Yesterday I heard on the radio that scientists have confirmed the inevitable. Summer is over for this year. Apparently our dry spell in April was the summer, now we are in a pseudo - monsoon type season before autumn proper kicks in. With no fine weather forecast for the foreseeable future, this evenings walk confirmed the suspicions. The waders are on their return migration. Hard to believe but its true, failed breeders, unpaired birds and early nesters with broods are winging their way back from the tundra.
At Boulmer tonight, 180+ Curlew, 190 Golden Plover, 20 Redshanks and singles of Turnstone, Dunlin and Bar tailed Godwit were a significant increase after weeks of single figure Oystercatcher counts etc...
The other night a couple or three Ringlet butterflies were on the go at Seaton Point. Its funny how cool rainy weather has little effect on this species even though they seem quite feeble on the wing.
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Now as hubby is the bird expert (or so he likes to think) and he's not here, I'll have to tell you about the (I'm showing my ignorance) swallows which appeared extremely early this year - of which my husband was surprised at seeing. Apart from the ducks, is there any bird that likes this weather? We heard this morning from a close friend who rears pheasants & partridge in the area that one of his suppliers was hit so badly (somewhere in the south) with the weather, floods have completely wiped out his population, losing him around £100k worth of birds. That's serious stuff.
Crystal x
Just wanted to tell you that my husband and my daughter, on their travels to check the sheep earlier, saw a cuckoo.
Constant rain in summer is no good. Young birds get water logged and die from cold, or the caterpillars are washed from trees leaving food for blue tits etc hard to come by. Ground birds like Partridges are especially hard hit. By now Cuckoos are starting to go south and by the end of the month the adults will be in Africa leaving the tardy young ones to follow in august...
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