Bad Weather "apocolyptical" For Our Wildlife

[bobbydog]

whilst wondering about the lack of insects this year, i came across this bbc news article- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18849327

as annoying as they can be, its not good news for our wildlife. i've especially noticed the lack of moths over the past 2 years. we have no streetlights here and our nearest neighbours are about 100m away so our house lights usually attract thousands of them, of all different species. this obviously has a knock on effect to bats etc, which again, (though i haven't been able to sit out and watch them due to the weather!) there seems to be a lack of. i have noticed though, an abundance of horseflies and slugs!

anyone else noticed a change in wildlife numbers?

[frogesque]

While gardening today I noticed a few wasps, about half the size they would normally be at this time of year. Definitely wasps and not hoverflys.

[Crepuscular Ray]

Yuk, at whatever size. I'm hoping the wet weather here has been has "apocalyptic" for them as it has for most of the other insects.

There are slugs everywhere; walking up the road was like slug slalom yesterday morning.

I've just had to bat a cranefly out of the bathroom.

Edited July 17, 2012 by Crepuscular Ray

[bobbydog]

Yuk, at whatever size. I'm hoping the wet weather here has been has "apocalyptic" for them as it has for most of the other insects.

I've just had to bat a cranefly out of the bathroom.

problem is, the other animals which feed on them, like bats or birds, will suffer.

[gottolovethisweather]

Farmland bird broods already faced with enough issues were pretty thin on the ground whilst undertaking my surveys. Any broods that were seen tended to be within the woodlands hinting at the hole nesters performing much better. Likewise, the waders have suffered and record numbers of non-breeders were already passing through or staying within the UK hinting at a Northern european or even Arctic breeding problem. Butterflies were seen in very small numbers but with a reasonable variety. Insects were notably rarely seen on the rainy, windy cooler days. There will be winners and losers but I fear our biodiversity has taken a very big hit this year.

For the record, I could talk and post about this stuff forever on here For information purposes, my generalised sightings above covered Berkshire, Warwickshire and Oxfordshire.

Best Wishes

gottolovethisnaturalworld

[Crepuscular Ray]

problem is, the other animals which feed on them, like bats or birds, will suffer.

I was only meaning to say I would be happy if there were fewer wasps around. I certainly wouldn't want there to be fewer butterflies, moths, ladybirds, grasshoppers, etc. There are too few of them already

[bobbydog]

I was only meaning to say I would be happy if there were fewer wasps around. I certainly wouldn't want there to be fewer butterflies, moths, ladybirds, grasshoppers, etc. There are too few of them already

as much as i hate wasps, they actually kill other pest insects. shame they don't kill themselves afterwards!

[Styx]

Ever heard the squel of an injured hedgehog? One of the loudest high pitch noises I have ever heard from such a small creature.

[Crepuscular Ray]

They squeal and roar loudly enough when mating; I can imagine that the noise they make when injured is horrendous.

[Nick L]

We hear this every summer no matter what the weather is!

[4wd]

Things even out over time.

I have seen more dead chicks of all kinds from partridge to swallows.

There are still very few insects, even flies are scarce but they do have the ability to breed very quickly if it gets hot.

Lots of midges though. We don't usually have many here but this year every cow's footprint is a suitable breeding pool.

[pottyprof]

I've seen the first hover fly of this year. They're usually out at the beginning of June around here. The mozzies have had a bumper time of it though. There are loads down in the Marsh nature reserve.