Flaming June came in with the highest mean temperatures since the summer of 1976. The theme of the month was one of hot and sunny weather after the rather indifferent weather in May. Rainfall was rare but when it did come, it was often in the form of torrential thunderstorms. The combination of long dry spells with the very warm temperatures meant that it was a particularly good period for insects, with butterflies and dragonflies putting on a good show.
In general, breeding bird activity becomes less obvious during June. Adults are busy feeding growing broods so there is little time for song. Migration finally fizzles out by mid-month just prior to the start of the return movements of waders.
Breeding waterfowl have not had a good season. However, in spite of generally poor production there were five broods of Pochard and four of Tufted Duck on the eastern Site of Specific Scientific Interest by the end of the month. Two broods of Ruddy Duck are still present and the first brood of Gadwall appeared on 21 June. No young Gadwall were seen in 2002 so this was a welcome event. A pair of Mute Swans from the adjacent fishing ponds brought two cygnets to the Middle Lagoon and later Pond C (near the footbridge) where they begged for bread from visitors. Bread, though, is a poor substitute for natural food and the cygnets’ growth was very slow. The Kestrels were present around their nest box all month.
From the end of the first week, there were almost daily sightings of Bitterns. One female fed regularly in Pond C, where she was sometimes highly visible. Two birds were seen on 21 June with one at either end of the park. This is a truly welcome sign that this rare and important denizen of the clay pits has started to use Waters’ Edge on a regular basis. Given the amount of fish in some of the ponds, then the birds may well be more regular visitors in future. One or two young Grey Herons were also present daily. Common Terns continued to be seen daily passing over the park, with odd birds dropping in for a wash and brush up on the northern ponds. The muddy margins of the new ponds attracted several House Martins gathering mud for nest building. Meanwhile, a family of Swallows fledged in the adjacent tileyard were regularly feeding over the new meadow on the Humber bank. A singing male Cuckoo was present on a few dates up to 10 June while a purring Turtle Dove on 14 June was the first singing bird of this species to be recorded for several years.
The breeding plovers on the northern park had very mixed fortunes. Of the four pairs of Ringed Plover, two pairs reared seven young which all fledged in the last days of the month. Sadly, the three pairs of Little Ringed Plover lost all of their clutches and broods. Passage waders were starting to reappear by the third week with the first Common Sandpiper from 24-25 June and the first Green Sandpiper on 28 June. A flock of 57 Lapwing on 28 June was exceptional.
Most dragonfly species are not that common on the clay pits, due to the slightly brackish nature of the water and the prevalence of reed rather than the preferred reedmace and sedges. In fact up to the late 1980’s only five species had been recorded in the area. More intensive searching during the 1990’s and a general northward spread by some species raised the total to seventeen species by 2002. Eleven of these have been recorded on Water’s Edge in the past four years. Two species which have made momentous northerly range expansions in the last ten years are the Broad-bodied Chaser and the Black-tailed Skimmer. Broad-bodied Chasers are almost annual in the pits now but tend to occur singly. A fine male was found by the first footbridge on 10 June and was followed by a female which was feeding in the edge of the plantation by Maltkiln Lane on 12 June. Black-tailed Skimmers have been more spectacular in their colonisation of the clay pits and have been breeding at Water’s Edge for three years. The first newly emerged individual appeared on 1 June. By mid-month, there were up to 20 males darting over the surface of the water of the new lagoons and the new Pond A north. A third species, the Four-spotted Chaser, was first seen on 12 June but although this was one of the first species to colonise the area it has remained quite scarce. There were also good numbers of Blue-tailed, Azure Blue and Common Blue Damselflies- especially on the Middle Lagoon where low water levels favoured feeding by these seemingly delicate insects.
Butterflies were also in good numbers with further arrivals of Painted Ladies and Red Admirals, which had first started to appear in the last days of May. Other firsts for the year included Large Skipper, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekeeper and Common Blue. Although the first four are regular on the park, Common Blue has not been recorded for two years although a small colony used to exist along Marsh Lane. Hopefully as the meadows become established on the northern site, the species may well re-colonise the area- using birds-foot trefoil as the food plant for the caterpillars.