1990 June

June 1^st
Yesterday we walked through the meadow at the back of the garage; it is full of Red Sorrel and Meadow Buttercups. Hogweed was flowering in one place while Nettles grow near the wall. Locally the Maples have their key fruits on, and wild Dog Roses are flowering at the park. Lovely delicate pink are their flowers, a sure sign of long lazy hazy English Summer days.

Each evening we see the little dark-brown Pipistrelle Bat, batting about with quick as lightening zigzag flight. It will be using high pitched squeaks to home in on Moths and other insects to eat.

Saw a male Hawk fly over Cox’s Green Road near the quarry. It had an inky blue back and chin, with a mouse in its talons. To me it favoured a Peregrine but I’ve not heard of one being sighted in Lancashire, so maybe it was a male Hobby - which have been seen in the quarry.

June 6^th
A lovely large white full moon tonight made even the darkness very light. At Nancy’s’ I saw a Pied Wagtail bobbing about on the front today. These birds don’t seem to be as numerous as they once were.

June 10^th
Overcast day, very humid. In next door’s garden Orange Hawkbit is flowering. I believe it is a hybrid between Hawkbit and something else. Up at the duck pond Swallows were skimming over the meadows. You could see up to Belmont Church which I did not attend today. David misses me so much when I am not with him, even for a few hours. I went to the musical sing song at Church last night it was thoroughly enjoyable. I think there are about three different types of Maple down the Clough.

On the local Cherry Tree there are loads of black Aphids. Going up past the Last Drop, Yellow Stonecrop covers the pavement. I don’t know whether it is wild or escaped from a garden. Underneath the Apple Tree (where Ladybirds have bred) yellow and purple Violas are adding a splash of colour. This evening a Swift flew over the house.

June 11^th
Saw a pair of Magpies feeding two juveniles on a tree stump in the Clough. The juveniles had short stubby tails, one longer than the other, so possibly laid a few days apart. The Blackberry bushes are covered in white blossom with White Clover, Tormentil and Heath Cinquefoil also flowering down the Clough.

June 17^th
Yesterday we went through a lovely wood by the golf course. Matt green grass covered the shady floor, with Oak and Beech leaf litter everywhere else. It was quiet and serene beneath the grey trunks of majestic Beech trees. Where the sun shone through was green scraggly grass luscious colour in a damp spot.

I heard a commotion underneath some Holly bushes, when who should appear but a lovely Grey Squirrel. On the path by the Golf Course, Heath Bedstraw is flowering. Little white star dots of flowers among the Tormentil. By the hedges red and white Foxgloves can be seen as fairy sentinels.

Today we saw two male Mallard with young at the Holmes’s pond. Nearby was a Heron stalking its dinner. Tufted Vetch is flowering by the golf course, and the Wild Strawberry by the old mill wall has flowers on. On the park, pink and white Dog Roses and Field Roses can be seen, and by the golf course there was purple Meadow Cranesbill.

On Wednesday afternoon David saw a rare Summer visitor, a male Pied Flycatcher, at Woodsfold. Near the golf club Marsh Spotted Orchids are beginning to flower.

June 19^th
Mugwort is growing by Dunscar Golf Course. Tonight near the duck pond I found a beautifully red and black marked Cinnabar Moth.

June 22^nd
A rainy evening with mist on the hills. Pink Ragged Robin was flowering in the fields above the road at the top of Egerton. We saw a Shrew 3” long with a bottle shaped nose, running pitter patter across the road.

June 26^th
Looks like the end of Summer will come quickly this year. White Clover is flowering all over the Clough and the Yellow Flag has large green seed pods. I have seen a couple of dark brown Butterflies with orange patches on the front wings. They were smaller than a Tortoiseshell and I wonder if they could have been the Brown Hairstreak Butterfly. The young magpies are still being attended by their parents.

Meadow Cranesbill is out near Dunscar Golf Club and Wood Cranesbill is flowering on the Back Lane: two delicate mauve and lilac flowers respectably. Downy Rose and Sweet Briar are flowering at the park. I call them Wild Roses as a simplification. The Sweet Briar flowers are a pretty deep-pink, while the Downy Roses are white blushed with just a tint of pink.

June 28^th
In the field on Darwen Road Himalayan Balsam and Rosebay Willow Herb are flowering. David saw three Grey Squirrels in Egerton this morning and a blue Dragonfly at Entwistle – the first of the year. The green spikes of Great Plantain can be seen by the path to the doctor’s while Lamb’s Tongue Plantain is flowering everywhere.

On Saturday we went for a meal at a local pub, which was delicious - despite the taxi been twenty minutes late and being told we’d have to wait till ten for the meal. We arrived at seven twenty!

June 29^th
By the duck pond the Thistles are covered with Blackfly, and we saw three-spot and two-spot Ladybirds, two of which were mating.

The Brown Butterflies with orange patches on their wings fly very sluggishly flitting from grass stem to stem. I now believe it is more likely that they are Meadow Brown Butterflies. Creeping Cinquefoil is out in abundance down the Clough along with the yellow and red dabbled Marsh Bird’s foot Trefoil.