Hillside House
Hillside House is a small wildlife conservation site run by David Max and located at South Raynham in Norfolk, UK.
Many thanks to the various volunteers who have helped with habitat creation and maintenance here.
Mark Woolfrey deserves a special mention for advising on and helping to set up the audio playback system used to attract swifts to the site.
In October a group from Norfolk Conservation Corps visited and did great work with reed-cutting and on a brash hedge on the meadow.
Kestrels nest successfully
A highlight of year 2022 at Hillside House was the successful nesting of kestrels on the site.
A pair fledged three young from the nestbox at Top Blackthorn, which was installed in 2015.
Birds Of Conservation Concern 5
This report, recently published, is indicative of the parlous state of biodiversity in Britain today.
Some of the species present at Hillside House are now on the Red List (cuckoo; woodcock; marsh tit; mistle thrush; spotted flycatcher -- status here unclear; linnet).
About 15 species on the Amber List are also present here at Hillside House on a regular basis.
2022 is the warmest year on record
Year 2022 is the warmest year on record in East Anglia.
The eight warmest years have occurred since 2002 inclusive.
Eighteen months of above-average temperatures
December 2022 broke a sequence of months of above-average temperatures in East Anglia.
After the cold snap early on in the month, mean temperature in December 2022 was 0.59C below the long-term average for December in this region.
November was the eighteenth month in a row where temperatures in East Anglia were above the long-term average for each month.
Another dry April and record summer temperatures
April 2022 was, again, very dry.
In seven of the last nine years, rainfall in April for East Anglia was less than the long-term average. Rainfall for April 2022 was just 30% of average.
High pressure dominated for several weeks, resulting in very pleasant weather conditions, but these may not be good for farmers or wildlife.
Later, in July and August, record temperatures and drought were recorded in the UK. The temperature reached about 39 celsius in north Norfolk.
Arrival dates of summer migrants
This plot suggests dates are getting earlier even in just the last nine years.
In 2022, whitethroat has been noticeably late to arrive. Swift was also late.
Mining bees, hoverflies, wasps
Mining bees were showing well on the plot in the spring.
Several Andrena species, including Andrena fulva and A. nitida, have been making nests on tracks near the shed.
The mason bee Osmia bicolor has also been around.
A solitary wasp Symmorphus has appeared earlier than in previous years. This little wasp nests in holes in the timber frame of the shed.
Various hoverflies (Eristalis spp., Syrpha spp., Syritta) have also been evident.
At least one of the smaller species of bibionid flies was numerous on warmer days.
Brash hedge work
The brash hedge along the south-eastern edge of the meadow has been rebuilt.
The work has tidied up the hedge, allowing the adjacent track to be shifted away from the reedy parts of the meadow.
The materials of the hedge will provide nutrients for detritivores such as beetles, centipedes, millipedes, isopods, and molluscs.
The hedge is already an excellent refuge for small mammals, including bank voles.
In time, several bird species may nest in the hedge, such as robin, coal tit, wren and chiffchaff.