Watching badger cubs play is such a treat

The increasing numbers of badgers in the countryside is a controversial subject, but it does mean more opportunities to see one of nature’s most beautiful sights – young cubs following their mother out of the set to play on a warm summer’s evening.

Two or three cubs are usually born in February and are blind for the first 10 days or so. They remain in the set for two months before venturing out, cautiously at first, but quite confidently by mid-July.

Perhaps because they are now a protected species, they appear to have lost much of their fear of people and, provided one sits quietly, they may approach closely, being naturally inquisitive.

As family animals, young badgers have no desire to leave home early and may remain with their mother to the autumn or even in some cases through the winter. By this time the young are rarely seen in the early evening, having adopted the nocturnal habits of their parents. There are several theories as to why

A pair of young badgers foraging; a marbled white butterfly on scabious; a dryad’s saddle fungus made crispy loaves that created crumbs whenever they were cut into slices. These were scattered for the sparrows. Sliced bread today leaves no crumbs.

With the return of homebaked bread many of us are creating crumbs again, which, I think, has helped the two families of house sparrows feeding in my garden.

It remains a disappointing year for butterflies. Although photographers flocked to Blean Woods for the heath fritillaries and to the downs for the first flight of adonis blues, the numbers of several usually common species such as red admirals and peacocks are well down.

Other butterflies have been appearing later than usual to match the weather and may have an extended season as a result.

White admirals, once very scarce, have continued to increase their range in the district and there is now a good chance that they could appear this month in any wood with plenty of honeysuckle.

Marbled whites, another once scarce species, also occur throughout our area and will usually be found where there is plenty of purple-flowered knapweed in old natural grassland

August is also the peak month for two immigrant butterflies, painted ladies and clouded yellows.

Painted ladies are amazing migrants, emerging first in north Africa and arriving in Britain perhaps by successive summer broods as they move north – from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly may take less than a month..

Clouded yellows are also immigrants from North Africa and southern Europe. They too breed successively so that just a few arriving in Britain may in warm weather give rise to quite large numbers of homebred butterflies.

If you know a hillside with plenty of thistles and marjoram, the native wild form of the herb origanum, keep an eye open for painted ladies flying there to lay their eggs and feed.

Clouded yellows lay their eggs on vetches, principally clovers and lucerne.

There are perhaps 3,000 different forms of mushrooms and other fungi in Britain.

One of the largest, perhaps 60cm (2ft) across, which is often seen in August, is dryad’s saddle, a huge over-lapping mass of thick circular or fanshaped leaves.

Parasitic on deciduous trees and their stumps it causes decay through white rot. It is listed among edible fungi but is said to be tough and fibrous and to smell of meal. I think I’ll give it a miss.