Early rain this morning gave way to overcast, grey skies with the odd shower.

Not for the first time this month I gave up my attempt at a patch visit this morning, I was getting just as wet from the vegetation and long grass as I was from the rain!

I checked up on the KESTREL family at the Greenhouse Grounds, they had all left the box and were hiding in various places around the buildings, nothing else was of much note in my short visit, just a BUZZARD that drifted over towards the (very) Wet Woods.

This afternoon I noted a troop of LONG TAILED TITS breeze through my garden, the 22nd species to visit this month, this is the second highest June garden bird species count in fifteen years - a telling indication of the poor weather, birds are requiring supplementary feeding!

As for my patch monthly list, that ended on 64, which is the mean average tally for the 15 years, but one short of the mean tally for the previous 5 years. Missing species that have been regulars in previous years were the Spotted Flycatcher and the Yellowhammer.

Lets hope the weather turns a bit more settled for July, this is the quietest month on my patch for birds, so I rely on the Butterflies and Dragonflies to occupy my time, I dont need a heatwave, just a spell of settled, calm weather!!

Back to the images from Wales for todays ''blog Brighteners''  Having accidentally deleted all my Red Kite photo's from last years Wales visit, I had to go back to the Gigrin Farm feeding center to get some more, I got a few I was reasonably happy with, but to tell the truth, there were so many kites in the air at one time it was difficult to get on to any one individual, I was like a kid in a sweet shop !!

Kites everywhere! Two fingers up to the shooting estates  ;-)

Early sunshine soon disappeared this morning, and a strengthening SW wind  brought rain across the area by mid afternoon.

I took advantage of the decent start to the day, making my 10th and final full patch walk of June, in which I recorded a reasonable tally of 44 species, Sparrowhawk, Long Tailed Tit and Bullfinch being the only regularly seen species that I failed to locate today.

As I checked up on the KESTREL family at the Greenhouse Grounds ( which go from strength to strength) I noted the first fledgling PIED WAGTAIL of the year, an expected addition to the 2016 ''successfully Bred'' patch list, which now stands at 33. As I left the Greenhouse Grounds an immature GREY WAGTAIL (64) flew in and alighted in an Alder Tree, the first to visit my patch seen since April, a welcome addition to the June list, bringing it to 64, just one short of the mean tally for the previous 5 Junes.

Flyovers from both LESSER BLACK BACKED and HERRING GULL helped todays list, but little else was in the sky, just a single SWIFT, a couple of dozen local SWALLOWS and a BUZZARD were all that were seen.

 There was no sign of the Turtle Dove at the scrubby Woods, but it may still be present, access is very difficult now that the undergrowth has grown over all the trackways, so I couldn't have a proper check.

This JAY has become a regular visitor to my garden feeders, enjoying the peanuts that I put out for it :-)

Close up crop of the beautiful and striking wing feathers

Patchy cloud allowed some warm sunshine this morning, a nice change!

I spent just 90 minutes out this morning, most of that time was spent waiting around under the KESTREL nest box at the Greenhouse Grounds trying to ascertain how many fledgings there were. After 10 minutes of hanging about and glimpsing just one Juvenile in the box, the adult female flew in with a prey item, this brought out out three juveniles that posed nicely on the edge of the box, then a few minutes later a fourth was spotted peering out (see last photo). So four young Kestrels it is! A good brood for this declining raptor  :-)

Nearby, I watched a pair of PIED WAGTAILS bringing food to a well hidden nest site, shouldn't be long before the young fledge from that nest too.

Ready to go!

The bird on the far right seems to be the younger of the brood

You can just see the head of the fourth bird peering out  :-)

A cloudy start to the day after overnight rain, but there was a bit of warm sunshine later in the morning.

I got round for another full patch walk today when the 5 hour visit produced 46 bird species, as well as my first Common Darter dragonfly and large skipper Butterfly of the year. Just about all the regular and common  bird species were found today, apart from a swift.

The highlight of the visit was, undoubtedly, hearing, then locating, a TURTLE DOVE (63) at the scrubby Woods, this is the first I have heard singing since last year, but how many years are left for me to hear the ''purring'' of this once common summer migrant ? I fancy it will be extinct as a breeding species in England within the next five years  :-(

The wooded areas of my patch also provided NUTHATCH, TREECREEPER, GOLDCREST, COAL TIT, LONG TAILED TIT, BULLFINCH, STOCK DOVE, JAY, GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER, GREEN WOODPECKER, MISTLETHRUSH, SONGTHRUSH, BLACKCAP and CHIFFCHAFF, as well as the more common species.

