Snow in June?

Saturday, June 3rd 2023

Snow in June, no, thankfully, although with some of the weather we have been having it would not be surprising! The willow flowers have set seed and the parachuted tiny seeds are dispersed by the wind, across the reserve! Everything was covered in fluffy white seeds. The heath looked rather strange in the early morning sun.

Some of the seeds were caught in spider webs, which would not make for happy spiders!

The Swaledale Ringers are very busy at this time of year ringing chicks and carrying out CES. Many owls have been ringed but there are still some boxes to check. Some Kestrel chicks received their rings. This was a nest of five healthy chicks, although you can see the age difference.

Some of the owl boxes are used by Jackdaws and some were ringed today. They beheved well but did look rather 'grumpy'!

The small nest boxes with Blue and Great Tits, Coal Tits, Pied Flycatchers and Nuthatches have shown a huge variety of ages. Some adults are still sitting on eggs whilst some young are nearly ready to fledge and every stage in between. House Martins are still at the nest making stage, collecting mud. The poor camera yet again, was pushed to its limits and it did not help that the martins did not stay still for long but you can at least get some idea of what they were doing.

Thank you to all the bird ringers who spend many hours checking the nest boxes. All the information is sent to the British Trust for Orinithology so that they can continue to build a picture of populations, distribution and longevity.

Thank you to the volunteers who checked net rides, mowed them and acted as scribes whilst the bird ringers ringed chicks. Everyone's hard work is much appreciated.

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