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On a glorious hot mid-June morning at High Ash Farm, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin begin at the maturing lake, alive with emperor dragonflies laying eggs, banded damselflies, and thousands of tiny fish fry (young roach and rudd) shimmering just beneath the surface. Swallows and house martins swoop low for drinks while a little grebe dives nearby.
The pair then witness one of nature’s greatest spectacles — a huge honeybee swarm forming a football-sized ball on a pine branch, the old queen and thousands of workers in holiday mood seeking a new home.
They walk through vibrant wildflower areas filled with sainfoin, field mint, woundwort and the beautiful pink-and-white trumpets of field bindweed — a plant farmers dread but which dazzles in the sunshine. Chris reflects on the start of hay cutting and the changing rhythms of high summer.
Listener letters add delight: cockchafer beetles (“blind bees”), Scottish hedgerows, feeding birds in summer, and more.
This episode is a sun-drenched celebration of high summer’s bounty — from dragonfly-studded waters and bee swarms to colourful meadows — ideal for savouring the warmth, wonder and busy life of the countryside in full swing.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/19376539-episode-2-77-dragonfly-dances-and-bee-swarm-ball.mp3?download=true
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