August 2011 archive

Aug 31 2011

Summary of August 2011

Summary of August 2011

Weather

The month started started with very mixed weather, some days being very wet, others quite hot and humid. By the end of the first week it was raining every day and stayed that way for the second week of August. By the third week it was a little better but still not reliable and in the last week some sun was soon followed by rain. In general a very poor summer and a poor August.

Garden

Some signs that the local birds are coming out of hiding with the Blue Tits and Great Tits returning and the Dunnock being increasingly evident. On 7th August there was a very unusual sight in the garden when a large mixed flock of birds descended on the feeders. For more on this see the entry click here.

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Aug 15 2011

“The Secret Life of Birds: Who they are and what they do” by Colin Tudge : 15 August 2011

“The Secret Life of Birds: Who they are and what they do” by Colin Tudge  : 15 August 2011.

Cover of the book "The Secret Life of Birds"I have not been doing a great deal of birding this month because I have had a bad cold that has meant that I have been a bit house-bound. Having already read any outstanding books on my reading list and having exhausted my monthly supply of magazines I turned to an old favourite. This must have been the fourth time I have read Colin Tudge’s impressive and comprehensive book on birds and their world.

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Aug 08 2011

RSPB British Birds of Prey by Marianne Taylor & Stig Frode Olsen : 8 August 2011

RSPB British Birds of Prey by Marianne Taylor & Stig Frode Olsen  : 8 August 2011

Book Cover of RSPB British Birds of PreyThis book was recommended to me particularly for the photographs by Stig Frode Olsen and it has to be said that it is hard to imagine better photography than this. Each species has eight to ten accompanying photographs each of the highest quality. The text is equally as impressive and comprehensive. For each species there is an introductory section followed by sections on conservation ; distribution, population and habitat ; diet and hunting ; courtship and reproduction ; movement and migration; and the future prospects for the species. There is also a chapter on “rare visitors and vagrants” dealing with the lesser encountered species likely to pitch up in Britain.

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Aug 07 2011

Mixed Flock in Garden : 7th August 2011

Mixed Flock in Garden : 7th August 2011

A very unusual sight in the garden. I looked casually at the back garden feeders as I must do a million times a day and was somewhat amazed to see half a dozen Long-tailed Tits all over the feeders. On top of this there were nine Blue Tits and four Great Tits. All of these birds were present at the same time buzzing all around the feeders. There was also further activity in the rose bushes at the bottom of the garden but there was so much going on that it was hard to concentrate on what was happening down there. Amazingly I then saw bobbing along the back gate a very yellow warbler which I took to be a Willow Warbler ! I was quite astonished and although we have been seeing Long-tailed Tits in the garden recently we haven’t ever seen anything like this before. It was clear that all these birds were this year juveniles who were presumably making up a single foraging flock. Sadly they didn’t stay long but it was quite a sight while it was happening !

Aug 04 2011

Day Out To WWT Martin Mere : 4th August 2011

Day Out To WWT Martin Mere : 4th August 2011

We drove up to Martin Mere to collect the new scope I had ordered but while we were there we had a look around the hides as well. The weather wasn’t brilliant and it had been raining heavily so the scrapes were under water and a lot of the birds had flown off for the day. We had hoped to see the Green Sandpipers that were on the sightings board and which the web site had indicated had been around for a couple of days so we walked down to the usually reliable Ron Barker Hide. From here, though, we didn’t see too much out of the ordinary. There were Lapwing and Shelduck and a single Black-tailed Godwit but no Green Sandpiper. We were thinking that we would take a look at the long hide overlooking The Mere but just as we were about to leave a chap told us he had just come from the  Hale Hide where he had seen four Green Sandpipers.

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Aug 03 2011

Day Out To Tatton Park : 3rd August 2011

Day Out To Tatton Park : 3rd August 2011

We drove out to Tatton Park, parking in the usual place at the south side of Tatton Mere. We walked through the woods which were pretty quiet although we did see a Nuthatch and a Song Thrush as well as the more familiar suspects. On the Mere were lots of Coots with their young, now pretty well developed. We had good views of a number of Great Crested Grebes also with their stripy-headed young. As usual there were quite a few Mallards and Canada Geese and some Greylag Geese as well as Mute Swans.

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Aug 01 2011

Summary of July 2011

Summary of July 2011

Weather

Very hot at the start of the month getting wetter towards the end of the first week. By the middle of the month it had gotten very wet. We were away between the 14th – 18th and on return we got the impression that there had been heavy rain throughout the period. By 24th warm to hot and sunnier again and sometimes humid right up to the end of the month.

Garden

More signs of bird attacks. This time a Blackbird looks like it got attacked – probably by a cat – but got away. It seems that the cat that was giving us all the bother was not Continue reading