from which it may have been dislodged. With the internal bowl measuring only 1 ¾ inches it’s a tiny nest and if any reader can identify it, please get in touch with your suggestions. l www.rspb.org.uk.

SUSSEX LIVING 7

ANIMALS IN NATURE

Help is at hand for these prickly characters, as Ruth Lawrence explains how to make a feeding station and safe passage through our gardens

HOG

WATCH

H

edgehogs are declining at an alarming rate; do you remember how they were a relatively common sight three or four decades ago, trundling through gardens or spotted during an evening country stroll?

The RSPB have published useful information on feeding and housing hogs that may be passing through your garden; these vulnerable creatures need all the aid they can get and you can begin helping them at any time of year, even when they are hibernating.

The first stage is to make sure that hogs can get in and out of your garden.

Check your boundaries and if you have hedges or wooden fences you can make doorways for hogs to enter and leave. Check with neighbours if it is their fence and with their permission you can cut one or two five inch square holes between your gardens at ground level, just large enough for hogs to pass through. Remember 8 SUSSEX LIVING

that cats may fit through the gap too, so again check that this is ok with your neighbour.

To make a hog feeding station, find a plastic or wooden box with a removable lid, large enough for a hog but not a cat or fox and cut a five inch square in one side for a door. Finish the edges with a file or sandpaper so they are not sharp and line the box with newspaper and small dry leaves such as birch, oak and hazel.

Place a small dish of water inside and then decide upon the food you want to use.

Suitable foods are sunflower hearts, dried mealworms, cooked potatoes, chopped unsalted nuts or minced meat. Crushed cat biscuits or wet cat or dog food (not beef or fish based) can be put out but don’t leave out too much as leftovers can attract rats. Never use milk or bread for hedgehogs as they can’t digest them and it will give them an upset stomach.

As the sun goes down, put the chosen food in a shallow dish and replace the box lid, weighting it with a couple of bricks to

The best way to watch hedgehogs is very quietly at a distance while the sun is setting prevent a fox dragging it away. Clear away leftovers in the morning and refill the dishes every evening, but if you discover the food is uneaten or used by another creature, stop leaving the food out. With luck, you may be rewarded with a glimpse of these enchanting mammals; the best way to watch is very quietly at a distance while the sun is setting.

Other ways to help hogs are to cover drains or deep holes, make sure there are exit routes out of ponds, check compost heaps before digging the fork in and move piles of rubbish to a new site before burning. Strimmers can cause potentially lethal injuries for hedgehogs so exercise great caution before cutting long grass as one could be resting among the stalks.

Doing all these things will help create happy hogs for us to enjoy. l www.rspb.org.uk/homes www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk

ANIMALS IN NATURE

N

ightingale was my mother’s maiden name and since childhood, I always felt enchanted by these small unremarkable looking birds blessed with one of nature’s finest singing voices.

The nightingale has unwittingly become symbolic for all we stand to lose because of biodiversity loss; numbers migrating to England have dipped so sharply that it is now on the UK’s Red List of species of the greatest conservation concern. Wintering in Africa, the birds spend April to July mating and nesting in Europe and the Middle East. Its name stems from the old English ‘nitgale’ or the night songstress, because it was believed

that only the female birds that sang. The males are now known to be the best singers, either to attract a mate or protect his territory. The song is unforgettable due to its sheer variety; a typical singer may use 180 different riffs while a highly accomplished bird may incorporate 250. A fast succession of high, low and rich notes make the song unmatched by most other RSPB Pulborough Brooks species.

In 1914, the nightingale captured the public’s imagination during the BBC’s first ever

Song of

SUMMER The famous song of the nightingale is indeed of high quality, with a fast succession of high, low and rich notes that few other birds can match

If you haven’t heard the nightingale already, make this the year you experience the delight of this elusive singer outside radio broadcast, dueting with Beatrice Harrison, Elgar’s favourite cellist as she played in her Sussex garden.

