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The rhododendron is pretty spectacular at this time of year along with the yellow azaelias which flower along the lake path. The flag iris is turning the marsh from green to gold. Summer flowers are at their best this month. Heath and common spotted orchids are out in profusion along with bugle, tormentil, red campion, foxgloves, honeysuckle and ragged robin.

Yellow Flag Iris

June is the month when thousands of tits fledge countrywide. The bushes and trees around the Park are full of young tits, nuthatches and wrens which will stay in their family groups. Swallow and house martin young hatch this month and the first of the young sand martins on the River Teign are due to fledge from their colonial burrows. Some of the older birds will manage to go on to rear a further two broods. The first swift was seen on 18^th May. A pair of nightjar were recorded unusually early at the end of April. Since then another pair have arrived with both males displaying over the heath underneath the pylons. The great-spotted woodpeckers have been filling Stover with the sound of their drumming. The young have now hatched out and can be heard calling to the adults. Regular sightings of bullfinch occurred during last month. A young osprey was recorded over the lake on 6^th May.

Great-spotted woodpecker feeding young

Fewer wildfowl will be on the wing this month because now is the time that they replace all their old flight feathers. For most breeding ducks, geese and swans this moult happens when they are rearing their flightless chicks. Some ducks, coots and moorhens are still sitting on eggs. Several broods of ducklings have survived despite the lack of lilies on the lake which protected them against the pike. Two cygnets hatched out on 19^th May but both were predated within the first couple of days. One pair of great-crested grebe remain on the lake but they have failed to raise any young so far. A couple of lesser black-backed gulls were on the lake during the middle of the month.

Bats are active at this time of year and can be seen on most evenings skimming over the lake feeding on moths and midges. They will give birth to their single young this month. Young hedgehogs are born in early June with badger and fox cubs starting to wander further afield. Roe deer young are born this month and lie hidden in the undergrowth. The summer months (May to August) is the peak time for the birth of otter cubs and the females are kept busy caring for their young families.

Roe Deer Fawn

Keep an eye out for the young frogs and toads which will begin to leave the ponds and ditches in June. Newts will also be returning to land to feed after they have bred. They spend much of the day amongst the damp vegetation and under logs and stones. Several sightings of grass-snakes occurred during May. A female adder was recorded on 29^th May. Thousands of young roach and rudd fry were visible in the lake as they were during May last year.

The elder trees have started to flower – the flowers provide landing pads for hoverflies, wasps and beetles. Stag beetles are just one of the many types of beetle that emerge in June. Keep an eye out for glow-worms which will light up at dusk in rough grass. They tend to prefer areas where there are plenty of small snails, as this is what their larvae feed on.

Many butterflies and dragonflies are now on the wing with the high temperatures at the end of May increasing numbers dramatically. On the butterfly front the first dingy skipper was recorded on 10^th May, small white on 18^th May and common blue on the 22^nd. Brimstones were busy laying eggs on the alder buckthorn at the end of last month. Speckled woods are now onto their second generation of the year.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The dragonflies are also getting more noticeable. Joining the large red and blue-tailed damselflies and broad-bodied chasers and hairy dragonflies seen in April the first sightings were recorded as follows : common blue damselfly on 2^nd May, azure on the 13^th, red-eyed on 1^st June, beautiful demoiselle on 15^th May, along with black tailed skimmer dragonflies on 10^th May and emperors on the 29^th.