Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Curlews have gone......

Actually I think they went a few weeks ago but I was hoping they hadn't. Today the Goyt was hot,steamy, windless and curlewless. Only eight months till they come back. I guess they have moved back to the coast where the feeding is easier and richer.



If there was a lack of bird life then there was a profusion of butterfiles



I don't know a lot about them but there were several different ones.



These seemed to really like the thistles.

It was too hot even for the sky larks. Apart from a couple of crows the only other birds that I saw were the ducks on the pond, trying to avoid the idiots that let their dogs bathe and cool off in it.

I managed to keep my counsel but it was a close run thing as one fool threw a stick for her dog to go and collect. There was a brief flurry of movement as the ducks scattered to get out of the way.

8 comments:

fiwa said...

What a beautiful view. I haven't been on a hike in so long.

I love those purple thistles. When they come up in my garden I let them grow. I'm sure my neighbors hate me for that, but you are right, the butterflies seem to love them.

Gadjo Dilo said...

We get lots of butterflies in Romania that I've never seen in UK. There's crowds of little blue ones that love cow shit - it just doesn't look right somehow.

Rol said...

Curlews leave in July? I didn't know that. Does it get too hot for them?

In THIS country?

The Birdwatcher said...

gadjo dilo - each to their own I suppose, some people like football

Rol - Well they have left the Goyt. I guess the food supply is better at the coast. Once the young are fledged then they leave. Can't think where they have gone and they do it every year, though from my diary notes they are a little earlier this year.

Chelley said...

Wonderful pictures!

Malcolm Cinnamond said...

We've had plenty of curlews for most of the summer and now they've been joined by the golden plovers.

KAZ said...

I'll probably see your Curlews on the Lancashire coast when I go birding next week.
I'll say hello.

The Birdwatcher said...

chelley - thanks. Hoping to get a telephoto lens shortly which will make it easier to shoot wildlife.

Malc- There are mean't to be Golden Ploves in the Peak District but I have not seen them. Saw a curlew on hols in Scotland though.

Kaz - Yes say hello to them. When they leave the Goyt goes very quiet.