June

June is here and outside is full of life. Dan, aka Mr Wildsmith, is an ecologist and I asked him to make a few notes about what’s happening at this time of year;

JUNE

It’s june! Baby bats are being born in the maternity roost. Female bats usually give birth to a single pup, which feed on their milk. Young bats are very small (less than an inch) with thin, slightly grey fur. Adult bats will catch thousands of insects each in a night. Bats can seriously reduce midge populations!

Plant wise, time to get out into the meadows to see orchids, other herbs and grasses before they disappear in high summer.

Swifts are well and truly back. The young have been in the air and not touched the ground since last year.

Thanks Dan.

Have you seen any bats at dusk? Maybe swooping around your house and garden? We’ve just seen one flying around our garden, but if you take a walk at dusk, particularly around trees and areas of cover (as they don’t usually fly out in the open) you might see some.

We also have swifts near us that fly around our rooftops, the high pitch shrill call made by a few together is a really memorable sound!

Pottery wise its been a funny time. Half term really put a halt to making for me and I’ve struggled to get back into it and lost some of my pottery mojo. It’s really not helped with how difficult things are for small businesses at the minute, many makers I know are having to close due to the cost of living crisis, rising price of materials and lower sales at this time of year. It’s something I think about every day and have to justify if I can continue to do this as a job. This has made me reassess and prioritise how I’m going to move forward with Mrs Wildsmith to make things work for me, I’ll keep you updated!