June

By the end of June, most birds will have finished their breeding, at least their first broods, and there will be all sorts of unfamiliar plumages on the young of quite common species. The observant watcher may be fortunate to see anxious shelduck parents shepherding their small ducklings to water from their nest, probably in an old rabbit hole.

Young black headed gulls are in evidence and perhaps the young from their similar, but clearly distinguishable, mediterranean gull. The latter gull, rather like the little egret, is a fairly recent colonist of the area and is now quite common over and around the course. Young terns also begin to appear.

The young birds benefit from the profusion of insects at this time of the year. The grassland is alive with a variety of crickets and grasshoppers and the small gatekeeper butterfly appears in great profusion along with other butterflies and some moths.

June also sees the best of the southern marsh orchid, a comparatively rare species standing resplendent in the damp cuttings.