Page 26 - br-aug-2020

August 2020 August 2020
established. Tilhill Forestry who manage Mays Wood have cut parts of this area
just before flowering so that the plants here will re grow and produce a good
show later in the season.
We now have a wonderful range of contrasting wildlife habitats from the
heathland on the top of Black Hill, ancient woodland on the southern slope, Mays
Wood and the sown dry meadow, then our village wet meadow nature reserve
and Bere Stream. Many would say “You can’t get better than that!”
Glow Worms
In previous years Glow Worms have been seen in the hedgerows bounding May’s
Wood, below Black Hill. Unfortunately, we’ve had no reports of sightings this year.
If you have seen any, please let us know.
The glow worm, Lampyris noctiluca, is not at all worm-like but is a beetle up to 25
mm long. Only the wingless female glows strongly, to attract the flying males.
Each individual female has an adult glowing life of only a few weeks (from June
through to early September) until she mates, lays her eggs and dies. A chemical
reaction in the tail of the beetle forms the glow, which is about as bright as an LED
light on a hi-fi.
Nature Sightings
We would be very interested to hear of
your local wildlife sightings (common or
unusual), so as to build up a picture of
what is about and when it first arrives /
emerges. An occasional and beautiful
sight along Bere Stream is the Kingfisher,
pictured here.
Nature Notes
We are continuing to post occasional
Nature Notes on the village Facebook
page and distributing them to all on our e
-mailing list. Do look out for them – they
provide some information on local and
seasonal wildlife sights, be they plants, animals, insects etc, and are
accompanied by some amazing photos. Let us know if there is anything you
would like us to cover and if you have any photos we could post, please email
them to us. If you would like to be included on the e-mailing list, please contact
us.
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The Jubilee Bonfire was recorded in this wonderful poem by “Pam.” - Pam Hoare
We had a great big bonfire on top of Woodbury Hill,
It was so perishing cold up there, I thought we would all be ill,
They were selling soup, all piping hot, “Don’t burn your mouths,” they said
So we stood round holding our paper cups, burning our hands instead.
When the kids had drunk their soup, and the hot dogs were all sold,
They layed down on the grass, then down the hill they rolled.
What they didn’t realise was, that earlier that day,
Seventy or Eighty Guernsey cows had chanced to pass that way.
Some of us decided to sing national songs and we climbed up under the trees,
There were nine or ten of us all singing in different keys.
We sang “Rule Britannia” and Elgar’s “Land of Hope”,
While half of Bere Regis stood watching us, I felt a proper dope.
“Time’s going on,” said Jimmy Shave, “Sing the National Anthem now”,
I’ve wondered since if ‘twas the time, or if he couldn’t stand the row,
So we gathered round the fire, folks both young and old,
Our faces they got burning hot, but our backs were freezing cold.
The boys drained all the cider bottles that they found lying around.
I tripped over one young lad who had flaked out on the ground.
“Get up you silly boy” I said, “You’ll catch your death of cold”
“I would” he said “But tis me legs, they seem to want to fold!”
Then the mothers sought their children, and that was quite a game.
After rolling down the hill the kids all looked the same.
I’m sure we all enjoyed ourselves though ‘twas cold and that was a pity,
And now I think it’s time to say “Thank you, Jubilee Committee.”
What a wonderful commentary on a memorable occasion!
SDB
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