The response was so overwhelming that the concert was repeated every May until 1942 when it was halted amid fears that Germany would gain military information from the background noise of RAF planes.

Nightingales are secretive, preferring to hide in impenetrable bush or thicket and although hard to spot, their song can be heard during the day as well as night.

The song is more noticeable at night because few other birds sing at this time and only unpaired males sing regularly after dark as nocturnal song is more likely to attract a mate. It is estimated that there are fewer than 6,700 annually breeding males in this country and they breed mostly south of the Severn-Wash line and east from Dorset to Kent.

Shakespeare, Chaucer, Homer, Keats, Shelley and Wordsworth are among those who have referenced nightingales in their work; the song, once heard is never forgotten and to allow people to experience it, the RSPB are hosting events as part of the first National Nightingale Festival from the 13th April-27th May. As the bird’s range has contracted to the south and east as numbers have declined by 90% in the last half century, we are lucky in Sussex to have at least five places where nightingales can be regularly heard including Woods Mill, RSPB Pulborough Brooks and RSPB Pagham Harbour. See the websites for entrance charges, visitor centres are free admission.

If you haven’t heard the nightingale already, make this the year you experience the delight of this elusive singer and if you have children, it will be a moment they will remember all their life. l www.rspb.org.uk SUSSEX LIVING 9

ANIMALS IN NATURE

Waterside

WALK

Weir Wood Reservoir is full of natural surprises and is home to an incredible array of species of bird, insect and beast. Ruth Lawrence visits and is rewarded with the sight of Cormorants

D

uring my exploration of the Kingscote Valley, the gorgeous view across Weir Wood Reservoir pulled me off my intended route, to the water’s edge, basking in amber late afternoon light.

It was a group of cormorants that halted me. Gathered near the north west shore, their archaic black silhouettes were reflected in the water, turned russet by the lowering sun. Cormorants are no stranger to the reservoir; a recent working party spotted 47 in a single day and these large, distinctive birds are always a pleasure to watch, particularly while drying themselves, wings outstretched in the sun.

The reservoir is a haven for migrating and resident birds – 250 species have been identified here including the elusive osprey.

The hide close to the reservoir edge offers superb views of water birds and feeding stations making it easy to spot songbirds at close quarters. I was lucky enough to watch a heron glide down; in flight they look so much larger than their landed slender selves and their languid wingbeats make them effortless to photograph in flight. Possibly one of 10 SUSSEX LIVING

the most difficult birds to capture with a camera is the kingfisher. Weir Wood has a specially constructed bank to attract them and there are regular sightings which can be recorded on the reservoir’s website.

Weir Wood was created in the mid 1950s by damming the River songbirds while rafts have Cormorants are Medway but before human been constructed to attract no stranger to the intervention, the reservoir nesting terns. reservoir; a recent was a valley of the river.

The reservoir is a This was a place where thriving ecosystem and a working party people of the Middle Stone favourite place for people spotted 47 in a Age may have hunted to enjoy wildlife at close single day and these quarters without having and two Mesolithic flint cutting tools were found to walk far. It is tranquil large, distinctive in the area during the dry yet accessible and boasts birds are always a conditions of 1976. Since some of the most beautiful pleasure to watch the mid 60s the entire views in the area during reservoir was declared a each season. Natural site of special scientific habitats range from reed interest because of the rich community beds, marsh and meadow to mature and of breeding, wintering and migrating coppiced woodland and there is a heronry birds. It’s not only birds that are thriving visible from the hide, usually consisting here; 28 species of butterfly have been of twenty nests. The reservoir can be recorded during surveys and a staggering enjoyed as its own destination or included 140 species of moth. Nest boxes are in a circular walk within the Kingscote maintained throughout the reserve, Valley and each season holds the promise providing homes for owls, waterbirds and of a fresh encounter with nature. l

ANIMALS IN NATURE

Full of joy and the promise of spring, the song of the skylark is a welcome and delightful sound as they climb and swoop on high in search of a female companion

Songs

ON HIGH I

was out stretching my legs on the downs when the sky began to sing.

