Rippingale nature columnist says wildlife still feeling the effect of the cold, wet spring

Despite enjoying some summer weather at last, the effects of the cold wet spring and prolonged wet weather last winter are still being witnessed today, writes Rippingale nature columnist Ian Misselbrook.

If, like me, you participated in The Big Butterfly Count, you probably counted dramatically fewer butterflies compared with previous years. This was also mirrored in the transect study I made on my Breeding Bird Census territory in July with some species missing and counts of individuals down massively.

I also looked for butterflies in some of the local woods where species formerly very rare or absent in our area had enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent years. Silver-washed fritillary and purple emperors were both relatively easy to find during the warm summer of 2022 but were fewer in the wetter summer of 2023 and very hard to find this year.

One insect that I did find in these woods, or rather they found me, were horseflies which can inflict a nasty bite. I am sure that the increase in numbers is the result of the massive increase in deer in these woods; especially fallow deer. Recent reports on deer number in the woods that the Forestry Commission manage suggest that our woodlands hold the highest population of fallow deer in the whole of Europe. Collisions between deer and vehicles on stretches of the A15 frequently feature on television news reports. As well as attracting horseflies, both fallow deer and muntjac strip out the understory in woodlands causing the decline in garden warblers and local extinction of nightingales.

Another effect of the flooding is not surprisingly a shortage in small mammals in areas that were under water. Small mammals are, of course an important food source for owls, kestrels and some of our predatory mammals. I am hearing that the average barn owl brood size this year in our area is only two birds, which reflects the shortage of prey. Surprisingly though, I have seen more stoats this year, but this might be attributed to a partial recovery of the rabbit population which still suffers from cyclical disease outbreaks like myxomatosis. Having said that, the last stoat that I saw carrying prey had a field vole in its jaws.

Autumn migration of birds is in full swing. An obvious passage of chiffchaffs (a small warbler) last week was evident with three calling and one even singing in my garden. A juvenile willow warbler, a species declining across the south of England, including our area, was also present locally. On the nearby coast and inland water numbers of wading birds are peaking right now and often include some rarities