© 2000 - 2021 Langham Village History Group - Langham in Rutland
Notes from a Field & Garden -
summer 2020
March
and
April
were
certainly
a
change
from
the
amount
of
rain
we
had
in
February.
Only
37.6mm
fell
in
March
and
32.0mm
in
April.
Over
the
last
ten
years
April
is
averaging
out
as
the
driest
month.
The
only
"April
Showers"
we
had
were
at
the
end
of
the
month.
The
low
rainfall
continued
in
May
with
only
13.2mm
falling.
June
saw
more
rain
than
in
the
previous
three
months
put
together,
although
most
of
this
fell
on
two
days,
the
16th
and
18th.Daytime
temperatures
for
March
hovered
around
100C
and
at
night
time
dropped
below
50C
with
seven
days
of
air
frost.
April
was
very
warm
with
daytime
temperatures
mostly
in
the
teens
and
peaking
at
23.90C.
The
night
time
temperatures
were
still
cool
though,
with
only
a
few
days
over
50C
and
one
air
frost.
The
result
of
all
this
was
that
gardening
conditions
were
made
very
difficult.
The
February
rains
flattened
out
the
top
surface
of
our
clay
rich
soils
and
then
the
hot
weather
baked
it
hard
and
deep
cracks
appeared.
This
made
for
a
lot
of
hard
work
in
April
breaking
up
the
top
layer
to
allow
air
and
water
to
enter.
Despite this spring plants have flourished and put on a magnificent display.
Last
time
I
mentioned
the
possibility
of
an
otter
in
the
village
and
there
were
reports
of
fish
going
missing.
I
had
only
just
sent
in
my
copy
of
the
article
when
I
had
an
email
from
Fiona
Mitchell
that
she
had
taken
a
couple
of
pictures
of
what
she
thought
to
be
of
an
otter
.
I
was
expecting
a
distant
fuzzy
picture
but
was
amazed
to
see
wonderful
close
ups
which
were
obviously
of
an
otter.
The
pictures
were
taken
on
the
18th
January
by
the
Old
Hall
and
the
otter
was
calmly
walking
up
the
road
.
Something
I
would
dearly
have
liked
to
see.
To
make
sure
I
had
the
pictures
verified
by
an
expert
who
confirmed
they
were
indeed
of
an
otter.
So
the
mystery
is
solved.
The
missing
fish
have
been
taken
by
an
otter.
I
have
had
no
reports
of
any
sightings
recently
so
I
assume
that,
having
cleared out every fish pond in Langham, it has moved on.
Having
been
confined
to
barracks
most
of
my
sightings
have
come
from
the
garden
or
through
the
dining
room
window.
It
is
amazing
how
much
you
can
see
from
one
spot.
The
male
pheasants
have
been
keeping
themselves
busy
chasing
each
other
across
the
field.
One
occasion
that
made
me
laugh
was
when
half
way
through
the
chase
the
leading
pheasant
dropped
to
the
ground
and
laid
perfectly
still.
You
could
see
the
chasing
pheasant
stop
and
then
look
around
thinking
"
where
has
it
gone
".
It
wasn't
as
if
was
well
hidden
in
long
grass.
Eventually
it
found
where
it
was
but
it
only
went
up
to
it
and
walked
round
it
in
circles.
The
first
one
remained
perfectly
still.
After
quite
a
while
the
chasing
pheasant
got
distracted,
the
hiding
one
made
a
break
for
it,
and
the
chase
continued
across
the
field.
The
pair
of
crows
finally
saw
off
last
year's
youngster
and
recently
only
one
appears
at
a
time,
presumably
they
are
now
nesting.
One
day
I
glanced
out
of
the
window
and
noticed
two
crows
but
something
did
not
seem
quite
right.
A
second
look
revealed
that
it
was
actually
a
pair
of
rooks
which
I
never
seen
that
close
to
the
house.
Although
rooks
are
slightly
smaller
than
crows
they
appear
larger
due
to
their
much
looser
feathering.
