{"id":3733,"date":"2026-09-09T10:35:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T09:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/?p=3733"},"modified":"2026-09-09T10:35:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T09:35:36","slug":"august-newsletter-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/archives\/3733","title":{"rendered":"August Newsletter 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The quiet month of August, with the bird song all but over, heralds the start of the bird migration. Stover\u2019s migrants will start to put on weight in the next few weeks in preparation for their long journey south. They will start to eat sugar-rich foods, such as rowan berries, elderberries and blackberries, in preference to insects. Look out for whitethroats on bramble patches, garden warblers eating elderberries, and blackcaps pecking at rosehips. The adult swifts are already leaving Britain for their wintering grounds in the South. The young birds remain for an extra couple of weeks and then navigate their way back south unaided. Swallows and house martins will start to group en masse this month.<\/p>\n

On the heath, the nightjars are now rearing their second broods. Although the woods in the Park will seem very quiet, August is quite a busy time for many woodland birds. Many juveniles have now left their parents\u2019 territory and are travelling further afield. They gather into parties with different species of young birds, learning where the best food sources are and trying to avoid predation. The adults are now undergoing a gradual moult to change their plumage. However, bullfinches can still be feeding young in August as many of the seeds on which they feed are ripe. Goldfinch, siskin, blackcap and bullfinch were all recorded at Stover during July.<\/p>\n

Young sparrowhawk and tawny owl are now hunting for themselves and cash in on the abundance of young inexperienced birds, and moulting adults who cannot evade capture so well with some of their flight feathers missing.<\/p>\n

The lake water level is lowest it\u2019s been with three heat waves so far this summer and hardly any rain for 6 weeks. Many of the ponds have dried up for the first time in over 30 years and the trees are starting to struggle. Fortunately there hasn\u2019t been the brown algal blooms in the lake so de-oxygenation hasn\u2019t been such a problem as last year and the fish haven\u2019t died to date. The de-silting works has provided some deeper areas where the fish can congregate in cooler waters.<\/p>\n

Now is about the time when the swan cygnets become susceptible to botulism. Please inform the rangers if you notice any of them separating themselves off from the others as this is a sign that not all is well. It is worth being aware that white bread is not suitable to feed the wildfowl as it contains yeast which can cause digestive problems. Whilst it isn\u2019t directly responsible for wildfowl deaths, it does make it harder for them to fight infections as they are not as healthy as they could be. The saying \u2018we are what we eat\u2019 goes for animals and birds as well as for us humans!<\/p>\n

\"CootThe earlier broods of mallard ducklings are now the same size as their parents. The three remaining first ever tufted duck ducklings at Stover are getting bigger, and 10 more tufted ducklings hatched out on 31st<\/sup> July. Moorhen and coot young were still hatching out during last month, but there weren\u2019t any new broods of ducklings. Moulting drakes are still in their \u2018eclipse plumage\u2019 which means they are hard to tell apart from the females; they will soon re-grow the vivid green plumage on their heads. The single great-crested grebe left Stover lake on 7th<\/sup> July. Fingers crossed it returns next year with a mate. Moorhen numbers are now increasing as juveniles from outside of Stover move through the Park. Their numbers will peak in the winter. The mandarin ducks are still present on the lake with up to 9 being seen on 28th<\/sup> July. Kingfishers were sighted towards the end of last month.<\/p>\n

The first black-headed gull returning to the lake for the winter was on 20th July \u2013 they usually start to appear after the longest day with numbers increasing throughout the Autumn. Herring gulls were present on most days during July. Sand martins can be seen on most days feeding over the lake. They return after this year\u2019s young have all been raised in their colonies on the River Teign, to feed ahead of their long migration back to Africa in the autumn. Keep an eye out for common sandpipers this month as they usually stop off at Stover during August on their journey south to overwinter in Africa. However, a few remain in the South of Britain providing sightings in the winter. A little egret was seen on the 30th<\/sup> and 31st<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Young hedgehogs are emerging now and setting off to lead independent lives. Small mammals such as voles and shrews reach peak numbers after their summer\u2019s breeding. Most weasels give birth between May and August, so there are more around now than at any other time of the year. Weasels are much smaller than stoats and can follow a mouse or a vole into its tunnel. Millions of flying ants will take to the air in August, and crickets and grasshoppers can be heard on warm evenings. Adders bask in the sun on the heathland and will give birth to live young (the eggs hatch immediately) in August.<\/p>\n

