Abernyte.org and Abernyte Community Company

Abernyte Nature Watch Spring 2009 
Have you heard the cuckoo yet?  It’s a sound that over the years we’ve taken for granted, and we look forward to hearing that this amazing bird has been heard around the parish.  This year we haven’t heard it yet, which makes us think – what would spring be like without hearing a cuckoo, seeing that swallows have arrived, hearing a skylark, seeing frogs spawning or having butterflies and bees around the garden.  Everyone can do their bit for wildlife, from leaving areas wild to putting up nest boxes and growing plants for bees and butterflies in the garden.  None of these creatures can exist in isolation, so having them is dependent on conserving whole areas as wild places, and having a network of such areas around the countryside.

As a result of the breathing places award, lots of kids were able to build nest boxes for their own gardens this Spring.  Abernyte School has also been working on bird identification, and were spotting woodpeckers and buzzards around the school playing field. They also made some lovely paintings of trees and birds to put up on the classroom wall.

It looks like being a much better year for butterflies and other insects.  Last year it  was so wet that peacock butterflies weren’t seen in the early spring at all.  This year there have already been plenty of peacocks and smaller numbers of small tortoiseshells, orange tips, green veined white around.  A barn owl still seems to be around the area and a number of folk are trying to encourage it by putting up nest boxes.  

Please keep your records coming in  the nature watch site.  Everyone can post their own records if they register for a password with the website.  But we’re always happy to receive records and put them on for you. 

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it put the date when you made your sighting and where it was seen. Please record the date of your sighting.

Spring dates which have been compiled from the Abernyte Naturewatch site.