July 2023
01.07.23 – 09.07.23 – A wet and wild week at Parkside so just a few updates
A week or so of wet, windy and dark weather and so not much to show photo wise from West Cumbria.
The pond has been very quiet, unusualy so and this seems to have coincided with a couple of unexplained Gull deaths, the birds seemed unhurt or predated and so sadly we are concluding bird flu. Since the deaths all the Herring Gulls, Mallards, Little Grebes and Teal have stayed away, which I guess is for the best. The Grey Heron still returns every day and the Sand and House Martins continue to hunt above it and stop for water.
The Swifts left at the end of July and the Swallows left on the 8th July so we only have the Martins now, which were as usual the first to arrive this year, it will be a sad day when they are gone for another year, thier chirping is somehow very reassuring in the evening light.
The Hares are still plentiful and there was even a couple boxing this week, I hope to get the video up soon.
In the garden the feeders are buzzing with life as they start to return having fledged their young, the Gold and Green finches are here in force with the odd Chaffinch but not in any great numbers yet. House and Tree sparrows are in good numbers, the Great, Blue, Coal and Long tail Tits are here in a large numbers, and there are Redstarts singing loudly each night.
The Magpies, Jackdaws, Crows and Ravens are here each morning in large numbers, Im struggling to keep up with the demand for fatballs !
The weather looks set to change for the better so hopefully I will be able to get out a bit more, watch this space.
