According to the Met. Office, October was another exceptionally mild month; the fourth warmest in England since records began in 1884. The persistence of above average temperatures was particularly unusual. With measurable rain here on 16 days, rainfall was about average for the month but our sand-dune water-table rose by only 1 cm, presumably due to the soil water-deficit caused by the drought. “We still need a lot of rainfall to replenish our water resources” says the Met. Office.
In contrast to earlier months, our rainfall in September was about average, with measureable amounts on 12 days. There were even four properly wet days, something we hadn’t experienced for a long time. Despite this, the sand-dune water-table rose by only 3 cm, probably because the soil was so dry. The Met. Office tells us that the first nine months of 2022 were the warmest since records began in 1884, while it was also the driest year, so far, since 1959. These figures are consistent with a warming trend in Britain, due to climate change that is happening more quickly than predicted.
The 28th August saw the first record of another new arrival to our region. The Sea Aster Mining Bee, Colletes halophilus. While It’s close relative the Ivy Mining Bee, Colletes hederae, was first confirmed in Dorset in just 2001 and rapidly spread across the country C. halophilus has been present since prior to 1960 and...
There has been a recent surge in interest of gall forming wasps, particularly the Andricus genus with several new and ‘un-common’ species being identified in South Lancashire. Andricus are a particularly nice group as the species can be largely identified through the careful examination of their galls. This group is also generally poorly recorded so...