Our bird species count was less this month (because we were away on holiday?) but we saw three species that we hadn't seen before at home: House martins, Pied flycatcher and Meadow pipit. (OK, mipits cannot be far away at Knipe Scar.)
The swallows in the garage second brood fledged on 3 August. Another swallow had been desperate to get into the kitchen shed, but we had kept the door closed. We finally relented when it was too late for another brood; a couple of swallows happily roosted there until the end of the month.
This summer has been very good for vegetables in the garden and fruit on the trees in the field. We had an OK crop of onions; perhaps the dry spell earlier hadn't helped their development and the damper July and August meant a hint of rot. The tatties were good, even some rogue Pink fir apples. As well as some cherry plums, the old plum tree "over the end of the world" did well. This was the tree that had been pruned by chain saw severely earlier on in the year; unfortunately, the weight proved too much and the main branch cracked. Perhaps the good year for produce was a result of the very hard winter; and perhaps the dry spring help. There seemed some less insects around. There were less wasps, though I still managed to get stung two times while mowing over a nest hole in the ground in the field.
We walked round Riggindale Haweswater on the 29th, stopping off initial for a quick view of the Golden eagle, helpfully located by expert volunteers Pete and Debbie. Then (Caz mostly) identified lots of plants en route round the valley - see the list below. Apparently the eagle flew in the afternoon but we missed it. On the way back down, we stopped at the weir at Blea Tarn; the water was rushing over the weir at regular intervals, say every 30 or 60 seconds, presumably as the tarn was being agitated by the wind. We were just too late down to offer Pete and Debbie some (you guessed it) plum cake.
Riggindale walk: Butterwort, Tormentil, Hare bell, Ling, Lousewort, Other heather, Bedstraw, Eyebright, Scabious, Round-leaved sundew, Hawkweed/bit, Sphagnum, Broom, Bilberyy, Cowberry, Milkwort, ?Scorpidium scorpidiodes, Dor beetle, ?Fairy flax.
Moths 5/8/10: Antler 5, Common Wainscot 9, Snout 1, Large yellow underwing 33, Muslin footman 1, Dark arches 16, * Least yellow underwing 2, * Dotted Clay 3, Burnished brass 2, Scalloped Oak 1, Common footman 3, * Lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing 2, Lesser common rustic 1. Sexton beetle 1 - covered with lots of mites.
Moths 7/8/10: Brimstone 2, Large/Lesser yellow underwing, Antler 2, Burnished brass 1, Grey chi 1, Lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing 3, Common wainscot, Dark arches, Flame shoulder 1, Tawny speckled pug 1, Least common rustic 2, Flame carpet 1, * Broad-bordered yellow underwing 1, * Fan-foot, Rosy rustic 1, Rosy minor 2. Sexton beetle 3
Moths 25/8/10: Yellow underwing 4, Dark acrhes 1, Lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing 2, Flame carpet 1. 3 others.
Moths 29/8/10: Grey chi 2, Rosy rustic 2, Silver Y 1, Antler 1.
The linked table below shows the maximum count of each bird species seen, along with best breeding code, primarily in our back garden near Bampton Cumbria in NY51 VC69 (and in our surrounding 1km square) in the period from November 2007 until August 2010, with a total count of 53 species, 25 this month.
Full Lake View Monthly Max Bird Count Seen table
| Species | Aug-10 |
| Blackbird | 3 |
| Blue tit | 5 |
| Brambling | |
| Bullfinch | |
| Buzzard | 2 |
| Carrion crow | |
| Chaffinch | 6 S |
| Coal tit | 2 |
| Collared dove | |
| Curlew | |
| Dunnock | 3 |
| Fieldfare | |
| Garden Warbler | |
| Goldcrest | |
| Goldfinch | 1 S |
| Great spotted woodpecker | 3 |
| Great tit | 4 |
| Greenfinch | 3 |
| Grey heron | |
| House martin | 5 |
| Jackdaw | |
| Jay | |
| Kestrel | |
| Lapwing | |
| Linnet | |
| Long-tailed tit | |
| Magpie | |
| Meadow pipit | 6 |
| Mistle thrush | |
| Nuthatch | 1 |
| Peregrine | 2 |
| Pheasant | |
| Pied flycatcher | 1 |
| Pied wagtail | 1 |
| Raven | 5 |
| Redstart | |
| Redwing | |
| Reed bunting | |
| Robin | 1 |
| Siskin | |
| Skylark | |
| Song thrush | 1 |
| Sparrowhawk | |
| Spotted flycatcher | 1 |
| Starling | |
| Stock dove | |
| Swallow | 34 NY |
| Swift | 1 |
| Tawny owl | |
| Willow warbler | 1 |
| Woodpigeon | 1 S |
| Wren | 2 |
| Yellowhammer | |
| Total: 53 | 25 |
