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ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH, WASPERTON
A SANCTUARY FOR WILDLIFE

Updated October 2024

There is often about this time
a spell of fine, dry weather,
and this has received the name
of Saint Luke's little summer.

This is one of the famous English weather sayings and is adamantly believed by countrymen. St Luke's Day is the 18th of October. The period 15th-21st October was tested for dry sunny weather and the figures show a different story. Also, a minimum of three days allowed for a "little summer" to occur. A 31% chance of this happened when the 18th was one of the three days.

Now I reckon the 31% is pretty good when you think about our weather, don't you ?

Normally, the third Old-Wives summer dry period at the end of September continues into early October. then it becomes stormy peaking 8th-9th, returning to quiet anti cyclonic weather in mid-month, peaking on the 19th.This see-saw pattern continues until the late autumn rains. Then more storms from the 24th up to the middle of November. Well, it won't be tea on the lawn for a long time now, winter is coming.

In the Churchyard it is time to tidy up a bit, cutting and raking up the wild flower areas, We will cut back all the nettles now, the insects won't be needing them. Hopefully some will be tucked up in their bug boxes for the winter.

As I had mentioned the bats had enjoyed reducing the insect numbers in August and September. They have gone to bed now, I hope, some in their special boxes, I can't be sure but I guess most will be under the Church roof tiles as usual.

All our summer visiting birds have flown now, off to their warm winter countries, sensible really and they don't  need passports. I was reading in the RSPB magazine recently that more migrants are being shot for sport by so called hunters in the south of Europe and north Africa. This is reducing the bird numbers considerably. The  good thing is our winter visitors are here, not so much in the Churchyard, but round about. I know it is the same every year but always new in its own way somehow.

Thanks again for all your support, keep popping through the Churchyard just to keep an eye on us.

Mike Porter
01926 624909

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