Sidmouth Parks [January 2023]


 Sidmouth Parks and Gardens

30th January 2023

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On my walk ... the marmalade hoverfly

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  Distinguishing between some species of hoverfly can be a real challenge, some species can only be told apart by examination under a microscope but that means capturing and killing a specimen and I am not about to do that. Mine is a hobby project not a scientific study. Some species, however, are distinctive enough to be identified even from a distance and this one [ Episyrphus balteatus]  being only 10mm or so in length is one of those more easily identified specimens. It is a slender insect with a quite distinctive shaped abdomen and has a unique pattern of markings on its back. Usually orange and with three alternate pairs of thick and narrow black bars it has earned the nickname of the marmalade hoverfly but you probably will not find it referred to as that in reference books. This particular insect caught my eye as it has three grey bands and I wondered if it was something other than 'balteatus' but upon reference to my 'bible' on hoverflies I find the markings ca
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On my walk ... the dipper

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  Until recently I have lived my entire life on the chalk dominated counties of Hampshire and Dorset where the rivers have a gentle flow and do not have rocky beds. As a result they are not the kind of rivers one finds dippers on and my only encounters with this remarkable bird had been whilst on holiday in the north of England and in Wales. Consequently I was delighted to find I now live in an area where dippers also live and that they can be seen frequently on the River Sid. My first sighting of the local dippers was last week when I found the strip of woodland that runs between the river and Margaret's Meadow. A delightful wooded valley area where one can get right down to the bank of the river and as I wandered through I saw a dipper on a rock in the river just twenty feet or so from me. Surprisingly it was not 'dipping' but stood motionless as I watched it for a few minutes. It seemed to be waiting for me to photograph it but, naturally, I did not have my camera with m
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On my walk ... the herring gull

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  On any stroll along the prom in Sidmouth you will see herring gulls. Despite popular belief herring gull populations are in decline as they struggle with diminishing natural food supplies and nesting habitats. They have become quite resourceful and have adapted their behaviour to nest on roof tops and to scavenge for scraps that humans leave behind although that scavenging seems to be reaching the point where they will boldly take food before humans have left it behind! The herring gull is a stocky bird and not something one would wish to tangle with especially when it is in the air near you and in some places it is claimed visitors are staying away because of the gulls. In Swanage recently a local started a petition to try and get the town council to 'cull' them as they are considered to be a nuisance. It is, I think, a shame that we humans act in a way that encourages animals to become what we then consider to be a nuisance and then our answer is to want to kill off the poo
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