The best that the farmland areas of my patch could muster were - LINNET, SKYLARK, WHITHROAT and SWALLOW.

The three local raptor species of BUZZARD, SPARROWHAWK and KESTREL were all seen up hunting, a check of the latter species' fledged young was made, but I still only found the one.

I was lucky enough to find another Black Tailed Skimmer at the ashes Lane Field, an immature, which I got a shot of.......

Immature Black Tailed Skimmer

Might as well show a few images from my Wales trip as well..............

Whinchat

                                                                

After a week away in Wales, I returned to my Pittswood Patch yesterday and this morning got out for a full patch walk in the usual rainy weather, which did at least clear before the 4 hour visits end.

I recorded a rather low tally of bird species, just 43 in all, with the likes of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Long Tailed Tit and Sparrowhawk not turning out for me this morning. I did however find three more species for the ''Successfully bred'' patch list, the first being a well grown  immature MISTLETHRUSH, it was feeding with it's parents on a large lawn just off the Wet Woods, the second species was the WHITETHROAT, a newly fledged bird was seen at the Greenhouse Grounds with it's scolding parents. The third species was also at the Greenhouse Grounds, where I had the pleasure of seeing the first KESTREL fledgling sitting on the nesting box, I was told by one of the workers that 2 more had also fledged and had been seen around the yard, I need to confirm how many young there are though. This years successfully bred patch list now moves on to 32, which is 7 behind last years final tally.

In an eventful visit, I also added another species to the year / months list, when a RING NECKED PARAKEET (93,62) was heard, then seen as it flew along a row of gardens adjacent to the Small Holding. This years June list now moves up to joint eleventh place out of 15, not very good!

SWIFT, SWALLOW, BLACKCAP, CHIFFCHAFF, plus a fleeting glimpse of a LESSER WHITETHROAT which was along Ashes lane, just outside the Greenhouse Grounds, were the other summer species seen today. BUZZARD was the only other raptor and the only fly throughs were that of a dozen HERRING GULLS.

No images were possible in the dull conditions, but i've got a few images from Wales to brighten the blog up for the next few days!

On one of the few sunnier days I was able to photograph this Keeled Skimmer, the only Odonata species I was able to get on camera during this years trip.

It was found at the Gilfach Nature Reserve at Rhyader

At the same reserve we found at least a dozen Dark Green Fritillary

Also, the Small Pearl Bordered fritillary (above) was around in Good numbers

It was brighter first thing this morning, but clouds soon built up and rain showers soon arrived.

Only an hour was spent out on my patch today, as most of the day was spent getting ready for my trip to Wales next week. The hour or so I was out was mostly spent watching the comings and goings of the KESTRELS over at the Greenhouse Grounds as they brought in food for their nestlings. I heard BLACKCAP and CHIFFCHAFF singing from the nearby greenhouse copse, plus the COMMON WHITETHROATS were giving an agitated alarm call, indicating young were about, but I couldn't find any! The local SWALLOWS have at least 3 broods out now, 7 young birds were lined up on a fence line at Migrant Alley.

I checked up on a few other nest sites I know of that are in the Greenhouse grounds, but they are still holding young, so no new successfully bred species were added to the years list, that had to wait until I got home, when both GOLDFINCH, and at last, BLACKBIRD fledglings were both seen in my garden  :-) The ''Successfully Bred'' patch list now reaches 29.

My next Pittswood post will be on Sunday the 26th June, however, I may get to do a couple of blog posts from Wales, depending on the internet connection and computer availability!

Not the most flattering image of the young Blackbird!

The showers were fewer this morning, with short spells of sunshine in between, but an increasing SW wind kept things cool.

I visited most of my patch today, and during the 3 hour visit found 46 bird species with only Mistlethrush, Long Tailed Tit, Sparrowhawk and Pheasant missing from the regular resident species.

It was good to see the LESSER WHITETHROAT again at the Greenhouse Grounds, I just need to confirm successful breeding by finding some newly fledged ones! The same can be said for the COMMON WHITETHROATS, also at the Greenhouse Grounds, their young must be ready to fledge soon. I did however find the first BLACKCAP fledglings, they were over at the Scrubby Woods, 3 recently fledged young were huddled together in a bramble bush, whilst being fed by both parents.

