🦆 Nature diary from Cotwall End Valley, my local patch
August 1: Morning walk through woodland to the heath. Very dull and overcast, just one speckled wood. Pair of goldfinches on the heath. In the immediate area, three lesser black-backed gulls in Longfellow waiting for the lady to put the fox food out.
August 2: Meadow brown, ringlet, small white and speckled wood around the heath area. Two separate great black-backed gulls very high over the valley.
August 3: Three swifts over the western slope. Adult and well-developed juvenile robin in field alongside the lane, also juvenile blue tits and great tits. Two calling ravens in low flight over Coleridge.
August 4: Comma on the green. Walk along the course. Male sparrowhawk. Green woodpecker calling in flight. Several herring gulls soaring low.
August 5: Fox passed me in woodland, oblivious to my presence. Five speckled wood and three small white butterflies. Pair of ravens in woodland, calling when in brief flight, before dropping back in the trees again.
August 6: Seen from Coleridge. Ring-necked parakeet calling in flight, heading towards the western ridge. Two low ravens calling in flight. Three common buzzards soaring, at least one juvenile, identified by call.
August 7: Woodcock in evening flight, seen from the garden, heading towards woodland at the heart of the valley. Dusk walk in woodland. Three badgers and one fox, all observed at close range as I blended in with trees. (See video below)
August 8: Lesser black-backed gull on the telephone pole in Longfellow, waiting for the fox food. Several single great black-backed gulls soaring high over the valley. Juvenile carrion crow on the green. Woodland at dusk. Fox and three badgers around a sett, one coming within five feet of where I was positioned. (See video below)
August 9: Walk in the immediate area. Common buzzard mobbed in flight by a lesser black-backed gull. Several lesser black-backed gulls soaring over the valley.
August 10: Raven soaring. Two separate common buzzards soaring, one mobbed by a carrion crow. Female sparrowhawk circling high in the sky.
August 11: Six very vocal ravens soaring high above the garden. Mostly black-headed gulls but also lesser black-backed gulls c.80 soaring together high over the valley. House sparrows c.12 in dense hedge on the green.
August 12: Hummingbird moth in the garden. Late walk in woodland, too late to spot mammals but heard several tawny owls.
August 13: Walk in the woodland/heath area. Small white. Several speckled wood. Meadow brown. Six ring-necked parakeets in flight across the green.
August 14: With the patio door open due to the warm weather, listening to muntjacs and ravens in the nearby woodland in the day. Likewise but tawny owls after dark.
August 15: Lower woodland. Four ravens (2 pairs) in low flight. One each of large white, meadow brown and speckled wood.
August 16: Walk in the immediate area. Three lesser black-backed gulls in flight. House sparrows c.12 in dense shrubs alongside the green. Numerous wood pigeons, as usual , in flight.
August 17: Walk in the immediate area. Single starling across the green. Great black-backed gull, lesser black-backed gull and black-headed gull, all in low flight.
August 18: New sticklebacks location on the main brook, all small. Stock doves calling from woodland. Three lesser black-backed gulls in the evening in Longfellow, waiting for the fox food to appear.
August 19: Morning walk around the green. One lesser black-backed gull and one great black-backed gull, both in flight. Evening walk with three lesser black-backed gulls waiting for the fox food to appear in Longfellow.
August 20: Walk in woodland/heath, just one butterfly, a large white.
August 21: Very quiet morning walk to the heath. No butterflies or dragonflies. Green woodpecker calling. Evening walk on local area. Two separate pairs of common buzzards, circling high over the valley. Large white on the green.
August 22: Walk in woodland. One small white. Stock doves seen and heard. Green woodpecker calling. Dragonfly near Bob’s brook, species not identified.
August 23: Walk in immediate area. First house martins of the year, c.35 birds in several groups, seen from the green in migration flight. Several seen from the garden once I got home.
August 24: Walk in our immediate area. At least ten house sparrows in their regular haunt of dense bushes on the green. One carrion crow on the green. Large white.
August 25: Morning walk around the green. Two carrion crows on the grass. Two separate lesser black-backed gulls in high, lazy flight. Late evening walk. Two calling ravens and single bird, all heading towards Baggeridge to roost. Noctule over Wordsworth.
August 26: Thrilled to see a swift. In migration flight heading south over the valley. First one of the month but will it be the last?
August 27: Walk in the immediate area. Swift high over the valley, heading south. Four carrion crows on roof in Longfellow. Several lesser black-backed gulls over the valley.
August 28: Walk in the immediate area. Single raven calling over the valley. It’s great to have resident birds, not just ones passing through. Grey heron in low flight over the lane seen from the living room. Large white.
August 29: Rabbit on the heath late morning. Late dusk walk in woodland. Heard fox and tawny owls.
August 30: Wet and windy late evening walk in the immediate area. Three lesser black-backed gulls, two of them waiting for the fox food in Longfellow. Several wood pigeons feeding on the green.
August 31: Morning walk in the immediate vicinity. Two carrion crows on the green. Several lesser black-backed gulls in the area, all in low flight.
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