Still very quiet

Saturday 14th July 2018

Lethergy rules. I'm not coping with the continuing high temperatures very well to be honest. Horse flies, stinging nettles etc. have put me off some of my regular walks. A Great spotted Woodpecker was a welcome visitor to the garden and Swift numbers (max. 12) have increased in recent days. A notable lack of small birds though, probably due to Magpies, Jackdaws and Grey Squirrels.
           But then, through the gloom, Brandon Marsh, as it has many times in the past, comes up with some welcome relief in the form of a Pectoral Sandpiper. A welcome Trans-Atlantic visitor.

Pectoral Sandpiper, Brandon Marsh

Night of the Owls

Saturday 30th June 2018

Extraordinary events this evening. Ok the World Cup produced a couple of good games but it was after that as the orange glow faded from the sky, that the real excitement started. I'm very fortunate in being surrounded by bungalows allowing  uninterrupted views to the north from my bedroom.
    Last night I was lucky enough to watch  a couple of Bats briefly fly around a large Ash tree in a neigbouring garden, first bats I'd seen this year. As I waited for them to reappear a Tawny Owl flew low across the garden, a garden first. OK, as if that wasnt enough excitement it seemed to flush a Little Owl from another large Ash in an adjacent garden. I wasn't dreaming and I hadn't been drinking well, only a couple anyway. You don't see an Owl of any description for a year and then 2 turn up in your garden.