A surprise KINGFISHER (61) was on the lakes, it flew across all three water bodies, calling loudly as it went, obviously aware of the BUZZARD at the top of a bankside tree and the KESTREL that was mobbing it! At least the months species list has now moved from last place to joint second last place ! Both the Mute swans have now departed the lakes, but there was a GREY HERON present, along with a few MALLARDS and a new MOORHEN family.

Still no action for the camera!!!!!!!!!

Yet another cloudy, showery and mostly overcast dreary Summers day.

I got caught more than once by the showers during todays full patch walk, but more wetting was the soaking vegetation that needs to be negotiated! Just 44 species were found eventually, the regular resident species of  Mistlethrush, Jay, Long Tailed Tit and Coal Tit all being unrecorded this morning.

The highlight of the visit was watching the months first PEREGRINE (60) circling over Migrant Alley, one of four raptors seen today, the others being KESTREL, SPARROWHAWK and BUZZARD.

There were around 75-100 SWIFTS over Migrant Alley around mid morning, obviously some sort of food abundance had attracted them from far and wide. Fly overs from LESSER BLACK BACKED and HERRING GULL were all that was noted passing through during my hours skywatch.

My quest to find more newly fledged young drew a blank, but a couple more GOLDCREST families were seen.......still no BLACKBIRD young!

Not much else to note today, but I saw that only one MUTE SWAN remains on the ornamental lake, I suspect that one will leave soon.

Once again not a day for photo's, no light, no Odonta and no Butterflies!!

After abandoning my patch visit yesterday due to the rainy dull weather, this morning was little better, but at least the rain was sporadic and showery.

I got round for a rather uninspiring full patch walk, where I found 45 bird species, but quite few regular resident species were not seen, like Treecreeper, Coal tit, Long Tailed tit, Pheasant, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk, although the latter was seen at my garden feeders later this afternoon. Even the humble GREAT TIT was difficult to locate, and was the last species added to the day list!

Surprisingly, more was seen of the Summer birds than on recent visits, with SWIFT, SWALLOW and HOUSE MARTIN all seen feeding over the sheep pasture at Migrant Alley, plus the regular WHITETHROAT, CHIFFCHAFF and BLACKCAP were all found, a LESSER WHITETHROAT singing from the bankside vegetation of the main lake was a bit of a surprise, the first seen there all year. Little was on the lakes themselves, although a GREY HERON was visiting.

The KESTRELS were observed at the Greenhouse Grounds as they brought in food for their nestlings, the only flyovers of note today were from LESSER BLACK BACKED and HERRING GULLS.

A poor visit really, with no more new species added to the months list, or any different species added to the Successfully bred patch list.

No chance of any photo's either!

Another bright but cloudy morning, and with virtually no wind it felt very pleasant.

I carried out a four hour full patch walk today, finding 46 bird species, with just Swift, Nuthatch and Treecreeper of the regular patch birds not being found. I added a species to the months list when my first CORMORANT (59) since March flew over Migrant Alley, where HERRING GULL and LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL were also on the flyover list.

CHIFFCHAFF, BLACKCAP, WHITETHROAT, SWALLOW plus a fleeting glimpse of a LESSER WHITETHROAT, which was at the Greenhouse Grounds, represented the Summer species seen this morning.

GOLDCREST, BULLFINCH, COAL TIT, LONG TAILED TIT, GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER, GREEN WOODPECKER, JAY and STOCK DOVE were the best of what was found in the wooded parts of my walk, but the lakes remain very disappointing with just a few MOORHENS, MALLARDS, GREYLAG GEESE, CANADA GEESE and the MUTE SWAN pair present.

I failed to find any newly fledged species for the months list whilst out, but later in the morning I saw and photographed the years first HOUSE SPARROW fledgling that visited my garden  :-)

Newly fledged House Sparrow. No. 26 for the  years ''Successfully bred'' patch list

Juv. GREAT TIT.

Juv. GREENFINCH

Once again it was cloudy but bright this morning, the best of the sunshine being reserved for the afternoon.

