Just three recent observations:
I was down at Stanwick Lakes with some friends and one of them pointed out a Grass Snake slithering across the path. Lovely! It seems that Grass Snakes are declining in numbers. That’s a shame (but I also wonder whether we really know that for sure).
I’ve sat in a few places in recent days, including my own garden, and thought ‘Quite a few Swifts up there this year’. I hope they’ve had a good year.
When driving around near home one evening recently, quite near ‘that hedge‘ actually (which looks as bad as ever), I saw a pair of Grey Partridges with a brood of eight chicks that were already able to fly – although they walked and ran down the road for quite a while as I followed them in the car to have a better view. Once one of the commonest birds in the countryside and now such a rarity.
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Careful Mark, The Daily Wail will be saying that a ‘leading conservationist’ recommends weed killer to increase wild partridge stocks.
Swifts seem to have had a poor year Mark as far as I can gather. The cold and windy weather in May meant that some pairs didn’t attempt to nest at all and others abandoned their eggs. Some late clutches may partly make up for those lost or never laid earlier in the summer but on the whole the picture isn’t good.
In fact Spurn reported 5000 swifts moving south in early July so some birds seem to have given up completely.
There is a lot of good work being done on and for swifts here and there throughout the UK and a new yahoo group allows anyone interested in this fascinating bird to exchange views and information.
Edward Mayer (Swift Conservation)and Dick Newell (‘action for swifts’ blogger), will have a joint stall at Bird Fair next month.
Nick