Below is a different view from somewhere on the reserve at Hodbarrow. Any ideas? John has cleared the vegetation away from the wall here and it provides a very nice place to have a rest. I was surrounded by butterflies and the sun was shining.
Well I have been a little quiet on the blogging front lately. However Chris has been writting some really informative pieces which I'm sure you will agreed have made interesting reading.
Whilst working on the reserve this morning clearing some of the paths of vegetation I realised how quiet the scrub land is at Hodbarrow now the smaller birds are getting ready to move on. Having said that a large flock of our local Greylag Geese made an apperance over head and soon changed that.
Sightings - There seems to be a large number of redshank and lapwing on the island infront of the hide, Common Terns have moved from the near by ski bank to have an attempt at nesting on the reserve and several have scrapes although time will tell if this is a little late to produce any young. I have seen a juvenile Common on the islands. Little Tern are still seen regularly, often concentrating on the far shore of the main island. Whilst watching the terns I was alerted by the recognisable alarm call of the Common Tern to a Sparrowhawk moving through. Perhaps its the one seen regularly throughtout Millom and Haverigg having a go in people's gardens?
Finally I wanted to show a picture (a bit out of focus) of some of the blackberries on the reserve. Last year was rubbish for Blackberries however this year looks to be a bumper crop. Some are ripe now and I'm sure the birds won't mind a few missing as I have to say they might be too tempting!