\"Silver-washedButterfly records dramatically rocketed in July with the hot dry weather. The first comma was spotted on 1st<\/sup> July, marbled white on the 2nd<\/sup>, large skipper on the 6th<\/sup>, clouded yellow on the 12th<\/sup>, green veined white on the 21st<\/sup> and holly blue on the 24th<\/sup>. It\u2019s been a good painted lady and clouded yellow year. Painted Ladies can be a regular migrant to Britain from south-west Europe and North Africa, but only when favourable conditions exist on the continent do their numbers swell to produce a larger influx coming over the Channel into Britain. Clouded yellows are not quite so regular at Stover, but have bumper years such as 2000 and 2006. It is native to the Mediterranean. The darker form of the comma butterfly can now be seen which is produced in response to shortening day length and will hibernate over the winter. The second brood of brimstone butterflies should just have emerged from eggs laid earlier this year. The larval food plant is alder buckthorn which grows in profusion in the Park\u2019s heathland.<\/p>\n

Red Admirals migrate from the Mediterranean and as soon as they arrive here the females lay their eggs on the nettles. In August the caterpillars will have turned into adults so there should be a peak of red admirals this month. Keep an eye out for the scarlet tiger moth. This day-time flying moth has bright red under-wings as its name suggests. If it is disturbed by a predatory bird it shows off its bright hind-wings to startle the bird as it escapes. It can also defend itself from lizards by secreting two blobs of poisonous, bright yellow liquid from behind its head. It has been a bumper year again for Jersey tiger moths. Glow-worms should now be visible along the carriage drive and firebreak at dusk.<\/p>\n

August is the peak time for watching many of the more impressive dragonflies, such as hawkers, chasers and darters, which coincides with the emergence of many of the insects on which they feed. The first lesser emperor and southern hawker of the year were recorded on 9th<\/sup> July, with the first small red-eyed damselfly on the 12th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\"BellOne of August\u2019s spectaculars at Stover is the heather which is in full bloom at the moment. Other plants in flower include purple loosestrife, hemp agrimony, figwort, common centaury, valerian and fleabane which are providing nectar for the last of this season\u2019s insects. In the past the stems and leaves of fleabane were burnt to produce smoke that helped to keep fleas away. Bladderwort can be seen in the lake and ponds. This yellow aquatic carnivorous plant has finely divided leaves which bear small bladders. These act like vacuum cleaners sucking in animals which trigger the mechanism. The southern marsh has provided a fantastic display of flowers this summer. Those on dry land are starting to be affected by the drought and are dying back early which will affect the caterpillars feeding on them, resulting in possibly a poor butterfly year next year.<\/p>\n

Nature is always one step ahead \u2013 take a look at the trees and you\u2019ll see hazel and beech nuts, elder and hawthorn berries, and sycamore seeds amongst the leaves. They\u2019ll need this month to ripen properly before the autumn when they become more visible as the leaves start to drop.<\/p>\n

For the twenty-third year running Stover has been awarded the Green Flag by the Civic Trust. This award reflects the hard work carried out by all of the individuals and volunteer groups that help manage the Park throughout the year; a big thank you to you all!<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The quiet month of August, with the bird song all but over, heralds the start of the bird migration. Stover\u2019s migrants will start to put on weight in the next few weeks in preparation for their long journey south. They … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2866,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-updates","category-newsletters"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-21 00:20:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2866"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3733"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3738,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3733\/revisions\/3738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/stovercountrypark\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}