It felt like the first day of spring, warm enough to cast off layers and with a light so glaring I had to search out my winter-hidden shades. I had to squint against the sun to find the singer in the sky, a fast receding skylark climbing towards the sun, trying to summon a female with his urgent music.

A skylark’s song is fast, variable and complex, delivered within a narrow frequency range. He usually sings for around two minutes but a half hour song has been recorded before. Most climb to a height of 50m before levelling

out but some fly above 200m, warbling continuously as they ascend. I watched him almost disappear with height and then, after a short period of gliding that followed the fluttering climb, saw his wings fold back, head point down and the steep, fast dive begin. Just when it looked as though he was about to crash at high speed, he levelled out and landed gently on the ground.

In April, the first brood appears, hopefully followed by two more in May and July. Skylarks nest on the ground in knee high vegetation, feeding their vulnerable chicks on spiders and insects for the first week of life. This bird is a

A skylark’s song is fast, variable and complex, delivered within a narrow frequency range specialist, reliant on farmland for breeding and feeding.

Before the decline in skylark population in the 90s, skylarks were so plentiful that they were caught and eaten.

At the end of the 19th century they were exported to Paris as a culinary delicacy.

The trade was centred in Brighton as the London market was catered for in East Anglia. Birds were captured by dragging a net across fields at night and during the season, two hundredweight were sent to France every day, a total of 3,360 skylarks.

The Victorians would also shoot skylarks for sport and capture males, confining them in cages for their song. Now there are around a million breeding pairs in the UK and targeted conservation is helping them recover from their steep decline.

Although hard to detect on the ground – their mottled browns and buffs rendering them semi-visible on chalky soils – they take centre stage in their song flight. More poems have been written about the skylark than any other bird and they often begin the dawn chorus, singing before first light. It’s a song of joy and the herald of warmer, lighter days; a harbinger of spring and new life. l SUSSEX LIVING 11

ANIMALS IN NATURE

A close CALL In the blink of an eye Ruth Lawrence witnessed nature at its most primal, with the sparrowhawk’s razor sharp talons, large mantling wings and piercing yellow eye

D

riving along the busy main road from Hassocks to Burgess Hill recently, heavy rain in the afternoon sun had conjured a double rainbow arcing a perfect semicircle across the steel grey sky.

Peering between the windscreen wipers in a line of traffic, I nearly missed a drama unfolding right in front of me; a female sparrowhawk, talons forward, seized a pigeon head height above the centre of the road and brought it down in a fluster of wings. As I passed predator and prey, her head turned towards me and I was able to see her large yellow eye 12 SUSSEX LIVING

as she held her wings over the pigeon’s body, mantling to protect her catch. With a car close behind, I couldn’t stop but I glanced in the rear view mirror to see her startled by passing cars and as her grip released, the pigeon flew free and the pair separated above oncoming traffic.

The female is 25% larger than her mate and she is capable of bringing down much larger quarry than the male

Although rare to see an attempted kill at such close quarters, for the sparrowhawk, failure to catch prey is the norm rather than the exception. The female is 25% larger than her mate and she is capable of bringing down much larger quarry than the male. He will attack small birds such as sparrows, finches or small mammals but she can tackle the weightier pigeon, which, if caught, can sustain her for two or three days. Sometimes, the tables are turned; a sparrowhawk made news several summers ago after being killed by one of the peregrines that nest on Chichester Cathedral who fed the bird to its four hungry chicks.

The sparrowhawk population crashed in the 1950s and 60s due to the widespread use of DDT pesticide; it thinned the bird’s egg shell so much that the weight of an incubating female would crush it in the nest. A later ban on the chemical allowed their numbers to recover and that distinctive soaring flight between several wingbeats is once again part of the landscape.

