The rhododendron is pretty spectacular at this time of year along with the yellow azaleas which flower along the lake path. The flag iris is turning the marsh from green to gold. Summer flowers are at their best this month. Heath and common spotted orchids are out in profusion along with bugle, tormentil, red campion, foxgloves, honeysuckle and ragged robin.
Stover lost another of its oldest trees last month when the beech fell over at the outlet bridge on the 10th. It had many initials carved into it over the years and witnessed such change from horses and carriages passing it by in its infancy on their way to Stover House, to everything since.
June is the month when thousands of tit* fledge countrywide. The bushes and trees around the Park are full of young tit*, nuthatches and wrens which will stay in their family groups. Swallow and house martin young hatch this month and the first of the young sand martins on the River Teign are due to fledge from their colonial burrows. Some of the older birds will manage to go on to rear a further two broods. The swifts have arrived, following behind the swallows and martins, and are the first to leave in August. Keep an eye out for nightjars in the evenings which arrived from Africa during the first half of May. Two males were recorded churring on the 21st. Spotted flycatchers also migrate and come from central Africa in May. They can be seen sitting on a perch from which they watch for flying insects, periodically darting out to catch them. One was seen on the 19th near the Reedbeds. The great-spotted woodpeckers have been filling Stover with the sound of their drumming. The young have now hatched out and can be heard calling to the adults. Keep an eye out for hobbies feeding over the lake and marsh. They spend the winter in Africa, arriving in Britain in late April and May to breed.
Fewer wildfowl will be on the wing this month because now is the time that they replace all their old flight feathers. For most breeding ducks, geese and swans this moult happens when they are rearing their flightless chicks. Some ducks, coots and moorhens are still sitting on eggs. Several broods of ducklings (at least six), coot (at least five) and moorhen (at least four) can be seen on the lake – the first broods are now nearly fully grown. The survival rates seems to be higher this year possibly due to the dredger making the lake water murky so the pike can’t see the young so easily. The swans’ eggs hatched on 5th May (1 day earlier than in 2023 and 3 days earlier than in 2022 so they’re very consistent) with 9 cygnets again for the fourth year running. One cygnet disappeared on the 21st and was probably predated, with another on the 30th and 31st leaving six cygnets remaining. There were no sightings of common sandpipers during May which was unusual. Their long bills are used for probing in the mud beside water for worms, insects and frogs. The great-crested grebes have been late breeding again this year and are now on their third nest (same number of attempts as last year) – fingers crossed they don’t abandon this latest one.
Bats are active at this time of year and can be seen on most evenings skimming over the lake feeding on moths and midges. They will give birth to their single young this month. The May bat box checks recorded Soprano pipistrelles, with a long-eared bat in the Gatehouse. Young hedgehogs are born in early June with badger and fox cubs starting to wander further afield. Roe deer young are born this month and lie hidden in the undergrowth. The summer months (May to August) is the peak time for the birth of otter cubs and the females are kept busy caring for their young families.
Keep an eye out for the young frogs and toads which will begin to leave the ponds and ditches in June. Newts will also be returning to land to feed after they have bred. They spend much of the day amongst the damp vegetation and under logs and stones. The red-eared terrapin was spotted in the lake on 18th May and on several occasions following. The smooth-shelled terrapin is still to be seen after its winter’s hibernation.
The elder trees are just starting to flower – the flowers provide landing pads for hoverflies, wasps and beetles. Stag beetles are just one of the many types of beetle that emerge in June. Keep an eye out for glow-worms which will light up at dusk in rough grass. They tend to prefer areas where there are plenty of small snails, as this is what their larvae feed on.
Many butterflies and dragonflies are now on the wing enjoying the sunny weather. On the butterfly front the pearl-bordered fritillary was spotted on 11th May. Brimstones were busy laying eggs on the alder buckthorn at the end of last month. Speckled woods should now be onto their second generation of the year.
The dragonflies are getting more noticeable. Joining the large red and beautiful demoiselle damselflies, the only species seen in April, are common blue, azure, blue-tailed, red-eyed, and beautiful demoiselle damselflies; and hairy, downy emerald, broad-bodied chaser, four-spotted chaser, and emperor dragonflies Keep an eye out for black-tailed skimmers as they have usually been seen by now.
The Restoring Stover Park Lottery works are progressing well and over half of the silt to be removed has been achieved. The dredger operator commented that as soon as the engines start in the morning the adult coots race over to fight over the little pieces of tubular root that are being disturbed and float to the surface. All the wildfowl seem to have habituated well to the dredging process. The building works are on target to be completed by the end of the Summer. Thank you for your continued support and co-operation.
