Oh, and I’ve produced a book on the Pug Moths of the north-west of England (not authored by me I must add!) which has done rather well I’m glad to say.
There have been some excellent local birds recently - Marshside has had a bit of a purple patch recently with Glossy Ibis, Spoonbill, Snow Goose, Temminck’s Stint and a host of migrants. Rishton Reservoir on the other hand has been very quiet apart from the Glaucous Gull that was semi-regular in January. The leak in the dam wall seems to have been fixed and the water levels have remained high - good for the grebes hopefully!
Anyway, the football season is over (and we’re promoted :)), most migrants are in now and breeding is in full swing and bird-report writing needs to start. But before all that was a mini-trip to Bulgaria organised at the turn of the year with John Wright, Steve Flynn, Bill Aspin and Mark and Margaret Breaks.
The team photographing a Herman's Tortoise |
Starting off a little late wasn’t too much of a problem as we sped past the enticing Burgas wetlands (that was to be saved for tomorrow) towards the eastern Strandzha woodlands. The area was a mixture of oak woodlands and pastoral farming with all the associated fauna and flora. Birds were everywhere and in good numbers, probably because invertebrate life was also abundant - I can’t remember when the windscreen on my car at home was caked in insect road-kill, but our transport was.
The ubiquitous Corn Bunting |
Fritillary - lots of several species seen thoughout |
Imperial Eagle here |
Roller |
Spot the Rosy Starling |
Black-headed Bunting |