THE NATURE REPORT
JULY 2008
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Raindrops on waterGuess what? That's right, as the photograph on the right shows, its raining yet again.

River in floodAs This photograph on left shows, the river Dane is coming up and over it banks yet again.

Mind you I have to say that it was not all dull and overcast.

Buzzard verses airliner.As you can see in this photograph of a giant buzzard about to attack an airliner the sky occasionally was blue.

Actually the aircraft is probably something like 10miles (16km) further away than the buzzard, this give the illusion of the buzzard being a giant

Although in this case there was no danger of a collision, it is not unknown for birds to actually bring down aircraft.

LadybirdBack to ground level and here we have a seven spot Ladybird.

If you are a gardener and your roses are host to aphids then this little beatle will be one of you best friends.

Each Ladybird is capable of eating several thousand aphids during its lifetime.

Fat RobinBack in the hedgrow, and a burst of bird song draws my attention to this rather plump looking robin.

Although locally robins may be quite a common sight they have the full protection of the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, which makes it an offence intentionally to kill, injure or take any wild bird.

If you are cutting or trimming your hedge you should take care not to disturb, damage or destroy any robin's nest that is in use, as it too is covered by this law.

One of the Robin's (and other small birds) biggest threats is the growing number of house cats. According to RSPB figures they are responsible for killing 15 times more Robin's than natural predators such as the sparrowhawk and owl.

pidgeon feeding youngIn a willow down by the river Dane a blur of movement drew my attention to this pidgeon as it landed on its nest.

Unfortunately for me the nest was in a tree on the opposite bank and I could not get a decent angle for the photograph.

However if you look closely you can just make out the head of the chick as it greedily accepts food from the parent bird.

Well that's it for now

See you next month, Andy.

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JUNE 08