2 Weeks away in Switzerland with work and a week back home with daily coverage and not an awful lot to report.
I returned to find that my local Peregrine pair had impressively fledged 5 chicks, a noisy summer ahead. One of the other pairs that I keep an eye on have successfully fledged a single chick whereas another seem to have failed.
A flock of 21 Crossbills flew over the garden the morning of the 26th and I came across a Large Tortoiseshell in Langdon hole later the same day. A brief encounter with a fast moving butterfly, covering a large area so only record shots only were taken, nice though!
A Turtle Dove was purring somewhere in the valley on the 27th, I couldn’t pin down its exact location but heard it several times, perhaps a failed breeder from elsewhere? The same day an unseasonal juvenile Yellow wagtail was feeding along the cliff top path, where from I wonder?
Swifts, and Swallows have been moving SW in small numbers, the breeding season seems to have gone well for local Yellowhammers, Skylarks and Corn Buntings.
PERDIX BIRDER 