Unlike a kestrel, the sparrowhawk does not hunt by hovering but by stealth and persistent chase. It watches from a perch among cover then flies low and fast so it can seize the prey by surprise. If it misses, it will continue pursuit, even among undergrowth and trees.

The male, when having to feed his mate and the chicks during the breeding season may have to make ten kills a day to sustain his family. Over a year, a breeding pair could consume the equivalent weight of over a hundred pigeons.

As I watched the sparrowhawk and the lucky pigeon part ways in my rear view mirror, I was left with the memory of those bright eyes, turned towards me in one improbable, unforgettable moment. l

ANIMALS IN NATURE

Most of us swat them, shoo them and some of us run away screaming from them, but as Ruth Lawrence discovers, wasps are not all as nasty as they are made out to be

Sting

in the tail T

his year’s mild autumn has prompted the question “when do wasps die off?” to be one of the most commonly requested Google searches. Plenty of people are wondering when these feared insects are going to disappear but perhaps we should stop condemning them and start appreciating what they do for us humans.

I was forced to consider this recently after a painful sting when a wasp became entangled in my hair while gardening.

Aside from this annoyance, wasps are actually vital to our planet’s health as they are essential predators of other insects such as aphids and blackfly. The cabbage aphid is apparently the most fertile creature on Earth with a single female able to produce billions of offspring.

They attack plants by sucking them dry of sap and they multiply extremely quickly.

Wasps prevent them from taking over and are one of the main reasons we aren’t snowed under by aphids.

Through summer, wasps are not only eating for themselves but foraging for insects to feed their young grubs so they naturally keep down aphid numbers in the warm season. By autumn the queen stops producing the hormone that keeps the workers together so many wasps leave to find anything to ensure their own survival. Rotten fruit or a sugary drink is a perfect feast for them which explains why so many are seen in autumn hanging around barbeques or late picnics.

We have around 250 varieties of wasp including the alarming looking hornet, which can measure 3cm long.

There are also around 9,000 parasitic wasps, some of which can barely be seen without a microscope. Wasps have devised supremely efficient ways of hunting; they are capable of snatching spiders from their webs and they are master builders too, as proved by their nests which are astonishing structures. Inside they are multi level cities and outside they are

delicately coloured with layers of paper made from chewed up wood.

There has been research at the University of Florence that has discovered how hornets and paper wasps carry yeast cells in their gut. After feeding on late season grapes, the yeast survives the winter in the gut of hibernating queen wasps and passed onto their offspring who carry the yeast back to the next season’s grapes.

As winter begins to bite, male wasps die off through lack of food and cold but the queens are hibernating safely.

Nests will be inactive as new nests are

Wasps are capable of snatching spiders from their webs and are master builders too, as proved by their nests which are astonishing structures built in the summer by the queens that have survived hibernation. They begin an initial structure to lay enough eggs to hatch into wasps which continue to build the new nest.

Considering all the positive functions that wasps perform, it seems short sighted to condemn them for a single characteristic just because we find it inconvenient. Learn about their complex life and many skills and you may find you can begin to see them in a new and surprising light. l SUSSEX LIVING 13

ANIMALS IN NATURE

The sight of the year’s first swallow is one the surest indicators that summer is on the way; nothing ever prepares one for the exhilarating swoop of those crescent wings as they hunt for insects in flight

FLIGHT OF

Summer P

articularly fond of open pasture, with access to water and quiet farm buildings, swallows can often be seen strafing the air, dipping startlingly close to ponds as they skim the surface for prey. Moving at speeds almost too fast to follow, they dart and turn in what seems like impossible manoeuvres in pursuit of tiny insects that make up their diet.

British swallows spend winter in South Africa, travelling through western France, across the Pyrenees, down eastern Spain and across the Sahara. They migrate by day at low altitudes and even though building some fat reserves before crossing the Sahara, many fall prey to starvation, exhaustion or storms during this time.

