Unfortunately the weather during August has not been good…. with the first half of the month dominated by torrential heavy rain showers and the occasional sunny spell. Whereas, the last 2 weeks of August up here in North Yorkshire has been dominated by total cloud cover, drizzle and a stiff North Easterly breeze, coming in directly from the North Sea. However, there have still been some great sightings over the past month. For the first 10 days of August the Mrs and I went down to see relatives in Somerset and Berkshire. Whilst in Somerset, I had a great time; chasing after Dragonflies on Shapwick Heath. Both Migrant and Brown Hawkers were very plentiful. I had a try to photograph them in flight – but failed miserably!!! Just blurs and smudges for my efforts!! So I took the easy route and waited for one to settle.
At the R.S.P.B reserve at Ham Wall, I had a superb Bittern ‘fly-past’: with one bird virtually flying over my head.
The butterflies in the reserve car park at Ham Wall gave some fantastic views especially Comma and Gate Keeper, I also managed to photograph my first Silver Washed Fritillary. This is my third Fritillary species I have photographed this summer, they are really a joy to watch. I felt very privileged.
Also, whilst in Somerset I had the opportunity to observe three mammal species that I just don’t see at home
Lesser Horseshoe Bats; I saw these bats in Cheddar Gorge. What an amazing experience to see these bats streaming out of the caves about 9;30 pm. Even better, I had my ‘ Bat Detector’ with me so I could actually listen to their calls!! Which was pretty cool!!!
Water Vole; after a couple of years trying at a well known site, I finally connected with a Water Vole; only feeding about 20ft away!! Even though lots of people were walking pass, the vole carried on with its grooming, completely oblivious to human traffic. The vole occasionally dropped into the stream to pull out some tender shoots to feed on. What a great way to spend an hour watching these enigmatic creatures, resulting in a full memory card.
Mink; unfortunately these fierce little Mustelids have caused untold damage to our riverine ecosystems up and down the country. Wiping out whole populations of Water Vole and disturbing and preying on many other species of small mammals, ducks and small songbirds that make river areas their home. I was very surprised how close they came. I got some great views, this was a first live sighting for me which was great. As up to this point, I had only seen a road casualty.
Whilst down in Somerset, we had a day trip across the ‘border’ into North Devon and it just so happened that our trip took us past Labrador Bay en- route to Torquay and then Cockington. A few days before, I had done some research and realised that Labrador Bay was a great site for Cirl Bunting… I had seen Cirl Bunting before, both in Mallorca and on the Algarve but never in the UK. Another bonus was that I had never photographed Cirl Buntings; so it was a must see bird!! Anyways, after some negotiations with the brother -in -law who was driving and the Mrs: the twitch was on!!! Immediately on arrival at the reserve car park a bird was heard singing and then after a frantic search I had a Cirl Bunting perched, but in a distant field. Frustratingly, too far for a decent photo’. So I headed back to the car. However, then fate took a hand. As I got back to the car my wife said those immortal words …. ‘ Is that the bird you are looking for?’ I couldn’t believe my luck, just behind the ice-cream van a pristine Cirl Bunting was perched and calling too!!! What a cracking bird. Another memory card filled!!
Unfortunately, after returning home from my Southern travels, the weather in North Yorkshire took a real dip; with heavy cloud and some spells of heavy rain. However, spirits were lifted on the 21st of August when I travelled down to Frampton RSPB reserve in Lincolnshire with two birding mates. What a cracking reserve – with very helpful staff and some stunning birds too!! The main star of the show being a juvenile Black Stork and a Pacific Golden Plover both of whichI had seen before on my travels. Therefore, these two rather rare birds, unfortunately did not make it on my life life list, however, it was the first time I had seen them in the UK!! One of the main attractions of the day was the high variety and numbers of waders with 12 species seen; including Spotted Redshank which gave some great opportunities for some flight shots.
Before the month ended, I had a trip to Filey Dams (26th Aug ) one of my favourite local reserves. The reserve was very quiet, apart from a family of Sparrowhawks and some juvenile Ruff that showed really well. On the same day, news broke of a White tailed Plover being seen at Blacktoft Sands R.S.P.B. reserve near Goole. To date, I have not been able to see the bird. Being only the 6th Uk record in the UK, I should imagine the reserve is quite busy. If the bird stays, it might be a nice way to kick off birding in September.
