Nature's Calendar: July

The hovering Hummingbird Hawkmoths have now been spotted darting between flowers in every county in the UK. But where you see them and how many appear changes year on year. Late summer is often the peak time as local moths emerge to join those which migrate here from southern France.  

The best places to spot them are near nectar rich flowers such as Valerian, Honeysuckle, Jasmine, and Buddleia. They usually prefer to fly on warm sunny days, hovering in front of the flowers to sip nectar using their long proboscis (a kind of tongue) before dashing to the next flower. They have a remarkably good memory and individual moths have been seen returning to the same flowerbeds every day at about the same time.

Their numbers drop when temperatures fall as they migrate back to southern Europe for the winter.

Peregrine Falcon chicks are also beginning to fledge, but many are already busy learning the skills necessary to hunt for themselves.  

The fastest creature on the planet now also nests in towns and cities, choosing inaccessible and undisturbed ledges of buildings and other high-rise structures. The youngsters fledge at 35-42 days and then spend the next few months learning the tricky technique of catching other birds.  
One method is the dive-bomb, swooping at speeds of up to 180 kph down onto its prey. This speed means they must catch it on the wing to avoid injuring themselves on impact with the ground.  

Another method is the surprise attack. This is possible at lower speeds but is also tricky as they must remain out of sight until the last moment. They then snatch their prey from its perch or the ground. Feral pigeons are favourite prey, though a wide range of birds are on the menu, from Goldcrest to Woodpigeon. The larger females take larger prey than males.

As darkness falls on a still midsummer evening, listen out for the call of hungry Tawny Owl chicks begging for a free meal. These fluffy brown balls of feathers are beginning to leave the safety of the nests around now, but they aren’t prepared to go it alone just yet. They often spend several days in the trees near to their nest in a period known as “branching”. The parents are busy hunting to provide all their food and the owlets cry out when they sense a meal is incoming. The youngsters don’t become fully independent until autumn.  

Tawny Owls are our most common owl and can be heard on evenings in many places where there are good numbers of mature trees.   

They might not be able to spin a web, but the Flower Crab Spider has a different trick up its sleeve to catch its prey. Well, the female does - she can change colour.  She uses this special skill to ambush her prey, matching her colour to any flower shaded white to yellow and then sitting in the middle of it. There she waits for bees, hoverflies and other insects to come into feed and strikes with her big crab-like front legs.  

With her powerful venom, she can take down prey much bigger than her, such as bumblebees and butterflies. The males are much smaller and darker, spending much of their time in the undergrowth trying to track down the females.  

Flower Crab Spiders are only found in southern Britain but can be seen in gardens as well as meadows and woodland margins. 

It might not have the most attractive of names, but Common Knapweed is a hugely important species for the UK’s bees, butterflies and many other insects.

From June to September it can be seen flowering on dry grasslands and along roadside verges and hedgerows. From a distance it looks like a thistle, its cheery pink blooms standing tall, often surrounded by a throng of buzzing and fluttering insects, like the Marbled White butterfly pictured. 

They’re here for the many tiny flowers which make up the bloom, each rich in pollen and nectar. Once they set seed, the flowers also become an important food source for birds, such as Goldfinch.  

When the summer weather gets hot and sticky, huge swarms of flying ants take to the air. In the UK, it’s usually Black Garden Ants we’re trying to dodge as they emerge in huge numbers from their nests. The swarms are made up of winged males (drones) and virgin queens (princesses) and they take flight to mate and then form new colonies.  

The females are larger than the males and sometimes you see them flying while joined together. The males only live for a day or two, while the females, once they’ve mated, chew off their own wings and go looking for a suitable place to set up their own colony.  

Ants usually fly in a period of warm still weather between June and the start of September. Exactly when will depend on the weather conditions in a particular area.

When the summer heat hits the high notes, water for wildlife can become scarce. Birds have no sweat glands, so they need less water than mammals. Even so, small birds need to drink at least twice a day as well as using it to bathe to keep feathers clean.  

If you can, put out water in a birdbath, replacing it every day with fresh and cleaning the bath around once a week. You can also put out a shallow container at lower levels, for mammals such as Hedgehogs to get a much-needed drink.

During dry spells your lawn may also become brown. But grass is pretty hardy, and it will recover once it rains. You can try letting the grass grow a bit longer to help it stay healthy.