Jun Jul

Two for the price of one!

Summary of visits 27-28 June and 18-19 July. Not a great deal to report as is normal for summer but here we go anyway.

June

Greylag - 20+
Mallard - 40+
Marsh Harrier - 1 female
Sparrowhawk - 2
Buzzard - 6
Kestrel - 6
Hobby - 2
Oystercatcher - 2
Lapwing - 3
Curlew - 3 including 1 flying W and 2 feeding among cut grass
Green Sandpiper - 1, first recent record for June
Little Owl - 2
Kingfisher - 1
Yellow Wagtail - 3
Reed Warbler - 1
Lesser Whitethroat - 4, brings total 'locations' to 7 this year.
Common Whitethroat - 20+ males
Bullfinch - 2

July

Teal - 1
Cormorant - 2, not regularly seen in summer
Marsh Harrier - 1 female
Sparrowhawk - 2
Buzzard - 10+
Kestrel - 6
Hobby - 1
Oystercatcher - 1 juvenile seen!
Lapwing - 2
Barn Owl - 1
Little Owl - 1
Kingfisher - 1
Yellow Wagtail - 5
Bullfinch - 1
Corn Bunting - 1 singing male

A few photos...

1. Two Cormorants together. Looks like an adult and one of last year's young. Closer inspection suggests they're both of the Atlantic subspecies 'carbo' rather than the Continental 'sinensis' [link]. This is the expected situation for Kelk, indeed all except one that I've looked at closely have appeared to be carbo. I'm sure that sinensis birds pass through occasionally but the 'resident' visitors I'm sure are entirely carbo. The situation might change as their respective populations change.

Green Sandpiper with a Woodpigeon, for comparison. Even though it was in June this bird was most likely a return migrant that had failed to breed this year - I think this is my first recent record for June, so clearly not a typical sighting.

Now this is normal. Normal for any time of the year. A hovering Kestrel. Their numbers seem to be quite healthy at the moment, but let's see how many young birds are about in autumn before getting too excited.

Can you guess what it is? Not a common sight at all. It's a baby Oystercatcher, albeit distantly. Although there's one or two pairs each year it can be tricky to find evidence of success. Seeing an unfledged chick is most unusual.

Rook, posing.

A slight miscalculation with the year list - should have been 97 not 96 after May - means we've reached the 100 mark.

098 Reed Warbler
099 Curlew
100 Corn Bunting