The view from my office today!
There were good numbers of Willow Warblers singing and my notes say ten singing males but to be honest there were probably at least twice as many as this. It was good to hear some Cuckoos and I heard three singing birds, so was pleased with that. I had a little vis in the form of six Crossbills heading north. To my knowledge they don't breed in this area and as far as I know there isn't any sutable breeding habits close by. Other notable species were Raven, Bullfinch, Song Thrush, and Yellowhammer. There were a number of flowers out including lots of Primroses and odd Early Purple Orchids. Everything is late this year!
Primrose
Yesterday I met up with some old FWAG colleagues for some botanising, a social and a meeting to disuss setting up a loose association of ex FWAG advisers in the north and midlands. We had a cracking day lead by Jeff in the morning and Bill in the afternnon.
Before the day started I met up with my good friend and colleague from Northumberland, George, and we had an hour or so at the Allen Pools at Leighton Moss. I still can't get used to seeing lots of Avocets and Little Egrets here and we had 48 Avocets (including 11 chicks) and three Little Egrets. Adding to the continental feel was a singing Cetti's Warbler that was very close at times, but yet it still remained out of view.
An Osprey being mobbed by Gulls over the saltmarsh was nice and 26 summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwits added to the mix. The rest of the day was spent looking at plants at Warton Crag and Gait Barrows NNR before retiring to a pub in Arnisde. We did record a few butterflies as well including Dingy Skipper, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Duke of Burgundy and High Brown Fritillary. An excellent day in some excelent company!
Birdseye Primrose
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