Covering 200 miles a day at speeds around 20mph, it becomes apparent why they are such superlative flyers when we see them 14 SUSSEX LIVING

grace our skies.

Although we are most aware of swallows as they wheel and climb above our heads, there are steps we can take to help them when they are less visible, while nesting. They prefer outbuildings which provide dark ledges and nooks to build their nests which remain warmer in cold weather and cooler in summer heat. To help them to nest in a garage or outhouse you can simply leave a window slightly open and fix a platform high in the building, away from the reach of cats.

You can also buy ready made ‘nests’ from cement and sawdust or papier-mâché and attach them to wooden backing plates. If you don’t want droppings to fall on the floor below, put a plastic bag underneath to catch them.

Now and again, a swallow nest may fall; if this happens, you can help by placing the

The female is 25% larger than her mate and she is capable of bringing down much larger quarry than the male nest in a shallow ice cream type tub with some hay inside and fix it to the old nest site, replacing the nestlings if they were inside. The parents will hear the young calling and should continue to feed them.

In the rare instance of the young being deserted, an expert rehabilitator should be contacted.

There are few predators agile enough to catch a swallow in flight. Their breakneck speed and ability to turn and bank with incredible accuracy makes it virtually impossible for anything other than a very determined sparrowhawk or hobby. Swallows will often mob birds far larger than themselves such as crows, magpies and even birds of prey and will dive at people or cats that pass close to their nest.

Make time this summer to watch one of Nature’s unforgettable flyers. The memory of their agility and grace will linger and light the cold months when they have flown south from our land. l

ANIMALS IN NATURE

BUCK & DOE

T

his winter I’ve been lucky to have three roe deer regularly visit the garden.

Appearing more frequently in the morning, they seem to arrive from nowhere, brown coats perfectly camouflaged against tree trunks and delicate legs picking through long grass.

The roe is native to this country, having lived here for up to ten thousand years. They became extinct in England by 1800 due to over hunting and forest clearance but remained in Scotland in wooded patches. Reintroductions during Victorian times and the subsequent natural spread, helped by woodland planting in the 20th century means that they are abundant today.

Although they prefer woodland, they may occupy fields when their populations become dense. They are selective browsers, actively choosing different foods including herbs, brambles, ivy, heather,

Ruth Lawrence has been enthralled to have some intriguing visitors over the winter months, and is looking forward to seeing a bit more of them, hopefully with some new additions in the summer

bilberry and tree shoots.

The young buck who I have seen with his two does has recently started to shed the velvet on his antlers, revealing the rough surface and the three points, or ‘tines’ on each. The roes have black noses, white chins and a white rump patch which is sometimes the only way to spot them among brown foliage and fallen leaves.

Although they are usually solitary, winter sees them forming small groups and they are active through night and day, peak activity occurring at dawn and dusk. When not feeding, they lie down to ruminate between eating and they can spend long periods resting like this. The breeding season or ‘rut’ happens between mid July and August and can lead to serious injury for the bucks who fight to maintain exclusive territories around one or more does. The winner will take over the loser’s territory or the attendant doe and courtship begins. The kids are

usually born between May and June and often in twos or threes.

Although it is not too difficult to see deer in any reasonably sized woodland, they are wary of humans and take flight at the slightest scare; you have to keep very still and quiet if you wish to observe them for any length of time. If you want to take photos of deer, a long lens is a must; it will enable you to get closer while maintaining the distance required to avoid spooking them. If they do take fright and run, you will witness the fluid, bounding leap that covers ground with elegance and speed.

It’s always a thrill to spot such a large wild mammal out on a walk; roe deer are the only native deer on the Ashdown Forest and there are around two dozen family groups there, mainly on the edge of agricultural land. I’m looking forward to summer and the possibility of young roe deer, or kids, visiting the garden with the does when the days have lengthened. l

It’s always a thrill to spot such a large wild mammal out on a walk

SUSSEX LIVING 15

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