August Nature Notes

It has been another quiet month concerning bird numbers and species variety. There has still been a number of sparrows, blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) and great tits (Parus major) visiting the bird feeders.

However some of the other species to visit have been a an early morning visit from a juvenile moorhen (Gallinula chloropus), a bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) on the fat balls and a juvenile goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) being fed by a parent.

Young goldfinch

I have only seen one great spotted woodpecker in the garden this month and that was a male feeding on the fat balls.

Other sightings have been three jays (Garrulus glandarius) in the trees near B wood.

In Scotland I saw a few snipe (Gallinago gallinago) in the potato field after the harvest. Nice to see this species as they have undergone a decline in the numbers in recent years. 

Scottish snipe 

Buzzards (Buteo buteo) could also be heard calling and I managed to capture this image of one far off in the distance.

Mammals

The usual rabbits and the odd hare come into the garden. There has also been an increase in the rat population. This is perhaps connected to the harvest clearing the fields of any cover and probably making a few rats homeless.

However the most interesting visitor to the garden this month was a stoat (Mustela erminea). I saw it on a couple of occasions hunting through the garden.