August can quite often be a time when it feels as if there is little to see out on a walk around. However, it is a time for movement, of birds leaving us after a Spring and Summer breeding and raising young, a time of passage when birds which have breed further north use the area as a stop off on their way south, then a time of return, as birds which left us in the Spring to head north to their breeding grounds come back in readiness for the winter months to come.
This has been evident in the last week. Out on the saltmarsh the numbers of curlew (200+) flocks of dunlin, little ringed plover are building up. Teal and goosander numbers on the river are also building and the wintering flock of barnacle geese have begun to ariive with 150+ so far counted.
In the woods spotted flycatcher are still to be seen and a redstart was spotted yesterday. Green sandpiper are still around on the muddy pools too. Out on the open areas great views of osprey are being had and marsh harrier are putting in an appearance.
When the sun does come out painted ladies are on the wing and a walk along the boardwalk will reward with lots of Black darter whizzing through the air. Shelterd spots can still deliver with a basking grass snake or the scurry of common lizard.