August Sightings

Sightings for August 2011

After  a rainstorm late one afternoon, the swallows returned to the carpark. It was hectic: flying over, around and between the wooden posts. Were they playing tag or only searching for small insects disturbed by the raindrops?  You get the picture – total mayhem. The winner got the chance to perch on the top of a pole. Did this really happen , I hear you say.

It's always fun to come out and take a walk around the reserve shortly after a rainstorm. Watch out for groups of birds in the hedgerows. There will be a mixture of local and passage birds, adults and juveniles.  Some probably have just arrived after surviving a belt of rain.  They will have found a hedgerow full of  caterpillars or berries - lucky them.  Some birds chirping while others were excitedly scurrying about the branches in search of food.  Birds will spot other birds and join in the search for food. 

It also happened recently near the farm. An elderberry tree, with plenty of berries, suddenly became alive, after a rainstorm, with a mixed flock of warblers.

Also, a couple of spotted flycatchers were here for two days. They were seen perching on nearby trees and darting into the farm grazing field for good supplies of insects and then returning back to their perches.

Our heron corner feeders were a hit with the visitors. The lucky few saw the resident lesser spotted woodpecker feeding at our self-service and takeaway food point on a few occasions.  "Free nuts for all. Eat as much as you can. Best nut buffet in town. " But only for the birds.  In the last few years since the RSPB have been at Middleton, there were only a few glimpses of the lesser spotted woodie.  Now with the new feeders, late July and August are becoming worthwhile times to visit the reserve. You might be a lucky person too – a date for next year's diary perhaps.

Other birds seen on these feeders were: green and great spotted woodpecker, chaffinch, goldfinch, greenfinch, nuthatch, sparrow, blue tit, great tit.

The low water levels brought in several waders - some for most of the month: black-tailed godwit, common sandpiper, cormorant, curlew sandpiper, dunlin, green sandpiper, greenshank, lapwing, little egret, little ringed plover, little stint, oystercatcher, redshank, ringed plover, ruff, snipe, water rail, whimbrel, wood sandpiper.

Flocks of birds were flying over the waters: canada goose, greylag goose, lapwing.

House martin, swallow and swift were passing through.

Birds of prey were flying about: buzzard, hobby, kestrel, peregrine, red kite, sparrowhawk.

Water bird numbers were building up with increasing flocks of coot, tufted duck, mallard and gadwall.

Greylag goose were seen hiding among the vegetation in the grasslands.

Another set of great crested grebe with young were seen at the northend.

OTHER BIRDS seen were: blackcap, cetti's warbler,  meadow pipit,  mistle thrush, moorhen, mute swan, pied wagtail, raven, red-legged partridge, reed bunting, reed warbler, robin, sedge warbler,  short-eared owl, song thrush, teal,  treecreeper, wheatear, whitethroat, willow tit, willow warbler, wren, yellow wagtail, yellowhammer.

BUTTERFLIES: The buddleja bush (butterfly bush), just beyond the stone bridge near the beginning of the Meadow Trail, was always worth a look in the warm, sultry days.  A wonderful aroma hit you as you walked passed it. On one warm day we saw large numbers of painted lady, peacock, red admiral, small copper, small tortoiseshell. And was there a marbled white.....

Others seen zigging and zagging about the grasses and vegetation were: brimstone, brown argus, comma, common blue, gatekeeper, green-veined white, holly blue, large white, meadow brown, ringlet, silver-washed fritillary, small white, speckled wood.

DAMSELFLIES & DRAGONFLIES: Gentle damselflies were moving around the warmer reeds and grasses: banded demoiselle, blue-tailed damselfly, common blue damselfly.

Bigger, hardy dragonflies were moving over the waters or above our heads: black-tailed skimmer,  brown hawker, common darter, common hawker, emperor dragonfly, migrant hawker, ruddy darter, southern hawker.

WILD FLOWERS: There were flashes of purple (and pinkish) flowers around the site:  clover, common centaury, common knapweed, flowering rush, foxglove, golden dock, meadow crane's-bill, pink water-speedwell, purple loosestrife (coming  to an end), sand spurrey, spear thistle, tufted vetch, water mint.

And so farewell to the month .....

With a great thank you to everyone for your nature sightings – keep them coming in.

Nigel Palmer