What Month(s) do you Birdwatch less? (1 Viewer)

[Scott98]

Definitely this month in New England...July - horrible biting insects. They go berserk with the warm temps and high humidity. This morning I was sipping tea watching hummingbirds while massive orange-backed horse flies bounced off my window screens.

We have another salt-marsh horse fly, the greenhead, that actually has incisor teeth. It bites a divot of flesh out of you and drinks the pooling blood. You get little round purple scars on your legs that last years. They also coordinate group attacks like bees - they wait until they have numbers and then attack all at once in a swarm to overwhelm your defense.

 

[Euan Buchan]

This Friday I’ll be winding down my Birding for the summer at my local patch as it’s coming towards August when I take the month off to enjoy The Edinburgh Festival it has been a good few months of Birding and I’m looking forward starting up again in September.

 

[Patudo]

Aren't there lots of birds (ahem) at festivals?

I watch year round, weather permitting. There's always something to see. August can be a really slow month for peregrines here, but hobbies more than fill the void.

 

[Georgebirds]

I'd say July and August are my least birdy months by far. A lot of my usual places to go birding are coastal, and I tend to avoid the seaside during the school holidays! I like going for the birds and nature, the quiet sea sounds, the geology and landscape... all hard or impossible to appreciate when full of people, I can't take scenic pictures without getting tourists in, the birds are mostly somewhere else or hiding, and then there's the constant noise from kids. I actually don't mind nature-reserve kids, they're generally tamer and will sit quietly in a hide, or ask polite and interested questions about things they've found, or seen you find - they want to be there, enjoying the same things as their parents and other visitors, so they're fine to be around. The rowdy seaside-holiday ones, not so much!

I still try to go maybe one place per week, but choose inland spots, with less popular appeal to the general public - some really 'boring' country walk where the only other people I'll see will have either a dog or binoculars with them!

 

[kb57]

Definitely this month is the least appealing in UK, although it is still just about OK for visiting seabird colonies, and wader migration is starting to pick up - there was a flock of about 18 summer-plumage sanderling at Beadnell Bay yesterday evening.

Back in Portugal this morning to 32-35C heat, which doesn't encourage too much outdoor exertion - the eBird app Explore function suggests that relatively little birding is getting done in the local area at the moment. I'll check out the local saltpans though as I'm expecting wader migration will be starting to pick up here soon too.

 

[LTGentry]

I tend to not watch as much in the summer months. Here in Arkansas by the river it is always 100 and humid and tends to just be miserable some days. I do most of my bird watching in Fall/Winter, just because those are the months when I’m hunting a lot and part of the joy of sitting in a tree stand is nature watching.

 

[Leafbringer]

I think I do less birdwatching during the wettest months of winter. It doesn't get cold enough for snow where I am, but I don't like being outside during heavy rain. Most of the birds I'm interested in tend to hide away during the rain, too.

 

[JTweedie]

It's always been July for me. I always tell myself that this year will be different, but no it's always the same, hardly ever out birding in July. I tend to do most of my birding in December to June.

I see some here have said they don't like winter because it's cold and the days are short, but I often find some of my best birding days happen in winter, although I will avoid going out if there are icy pavements. But a crisp, clear winters day is one of my favourite days of any year.

I particularly like going out after the winter solstice as for me it's life-affirming knowing that the days are getting longer. It does wonders for my mood, seeing the first flowers in late winter and anticipating the first of the spring migrants to return, even though days are still chilly.