A bit of interest from last evening - the first TAWNY OWLS (58) of the month were heard as listened from my upstairs window around 23:00hrs, both male and female seemed to be calling from somewhere near the Wet Woods, at one point a LITTLE OWL was also heard.

I was out for just under 3 hours this morning, when I first paid a visit to the greenhouse Grounds to see if there was any action at the Kestrel nest box, but despite waiting around for an hour, no food was brought in, the female sat 50 meters away on one of the greenhouses resting up. As I waited around for the Kestrels I did a bit of sky watching over Migrant Alley, but only SWIFTS, SWALLOWS and a few passage HERRING GULLS were noted. Out on the sheep pasture the first CARRION CROW young of the year were seen, mixed in with the ROOK young, adults from both species were busy foraging for their respective offspring.

Over in the Woods I recorded my first GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER fledgling of the year, ( one also visited my garden feeders with an adult later in the day) Not much else was of note though, just the usual stuff. Walking back home through the Ashes Lane Field I noted the first Meadow Brown Butterfly of the year, also a Four Spotted Dragonfly was seen.

Meadow brown Butterfly

This morning was grey and overcast, with a light NE wind, later in the day it became sunny and warm again.

I carried out the 3rd full patch walk of the month today, in which the four and a half hour visit provided 45 bird species, a little on the low side for June, with again a poor showing from the Summer species, plus a few regulars like Sparrowhawk, Long Tailed Tit and Pheasant weren't recorded today.

Migrant Alley still has a mix of 20-30 GREYLAG and CANADA GEESE present on the sheep pasture, but it was annoying to see the field margins all mowed down - an ecological holocaust in my opinion. The KESTREL pair and 2 WHITETHROAT pairs were feeding their respective young over at the Greenhouse Grounds, hopefully fledged young from both these species will be seen soon.

Over in the Woods the likes of BLACKCAP, CHIFFCHAFF, TREECREEPER, NUTHATCH, GOLDCREST, STOCK DOVE, GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER, GREEN WOODPECKER, BULLFINCH and COAL TIT were the best of what was seen, the latter species were feeding recently fledged young, No. 23 for this years successfully bred list.

The sky was mostly devoid of birds apart from the local BUZZARD pair, the local SWALLOWS and a few SWIFTS, the only passing through bird was a LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL.

I did get a rather nice surprise as I walked past the Greenhouse Grounds on my way back home, when I heard a REED WARBLER (92,57) singing from a clump of willow osiers close to one of the greenhouses, a good bird for my patch year list and one that was missed from last years patch list  ;-)

Thundery rain this morning meant a late patch visit. However, once the rain passed it became sunny, warm and very humid.

I headed over to the Scrubby Woods, passing through the Small Holding and wet Woods en route, where in the former I heard the LITTLE OWL calling and in the latter the first MALLARD young of the year were found swimming on the refilled pools of water, the 22nd species to go on this years 'Successfully Bred'' patch list

I continued the search for newly fledged bird species once in the Scrubby Woods, plus of course kept an eye open for Odonata, of which a couple of Azure and White-legged Damselflies were seen, as well as a few Beautiful Demoiselles and singles of Broad Bodied Chaser and Black tailed skimmer. I didn't find any more new species to the Successfully Bred list, though I'm sure there must be Blackbird young out there somewhere!

BUZZARDS were up calling as I walked the woods and a SPARROWHAWK flew through at speed, the KESTRELS brought up the trio of Raptor species seen when the male was observed hunting over the Ashes Lane Fields as I walked home.

Immature Black -tailed Skimmer

It was bit cloudier today, but with bright spells it felt warm again, thundery outbreaks of rain spread in for the afternoon however.

An Early walk around the fields and paddocks of Migrant Alley wasn't too productive, but I did get to see my second HOBBY (56) of the month, being harassed by the local SWALLOWS (the months first Hobby was a bird that flew low over my back garden last evening) The KESTREL pair were seen at the nest box in the Greenhouse Grounds and the local BUZZARDS were up on the early thermals.

Once again a few hours were spent over in the Scrubby Woods, where I recorded the first fledgling CHAFFINCH of the year, plus the TREECREEPER and NUTHATCH young were seen again, as were plenty of BLUE TIT, GREAT TIT, and GOLDCREST families. My quest for Odonata soon came to a halt when the cloud thickened and rain threatened, but I did glimpse the Downy Emerald again, plus WHITE-legged Damselflies and the Beautiful Demoiselles were around whilst the sun was out.

