Nature Notes

Migration is fully underway and tracking devices are being used to locate where, in Africa, many of our summer visitors spend the winter.

The third weekend in August (21st & 22nd) saw the first significant rainfall for several weeks.

June has been sunny but dry, making it difficult for many birds to feed their young.

For the first ten days of May the dry northerly airflow and frosts continued so that early nesting birds failed and the dawn and evening chorus stopped.

April has been dominated by high pressure bringing bright, sunny days with a cold, dry, northerly airstream, resulting in some severe frosty nights which have burnt some early blossom.

The main physical feature of Scruton is the river Swale which essentially forms the eastern boundary of the parish. It is a fast-flowing river which has created spectacular meanders and is, on a geological time scale, rapidly changing its course.

Following a forty-year long upward trend, 2020 may have been the warmest year on record in the UK. The impact on nature is incremental and slow changes are not very obvious.

This Autumn is one of the warmest on record with no frost of any note as yet. Consequently, Summer flowers are still in bloom.

When I left school, farming was simple. Produce food for people to eat, as much as possible to feed the nation. The more we farmers produced the better off we were financially. By the time of the Ethiopian famine, I thought that we could help feed the world.