Summary July 2012
Summary July 2012
Garden
The awful weather continued into July as all records for rainfall in the UK were broken. Thankfully we were on holiday on Mull from the 7th – 17th where, contrary to the rest of the country, the weather was beautiful. Details of this holiday can be seen below but suffice it to say that it was a shame when we got back to Manchester and more rain. When I examined the bird feeders it had obviously been extremely damp and warm and all the feeders needed to be cleaned and replenished – before we had unpacked naturally. Slowly the weather got a bit drier as the month went on and towards the end of month we were having some good sunny days, the last five days, though saw the return of the rain and that is how the month ended – wet !
We haven’t see the Bullfiches since we came back but the feeder they particularly liked had run out – perhaps they will check it our again soon. Goldfinches are another matter however and at last we are starting to see a fair number of juveniles as well as adults; perhaps not as many as last year but one day I saw fourteen on the feeders so that is something. A Robin continues to a be a scarce visitor just when I thought things were looking up. On one occasion I saw ten juvenile Great Tits on the feeders simultaneously though Blue Tits do not seem to be as common. We still have a few Blackbirds and some juveniles that are growing quickly. Collared Doves and Woodpigeons continue to be something of a nuisance and our lawn looked like a cat had got hold of one briefly before it must have escaped.
According to our neighbour next door a Sparrowhawk was seen sitting atop our bird feeder station whilst we were away and much to my great satisfaction there are actually Swifts to be seen over the house again agter a distinct shortage. One mild evening I even saw twenty together shrieking through the sky. Another great sign is that the nesting Swifts – or at least a couple of pairs – have returned to our opposite neighbours’ eaves where they have nested for many years but we cannot remember seeing them nest last year. We were sitting in the garden next door and happily watched the adults flying to and from the nest and the small squeakings of the nestlings. Great news !
I have not seen much of the House Sparrrows since we got back but a Dunnock or two are still scuttling around.
Birding Group Days Out
There were no birding group days out in July
Walks and Days Out
The poor weather continued into July and this meant that there wasn’t much birding to be had. However we had planned a holiday on Mull for July and this turned out to be first rate. The first evening we were there it rained and when the morning came it was drizzle but when that cleared up we had great weather all week and we did not see rain again until we were back on the mainland.
We arrived on 7th July and settled in to our self-catering cottage. On 8th of July we went to Iona looking for Corncrakes, on 9th July we went to see Sea Eagles at Glen Seilisdeir, on 10th July we went to see Sea Eagles at Loch Na Keal, on 11th July we went to Lunga and Staffa, on 12th July we went to Loch Frisa and Glen More. The 13th July was our last day on Mull and we went to we went to Fishnish and Glen More.
The sightings for the whole Mull, Iona, Lunga, Staffa part of our holidays are summarised here.
On the 14th we drove from Oban to Musselburgh but managed to fit in a trip to see Red Kites at Lerrock’s Farm, Doune.
The 15th was reserved for family get-togethers and the 16th was our last birding day and I went on my own to Isle of May and Bass Rock.