It may not have rained every day in August, as one of the more unreliable tabloid newspapers forecast, but we haven't exactly been reaching for the sun cream, either. Today has been fairly typical of late, largely overcast and humid.
Birding at the local gravel pit (now a nature reserve) has been pedestrian as all the lovely wader-friendly shallow pools have coalesced into one large lake just in time for Autumn migration. Common Tern and Sand Martin have had a good breeding season but a pair of Great-crested Grebe are now on their third attempt following previous lost nests as a result of a (probable) mink attack and flooding.
There are a few post-breeding mixed Tit flocks (Great, Blue, Long-tailed and Coal) around now with the occasional Chiffchaff amongst them and they are always worth checking through just in case there's something more interesting in there. In fact I added Coal Tit to my Wokingham 'garden list' just at the weekend!
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| Juvenile Common Tern |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Kingfisher - almost the classic 'No Fishing' photo! |
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| Red Kite in the gloom |
Good news for Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier) in Andalucia, as two chicks fledge, click on link to read more:
Bearded Vulture successes
