The strange year that is 2020 moves into Autumn. In August we've had blazing hot sunshine and high humidity, freezing cold downpours, thunderstorms and, in the last few days of the month, a definite autumnal feel with a cooler breeze and rainy, chilly nights. There are still some house martins and swallows around but the swifts have long since departed. The rowan tree at the end of the drive is loaded with red berries, and a group of four or five mistle thrushes have been visiting (are these the ones I saw earlier this year perhaps?).
Early in the month, when the weather was warm and settled and the nights balmy, I thought I'd try some low-tech mothing - a light and a white sheet - for a couple of hours, just to see what I might find. Well, I learned that flying ant day can also be flying ant night! The first night I tried there were hundreds of flying ants attracted to the light, plus a few moths. I tried again the next night - this time no ants, but not many moths either. I think a proper moth trap is on the cards for next year!
My walks around the village have been feeling increasingly autumnal. The bright russet colour of the dock plants seems extra vivid, and I found a huge flock of goldfinches feeding on thistle heads in an uncropped field, a real treat.
Another treat this month has been a barn owl webcam - a second brood, with (currently) two owlets. I spent much of May sketching peregrines and their chicks via webcams, and now I'm hooked on barn owls and their chicks (unexpectedly, this late in the year!).
Next is another nature journal page, put together from stuff I saw while out running - I was struck by the numbers of house sparrows I saw and heard along my route, which took me from my house, via a quiet country road, through the next village, and back. First was the gang that hangs out in the shrubs at the end of the drive. Then, a big flock that lives in the hedgerow on the way out of the village. As I continued on through the next village I found another busy colony chattering away in a hedgerow. And finally, out in the fields was another group, again in a hedgerow, by a barn. They definitely stick together in the most sociable way, and they seems to have had a really good year this year - there are loads! Further out I was really pleased to see a flock of lapwings in the fields, and on the way back I saw a buzzard, hanging low and still in the stiff breeze, looking for all the world like a huge kestrel :-)
And I'm keeping up with the perpetual journal, one drawing per week. Really looking forward to this journal filling up and filling out over the years!
And a final sunset picture, just because!
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