birdman
Saturday 5th June 2004, 19:37
So what happened to the weather then???
OK, I s’pose I can’t complain too much, as it’s pleasantly warm, but here in South Yorkshire it is 8/8ths cloud cover… none of that promised wall to wall sunshine!
Anyhew… took another walk out this afternoon to see what we could see (and hear what we could hear).
Everything is growing like stink… the trees and shrubs are heavy with leaf, the elder in flower, the grasses, clover and nettles are shooting up, the rhododendrons are covered in blooms, the peas in the pea-field are a foot or so high and the giant hogweed (!) is 7 feet in places!
Likewise, there are fast growing juvenile birds everywhere… Tits – particularly Blue Tits - and the coots and ducklings on the pond are getting big.
I thought there was nothing new to report, with things settling for the summer, but quite a busy day produced the first outback House Sparrow of the year. The numbers, for those who are interested, are below.
Plain text = Outback day tick
Bold text = Outback year tick
(Number in brackets is highest number of individuals identified at one time)
Pheasant : 3 (1)
Mallard : 15 (14)
Green Woodpecker : 1 (1)
Swift : 2 (2)
Woodpigeon : 19 (8)
Moorhen : 6 (3)
Coot : 17 (9)
Black-headed Gull : 2 (2)
Magpie : 6 (2)
Jackdaw : 7 (3)
Carrion Crow : 4 (1)
Blackbird : 3 (1)
Pheasant : 3 (1)
Robin : 3 (2)
Starling : 1 (1)
Nuthatch : 1 (1)
Great Tit : 3 (2)
Blue Tit : 7 (7)
Long-tailed Tit : 1 (1)
Swallow : 1 (1)
House Martin : 9 (9)
Willow Warbler : 1 (1)
Chiffchaff : 3 (1)
Blackcap : 3 (2)
Skylark : 20 (5)
House Sparrow : 1 (1)
Chaffinch : 13 (2)
Linnet : 2 (2)
Yellowhammer : 1 (1)
OK, I s’pose I can’t complain too much, as it’s pleasantly warm, but here in South Yorkshire it is 8/8ths cloud cover… none of that promised wall to wall sunshine!
Anyhew… took another walk out this afternoon to see what we could see (and hear what we could hear).
Everything is growing like stink… the trees and shrubs are heavy with leaf, the elder in flower, the grasses, clover and nettles are shooting up, the rhododendrons are covered in blooms, the peas in the pea-field are a foot or so high and the giant hogweed (!) is 7 feet in places!
Likewise, there are fast growing juvenile birds everywhere… Tits – particularly Blue Tits - and the coots and ducklings on the pond are getting big.
I thought there was nothing new to report, with things settling for the summer, but quite a busy day produced the first outback House Sparrow of the year. The numbers, for those who are interested, are below.
Plain text = Outback day tick
Bold text = Outback year tick
(Number in brackets is highest number of individuals identified at one time)
Pheasant : 3 (1)
Mallard : 15 (14)
Green Woodpecker : 1 (1)
Swift : 2 (2)
Woodpigeon : 19 (8)
Moorhen : 6 (3)
Coot : 17 (9)
Black-headed Gull : 2 (2)
Magpie : 6 (2)
Jackdaw : 7 (3)
Carrion Crow : 4 (1)
Blackbird : 3 (1)
Pheasant : 3 (1)
Robin : 3 (2)
Starling : 1 (1)
Nuthatch : 1 (1)
Great Tit : 3 (2)
Blue Tit : 7 (7)
Long-tailed Tit : 1 (1)
Swallow : 1 (1)
House Martin : 9 (9)
Willow Warbler : 1 (1)
Chiffchaff : 3 (1)
Blackcap : 3 (2)
Skylark : 20 (5)
House Sparrow : 1 (1)
Chaffinch : 13 (2)
Linnet : 2 (2)
Yellowhammer : 1 (1)