Male Beautiful Demoiselle

More warm sunshine and blue skies for today, about time the weather settled down!

An early walk around the sheep pasture and Migrant Alley gave me a couple of new species for the month, both Gulls, the first was BLACK HEADED GULL (53) - 2 flew over calling, a bit of a rare bird here in June, rarer still was the MEDITERRANEAN GULL (54) which I heard calling as it flew high over, but failed to pick it out from the blue sky. A LESSER WHITETHROAT was observed collecting food at the adjacent the Greenhouse Grounds and taking it back to a presumed nest site, great to have this species confirmed as breeding here, not successfully yet though! The KESTRELS were both at the nest box, the young should hopefully fledge in the next couple of weeks or so.

I spent most of todays visit in the Scrubby Woods, looking for recently fledged birds and Odonata species, but on the way checked up on the MUTE SWANS at the ornamental lake, which I watched preening and washing, but there was no sign of the Cygnet, looks like it died unfortunately.

NUTHATCH and TREECREEPER young were seen as they called noisily in the Oak trees, two more for the 'Successfully bred' list, plus a bonus species for June was heard as it flew high over - a CUCKOO (55) even when they were common here they seldom called in June! My Odonata hunt went well also, with my first Broad Bodied Chaser and Black tailed Skimmer being found and photographed. I also saw plenty of Beautiful Demoiselles and White-legged Damselflies, as well as the star attraction of the Downy Emerald, which as usual kept well out of cameras range!

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Broad Bodied Chaser

Black Tailed Skimmer

Black Tailed Skimmer

There was a transformation with the weather today, clear blue skies and warm sunshine greeted me early this morning, the first for a week!

I made a four and a half hour full patch walk in the kinder conditions, finding a total of 44 species, not very good for June, even though only the Jay, Swift and Sparrowhawk were missing for the regulars, but as is the case now, a whole host of summer species are not here anymore, or occur just as flyovers, the ones I did record today were ; CHIFFCHAFF, BLACKCAP, COMMON WHITETHROAT and SWALLOW .

Only one species was added to the months bird list, that was the LONG TAILED TIT (52), the last of the regular patch species to be added, the mean average June species total for the previous 5 years is 65 so it will be a struggle to reach that!

Plenty of WREN, ROBIN, DUNNOCK, BLUE TIT and GREAT TIT young were seen today, but no new species had fledged young yet, where are all the BLACKBIRD fledglings ? The MUTE SWAN was either brooding her Cygnet on the nest site island, or she has lost it, I couldn't see properly across the ornamental lake, but more GREYLAG and CANADA GEESE families have turned up on the main lake.

The male KESTREL was seen up hunting, but no activity was noted at the nest box in the Greenhouse Grounds, the only other raptor species seen today were  the local BUZZARD pair over the Wet Woods.

Just one photo opportunity came my way, despite all that lovely light, that was of a GOLDFINCH. My planned walk to look for Odonata later in this afternoon had to be put off until tomorrow.

As has been all week, the sky was grey and overcast this morning, but at least the wind had virtually dropped out, making it feel warmer, the forecast afternoon sunshine never materialised though!

A couple of hours this morning spent out around the Ashes Lane fields, Migrant Alley, the Greenhouse Grounds with its the associated Copse, and a walk along High House Lane overlooking Bustard Hill, produced a couple of bits of interest, firstly a freshly fledged JACKDAW was seen along Ashes Lane and a recently fledged SWALLOW was perched on one of the Greenhouses, these two species bring the 'successfully Bred' patch list to 18, hopefully 40 species will be reached this year. The KESTREL pair made a food pass at their nest box in the Greenhouse Grounds and the BUZZARD pair were up calling over the Wet Woods.

A procession of HERRING GULLS flew over the mostly birdless sheep pasture and paddocks of Migrant Alley, with them was a single LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL (51) to add to the June species list.

With the weather set to change tomorrow ( sunny and warm all day according to the forecast ) I can look forward to getting out early for a long 'full patch walk', as well as fit some Dragonfly hunting in...........we will see!

Once again it was overcast and grey this morning, with a cool Northerly wind.

