I suppose this part of June can be the quietest period of the year when it comes to birds. Not always, I hear you cry, watch out for Pacific Swifts given the recent record in Norfolk. Nonetheless, that's perhaps how I felt at the end of yesterday after a day's survey work that wasn't the most edifying I've ever lived through in addition to the physical effort involved!
However, small mercies. The Cuckoo's outpourings at home have begun to reduce, although the "panic button" calling of Curlews starts at first light as the first Hooded Crows patrol the moor seeking out their young! A couple of pairs of Grey lag Geese have appeared with their young out on the grass moor. The interesting aspect was to see that they were at least a month behind the well grown youngsters I'd seen in Norfolk some time ago. More birds are beginning to appear and it will be interesting to see what the breeding season has produced as far as passerines are concerned. Northern Wheatears seem to have disappeared, whilst other birds seem only just to have started.
And on a miscellaneous note! Large Tortoiseshell butterflies have been found on the Isle of Wight again. I say again, as I think there's been odd records since they were considered extinct in the 1950's. Good news , particularly as two females were located within the specimens encountered. And amidst the doom and gloom of reports of our unceasingly abused wildlife across the globe, it's uplifting to learn of fifteen (15) new bird species being found in the Amazon. I can't tell you what they are as they haven't yet been given names!!!
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