SIGNS OF SUMMER IN NATURE
The beginning of June signals the start of the meteorological summer and the natural world is buzzing with life. We’ve put together a list of six signs of summer to look out for while you’re enjoying the warmer, longer days.
1. Trees in full leaf
The woodland canopy has closed over and trees are lovely and green right now. This makes it the ideal time to work on your leaf identification skills. Use our free tree ID app to help you identify the trees around you and learn more about them.
You’ll be surprised how many species you’ll find in a wood when you start looking!
2. Summer flowers blooming
Spring flowers are fading fast and being replaced by summer blooms. Look out for foxgloves, poppies and common spotted orchids in woodland and along hedgerows. Honeysuckle also flowers in summer. It has a sweet-smelling fragrance and bees, butterflies and moths love to feed on its nectar. Did you know that its scent is strongest at night, and moths can detect it up to a quarter of a mile away?
3. Fledglings learning to fly
At this time of year, baby birds are beginning to leave the nest. Many spend a few days on the ground before they’re ready to take flight – building their strength and waiting for their flight feathers to become fully grown.
If you see a baby bird on its own, it’s best to leave it alone – its parents are probably nearby.
Baby birds, like this blackcap fledgling will be preparing to leave the nest.
4. Butterflies all aflutter
In summer, woods and gardens come alive with delicate, colourful butterflies flitting around the nectar-rich flowers. You can attract even more of these beautiful creatures to your garden or window ledge by rustling up a sweet treat for them to enjoy.
5. Bats on the wing
Bats give birth in June so they’re pretty busy hunting for insects to provide food for their family. A summer evening is a great time to spot them darting and swooping through the air. You’re most likely to see them in woods, and near rivers or ponds, at dusk.
Keep your eyes to the skies for bats out hunting for their food.
6. Chirping grasshoppers
It wouldn’t be summer without the soft ‘chirp chirp’ of grasshoppers. They make this distinctive sound by rubbing their back legs against their wings. Their legs have rows of little pegs on them which make their wings vibrate, producing the sound. This action is called stridulation. You can make a similar sound by running your fingernail along the teeth of a comb.
While both male and female grasshoppers are able to produce the sound, it’s usually the male you wil
l hear chirping to attract a mate.