In the un summer like conditions very little was happening on my patch, certainly no Dragonflies or Butterflies to be seen, but I did add a couple of bird species to the June list, with a few HOUSE MARTINS (49) being seen feeding over High House Lane / Bustard Hill, along with half a dozen SWIFTS. A SPARROWHAWK (50) that flew along Ashes Lane brought up the 50th species for the month. Other than a BUZZARD flying over the Wet Woods, nothing else of much note was found on my short 2 hour visit.

Once again it was overcast and dreary this morning, with a cold wind blowing in from the North.

I dragged myself out, but only lasted 90 minutes, as there was very little about. I was out long enough to walk the fields of Migrant Alley and look through the Greenhouse Grounds, I like to check up on the KESTRELS, which were ok, with the male up hunting and the female at the nest box. I noted SWIFT (47) and HERRING GULL (48) flying through, two more for the June list, but didn't find any more newly fledged bird species.

Later in the day it almost brightened up, but failed dismally to do so, however, it was enough to tempt me to try and take some garden photo's, I was after the JAY that paid a brief visit again, but it stayed away during my photo shoot, I did get a few other images though, but in poor light :-(

This female BLACKBIRD has young somewhere close by, but I have found no recent fledged ones yet.

The JACKDAWS are nesting in the chimney pots of nearby houses

Up to 5 pairs visit regularly at this time of year, just depends how much food I put out!

I also get a pair of MAGPIES coming in, they are very wary though, persecuted to oblivion as they are!

Another dreadful summers day, with dark skies, a cool North wind and drizzle turning to rain later in the morning, weather more akin to December - in fact I remember some days in the December just gone that were warmer than today!

I dragged myself out this morning and got round for the first full patch walk of the month, where the birds were few and far between at times. Here's the species that were recorded, in the order of appearance.........

Walking from my house along Ashes Lane the first birds seen and heard were ; WOODPIGEON, JACKDAW, GOLDFINCH, COLLARED DOVE, STARLING, WREN, ( which had at least 3 newly fledged young with them), BLACKBIRD, WHITETHROAT, CHAFFINCH, DUNNOCK and rather surprisingly a LESSER WHITETHROAT, giving hope that there is a pair about breeding somewhere.

Across the Ashes Lane Fields and the Pub Field little was added, a couple of GREY HERONS flew over and a BUZZARD was up for a short while, a ROBIN sang and a few ROOKS were in with the sheep on the Pub Field, where 2 SWALLOWS were also seen.

Out onto Migrant Alley I added both GREYLAG GOOSE and CANADA GOOSE, small numbers of each were on one of the paddocks, but nothing else was added from here to the days list. I checked the Greenhouse Copse, where I added BLACKCAP, PHEASANT, BLUE TIT, and GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER, then onto the Greenhouse Grounds where I added GREAT TIT, SONGTHRUSH, MAGPIE, CARRION CROW, PIED WAGTAIL, GREENFINCH, the KESTREL pair, of which the male brought in prey for the female, plus lastly a GREEN WOODPECKER.

Heading along High House Lane I added HOUSE SPARROW, LINNET and a SKYLARK that sang from the adjacent cut silage field at Bustard Hill. A walk through the Small Holding added just LITTLE OWL to the months list, sitting at its usual perch.

Onto the Wet Woods, where MALLARD and MOORHEN were seen, plus the MISTLETHRUSHES were heard alarming, their young have either perished in the dire conditions yesterday or fledged, hopefully the latter and I will find the young at some point. The Great Spotted Woodpecker nest was no more, the dead Alder tree that was home to many a years brood had been blown down, the old trunk lay in 3 broken pieces across the woodland floor, I looked around for signs of the young, but none were found, I suppose they may have fledged in time, but unlikely.

The lakes only added MUTE SWAN to the June list, but they had now hatched out a single chick, as they did two years ago, one more for this years 'successfully bred' patch list!

The Scrubby Woods was good for CHIFFCHAFF, NUTHATCH, BULLFINCH, TREECREEPER, STOCK DOVE, COAL TIT and the last species on todays list -  GOLDCREST. I noted the Coal Tits had ceased to visit their nest hole, another case of did they perish or have they fledged ?

So the June list kicked off with 45 species, 46 with the JAY I saw in my garden this afternoon, there are still some common species to be found yet, Long Tailed Tit, Swift and Sparrowhawk mainly, but hopefully I can get 60 species for June, a tally surpassed in all of the 14 previous Junes  ;-)


No chance of any photo's today!!!