Monday 30 June 2014

Spots are fly

Midsummer on the patch and we await Autumn . The first Autumn migrant showed itself today with a view of a Garden Warbler ,not such a common bird here on the patch. That takes the number of species this year to 78 .
I took a quick dash onto the patch today and found a bird that I have only seen fleetingly this summer ,I discovered a pair of Yellow Wagtails in the same place as last year. The female had food in her beak and the male was in close attendance, have they bred ,if so I have really being walking around with my eyes shut.
The other star bird are the Spotted Flycatchers and they seem to be doing well and I am seeing them on a daily basis now as they take food into their nest ,great birds I  love them .
I visited the patch on Saturday and the weather was again good. There is much less bird song now and the countryside has that long summer feel and look about it ,with the buzz of insect life and Butterflies along the hedgerows. I found 3 Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaff and 7 Whitethroat ,its been a great year for Whitethroats this year for me.
Overhead 13 plus Swallow and 15 plus House Martins  were going about their daily tasks. The local Buzzards numbered 4 today .
Even the Skylarks have gone quiet with just 4 seen on Saturday. Stock Dove  passed over with 3 been seen.
The Woodpecker crew were represented by a distant calling Green and 2 Greater Spotted .
The patch list now stands at 78 for the year.
Finally a confession , I went to Coombe Hill Meadows on Sunday instead of patching it ,it was a guilty pleasure but there were some great birds down there and its strange to see some species so easily that we really struggle to see on the patch even though its less than 2 miles as the crow flies .