It was actually my 60th birthday today! After all the recent concerts and the trip to Dungarthill the day itself was a little odd as I was on my own in Scotland! I had a few errands to run in the morning and then spent most of the rest of the day doing decorating, then making myself a nice meal in the evening and having a video chat with the family. Tomorrow I hope to get out for a walk somewhere… Roll on my 61st year!
Brenda writes: “My day started with the plumber coming to fix our kitchen tap, which had turned into an indoor water feature last week! Once he’d gone I checked the moth trap. Numbers were small but there was one new species, a flounced rustic, which is a very smart moth but this particular one – my first of the year – was rather worn.
In the afternoon I headed off to Cley. The verges have changed again. The alexanders seed pods are now black and there are stands of fennel and great willowherb.
I did the boardwalk to the central hides, seeing gypsywort along the edge.
The bearded tits were very active today and I had several good views of them. Sitting in the hide it was nice to see spoonbills and some young avocets. Then a swallow flew in to the nest in the hide and then just sat on the beam above our heads preening. Heading along to the other hide the creeping thistles were going to seed.
On the east bank there were lots of goatsbeard clocks but still no open flowers, but I did see water mint and sea beet with its tiny greeny-white flowers.
Cley is a wonderful place!”
New species for July 25th:
Moths: flounced rustic
Flowers: water mint, sea beet
TOTALS TO DATE:
Birds = 212
Moths = 190
Wildflowers = 262