The
best
way
to
identify
them
is
by
their
beaks.
The
rook's
beak
is
much
sharper
but
the
real
give
away
is
white
patch
of
skin
at
the
base
of
the
beak.
They
have
appeared
again
several
times
and
the
crows
then
attempt
to
drive
them
off.
Muntjacs
are
regular
visitors
,
occasionally
as
a
pair,
and
are
often
heard
barking
at
night.
I
managed
to
get
a
photograph,
through
the
dining
window,
of
one
that
came
particularly
close
to
the
house.
Also
at
night
the
tawny
owls
can
be
heard
and
occasionally
they
call
during
the
day.
I
wondered
why
the
bananas
I
put
out
for
the
birds
were
disappearing
until
I
saw
the
grey squirrel
with
a
piece
in
its
paws.
It
amazes
me
how
fast
their
jaws
work.
An
amusing
sight
was
of
the
squirrel
playing
chase
me
with
some
baby
rabbits.
They
seemed
to
be
really
enjoying
themselves
taking
turns
to
do
the
chasing.
A
woodpecker
could
be
heard
drumming
but
I
have
yet
to
catch
sight
of
it.
For
several
days
there
were
white
downy
feathers
everywhere.
I
thought
at
first
that
the
sparrow
hawk
had
made
a
kill
but
the
feathers
were
too
spread
out
and
there
were
too
many
of
them.
Eventually
I
realised
that
they
were
the
result
of
over
amorous
wood
pigeons.
Although
smaller
in
numbers
the
jackdaws
are
still
about
and
are
seen
filling
their
beaks
with
horse
hair
to
line
their
nests.
Apart
from
the
ones
mentioned
earlier,
and
the
common
garden
birds,
I
have
seen
a
little
egret,
pied
wagtails,
mallard,
black
headed
gulls
(now
in
their
summer
plumage)
and house martins.
Early
butterflies
were
on
the
wing
from
late
March.
First
to
appear,
as
usual,
were
male
brimstones
followed
a
little
later
by
a
few
females.
Next
seen
was
a
tortoiseshell.
The
first
few
days
saw
the
arrival
of
orange
tips,
again
the
males
were
seen
before
the
females.
It
seems
to
be
a
very
good
year
for
orange
tips
as
they
are
everywhere.
I
managed
to
get
a
photograph
of
a
male
and
female
preparing
to
mate
on
an
aubrietia
plant
.
The
middle
of
April
saw
the
first
holly
blue
and
a
cinnabar
moth. Several queen wasps found their way into the house in the first week of April.
Following
the
recent
sightings
of
the
Muntjacs
I
put
a
trail
camera
in
the
small
wood
at
the
back
of
the
house.
I
was
please
to
see
some
good
pictures
of
one
of
the
deer
taken
during
daylight
hours so they are in full colour.
Muntjac-1
,
Muntjac-2
,
Munjac-3
and
Muntjac-4
One
night,
towards
the
end
of
June,
I
went
to
close
the
bedroom
curtains
and
was
surprised
to
see
two
large
bats
outside,
just
inches
from
the
glass.
There
must
have
been
a
number
insects
there
as
they
were
around
for
several
minutes.
June
has
been
a
good
time
for
insects
with
plenty
of
bees
and
butterflies.
A
walk
along
Mickley
Lane
and
through
Munday's
Close
saw
seven
species
of
butterfly.
One
exciting
discovery
of
an
uncommon
moth
was
made
by
Anthony
Wright
who
found
a
scarlet
tiger
moth
Callimorpha
dominula
.
Anthony
also
reported
numbers
of
cinnabar
moth.
I
have
also
seen
quite
a
few
in
the
garden.
They
may
have
come
from
the
caterpillars
seen
on
the
ragwort
plant I left to flower last year.
I am always interested in other people’s sightings and comments so don’t forget to
email me
.
Grey Squirrel eating a banana
Langham & Barleythorpe WI