What to watch out for in August
Many wildlife species have finished breeding
or completed their lifecycles, including amphibians, birds and some species of bumblebees. The last of the leafcutter bees are still filling our bee hotels with eggs, pollen and nectar, wrapped up in elliptical pieces of rose or wisteria leaf. Baby blackbirds and blue tits clumsily fly around the garden. Swifts and swallows leave this month, but house martins will remain to have a third brood. Hedgehogs, too, may still be breeding. Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for their babies. Known as ‘autumn orphans’, those born from September don’t have enough time to gain the weight they need to hibernate, so keep leaving out food until it’s no longer taken.
You may spot…
Painted lady butterfly, (Vanessa cardui)
Will this be another painted-lady year? Each summer, these orangespeckled butterflies with black and white wing tips fly from North Africa, the Middle East and central Asia to Europe to breed. Some years, due to fine weather and an abundance of food, we have a huge influx. The last painted-lady year was 2019, previously it was 2009 – could 2020 break the 10-year cycle?
They reach the British Isles from March to June, and then feed and breed. Numbers increase greatly in August, as the second generation appears, before they migrate back to their winter homes.
Painted ladies are not able to survive British winters. They fly back south in autumn, complete another lifecycle and their offspring make the journey back to Europe and Britain the next year – no butterfly completes the same journey twice.
Adult painted ladies feed on flowering plants such as buddleias, daises and thistles. Their caterpillars feed mainly on thistles but can be found on mallows, nettles and viper’s bugloss.
Also look out for…
Bats flitting between trees at dusk. They feed on insects, including mosquitoes and moths.
Slow worms resting in your compost bin. Now’s the time they’re giving birth to live young, so hold off turning or emptying your compost bin this month.
Grasshoppers in long grass. Listen for the males’ breeding call, which are made by rubbing their legs against their forewings.