July 2022

21st. Slimbridge - I was ever so lucky and the CASPIAN TERN dropped into Rushy Pen just as I was heading there, giving great views. It was earlier distant on the scrape from the Zeiss Hide. I also saw 2 spotted redshank , 2 spoonbill a juvenile and 2 adult common crane, and probably 6 little ringed plovers.

Two spotted redshank to the right of a group of common redshank.

The Caspian tern, the first one I've seen in Britain.

16th. I went to Epney in Gloucestershire and had a brief view of the turtle dove purring there. I didn't see the elusive Caspian tern though. A hobby flew over the Severn.

7th. Boscregan Farm near Nanquidno is at its best, with large swathes of corn marigolds and purple viper's bugloss. The bugloss may be native to the UK, and Boscregan is the best place to see it. It was discovered there in small numbers in 1995 and has since been nurtured by the National Trust. 

Around St Ives: kestrel, and the green form of snakelocks anemone containing photosynthetic algae.

I was excited to find a violet sea snail. They are pelagic and float in the ocean on their bubble rafts, feeding on Portuguese men o’war (several wrecked on Cornish beaches lately) and By-the wind sailors. They float upside down so show reverse countershading, being darker on the underside and making it more difficult for predators to spot them from the underside. This one was freshly washed up on Porthmeor Beach. I went searching after hearing several had been found on Scilly. I put it back in deep water.

Some arty things: the St Ives green door that strangely went viral on social media, the Hepworth Sculpture Garden, and the Jackson Foundation gallery. Kurt Jackson's 'Mermaids' Tears' shows real plastic debris against dramatic background to highlight the plight of plastic pollution. The Sally Baldwin exhibition of paper sculptures was impressive too.

The churchyard at St Uny's, Lelant is always a delight. Lots of pyramidal orchids there in flower in mid-July, and this fascinating medieval stone that seems to depict a person.

2nd-3rd. The tiercel gave some close flybys. At least one young peregrine is carrying food in flight, though I don't know how it obtained it. Up to 4 ravens in the gorge. Yellow-wort is in flower, though the bee orchids (29 this year) are over now.