Comma-WestMidBC-autumn-2014

previous weeks, but not so critical that it would send a
bat to sleep. By the pile of droppings beneath it, this
must be a favourite place to hang out safely.
Right at the back of the cellar more sleeping creatures
were found hanging on the ceiling. There must have
been half a dozen each of Small Tortoiseshell and
Peacock looking like they were heading for a long wait
until spring. One hopes the sleeping bat does not
awake to find them for a snack!
Peacock on Bluebell
(Jason Kernohan)
Gloomy cellar
is haven for
wildlife
My long-term study of Barn Swallows
in Alfrick, which is on the edge of west
Worcestershire, takes me into odd places
such as a cellar where these birds have
been nesting for many years.
In the middle of August, while checking a nest out that
had already produced chicks, the owner told me
about other surprising occupants that were there…
In the gloom at the back section, the torch lit up a
Lesser Horseshoe bat hanging like the proverbial plum!
It failed to wake up for the few minutes that we were
there, and was obviously well into “shut down mode”.
Small movements from it indicated it was definitely
alive, but why had it gone into hibernation mode in a
summer month? The weather had cooled down from
A fairly common moth
Sleeping with the butterflies were also several of the few
hibernating species of moths in the adult form we have,
called the Herald. They too have a long wait until
spring arrives. This is a fairly common moth with
distinctive wing shape and wing markings, and also
can be the first moth to be seen every year and possibly
the last.
Another temporary inhabitant of the cellar back in the
spring had been a family of Wrens. The lazy or smart
male, whichever way you look at it, had used an old
Swallow nest attached to a beam. He only had to put
a roof on it, to try and attract a female, and had been
successful in persuading her this was a secure site.
Interestingly, both the Wren and a pair of Swallows
nested close together, with only a main supporting
beam between them!
In the past both Robins and Blackbirds have also
found the cellar a safe place to rear a family, so that
made a grand total of seven species using this damp,
gloomy underground space, with a 5ft wide door at
the bottom of some steps.
By Garth Lowe
The Herald
moth
overwinters
as an adult
in a sheltered
location
(Roger
Wasley)
28
the Comma