In a strange way it’s been rather nice to be in a field on my own! The downside is that I haven’t been feeling great – no energy and slightly feverish – but that’s just the way the covid is taking me I guess. On the plus side a bit of enforced rest is sometimes no bad thing. Tomorrow is the final day of the course and I will have to head back to Downe House to pick up all our gear, and – of course – Brenda. I suspect that, although we have decided to head straight back to Wells rather than have our planned two nights in the camper, this will still mean that she will almost inevitably now catch covid too.
One unexpected silver-lining is that I have been hearing stock doves around the field here. You may remember that this was one of the species I removed from my list earlier in the year due to an insufficiently clear sighting. I’ve since heard, but not seen, them at Sculthorpe Moor. So hearing them here I was determined to see one, and a little bit of camper armchair birding later I was successful! Once one starts looking for them properly the difference in size to a wood pigeon becomes clear, as does the slightly different silhouette and the obvious lack of white when you get a clear view. I think they are a bird that I have never given attention to; one of the real positives from this blog is that it’s forcing me to identify birds I have tended to ignore!
New species for August 12th:
Birds: stock dove
TOTALS TO DATE:
Birds = 215
Moths = 207
Wildflowers = 270