June 2025

Slow months are upon us so may try and add a few obvious omissions to the 2025 photo challenge

As it will no doubt be the only Turtle Dove image of the year this one will have to make do for 151 - the tragic loss of this species from Britain has been catastrophic - Locally I recorded a total of 172 birds flying west in four hours on May 14th 1077 at Barrow Haven and there was passage on most days of the month with up to 34 breeding pairs along the Humber clay pits. On August 26th 1992 a gathering of 156 was present on a harvested field at South Ferriby such was the local status of the species. As recently as 2000 there were 14 singing males and ten confirmed pairs on the clay pits with 13 males but only six pairs in 2002. The last pair I saw locally was in 2015 and the last bird was 2026. I have not even seen one anywhere since 2021 so a trip to the Lincs coast at least just topped up my memory of an iconic and much loved, lost species.

If we had some warmth there are other things to enjoy - Lizard in a regular spot in the forest