It seems a touch inappropriate to think about autumn but already the signs are there.

Berries are ripening, resident birds are hiding away moulting their feathers and some summer migrants are on the move south. And July is now known to be the hottest month ever recorded globally. Within a matter of years, last year’s 40 degree heatwave in the UK will seem like a cool summer according to the met office.

We are yet to see what effect will this have on our wildlife.

The butterfly bush
Buddleia davidii hails from China where Père David, a travelling French missionary, discovered it in the mid-19^th century. Now it is widespread especially on brownfield sites and in many gardens. Renowned for attracting butterflies, its flowers are also a magnet for bees, some moths and hoverflies. Yesterday, in a neighbour’s garden, I noticed a very large hoverfly with a bright yellow ‘nose’ and yellow banded abdomen.

Volucella zonaria, the hornet hoverfly, is one of the largest of its tribe and, unlike many others, thankfully very easy to identify. This hoverfly, like many insects that mimic bees and wasps, must gain a degree of protection by doing so. I see now that the hornet hoverfly’s larvae live inside wasp nests where they eat debris and thereby clean the wasps’ nest.

United Utilities to end grouse shooting on its land
Find out more here

UU own much of the Goyt Valley and this is an area where hen harriers tried to nest some years ago but despite a nest watch scheme, the male ‘mysteriously disappeared’ and the nest failed. In 2016, a juvenile peregrine was found shot in the valley and had to be put down. 

It seems that the current shooting tenancies have a few more years to run so we will have to wait awhile.

Meanwhile, no hen harriers even attempted to nest in the Peak this summer – yet there is enough habitat for ten pairs. Speaks volumes doesn’t it. If you want to read more about Raptor persecution (and sadly the Peak District continues to be a hotspot for it), keep an eye on Ruth Tingay’s remarkable RPUK website: Raptor Persecution UK . Despite the abuse she receives, Ruth continues her brave and brilliant campaigning work unabated.

Swans - upping or downing?
I see that the number of cygnets seen by swan uppers on the Thames has dropped by 40%.
While some of the mute swan’s decline was due to avian flu, human factors such as attacks by dogs and deliberate shooting were also prevalent.
Swan upping: Royal cygnet numbers drop by 40% in a year - BBC News 
Historically, swans suffered terribly from lead pollution due to angler’s lead weights until their use was banned many years ago. Flying into cables also continues to be a regular cause of death. On the lakes at my local patch, managed by the National Trust, two pairs nested. One bankside nest was close to a well-used path and my suggestion of fencing it off was quickly adopted by the rangers.

Yesterday, the five cygnets and their parents were having a snooze in the shade of an alder tree nearby. Result!

Garden news
As always, my wildlife garden continues to give both pleasure and interest. Fennel is now in flower and attracting mainly small hoverflies.

The pond’s fringed water lilies are flowering with a backdrop of meadowsweet, purple loosestrife and figwort.
This plant, native to southern parts of the UK, is ideal for a small pond. Rare in the wild, the Flora tells me that it occurs at Drakelow Nature Reserve. I introduced it to the pond at The Whistlestop when it was being stocked back in 1990. Is it still there I wonder?

Under the water, southern hawker larvae are ready to crawl up out of the water and miraculously transform themselves into adults. See an empty larval case below. Any day now, I hope to see females coming to lay their eggs on the damp log I placed at the water’s edge, especially for this purpose.  Totally preoccupied, they can be approached within inches. 

Meanwhile, berries are ripening.

So far I’ve noticed those of wild arum, mountain ash, guelder rose, alder buckthorn, spindle and honeysuckle.
The early flowering honeysuckle visible from the kitchen window is being visited by a juvenile blackcap which deftly takes the orange berries. Building up its sub-cutaneous fat, it is preparing for its first flight down to the Med for the winter.  I hope it finds enough food in what must already be a very parched landscape.

I hope you find a moment over the weekend for some aspect of wildlife to give you joy and wonder!