General (Country) update - 31st October 2010

• Just a quickie from me as we've been in South Wales this weekend and had a chance to drive cross country gawping at the scenery at this time of year.
• I certainly don't remember an Autumn as spectacular as this - in at least thirty years (the linked news article suggests more like 80 (EIGHTY!) years) - the south of England (and Wales) is absolutely ABLAZE with crimson, yellow and orange right now -its simply stunning - everywhere.
• No pictures this weekend - but a link to this current autumnal spectacle captured as a news article and predicted a few weeks ago.
• I'll try and take some leaf shots this week - if I'm lucky...

Swift Half update - 30th October 2010

• This autumn has turned out to be the best I can remember in terms of vivid colours on the local foliage - deep crimsons, bright oranges and burnt yellows all over the gaff. Fruit, nuts and berries are in massive abundance too - it really is very spectacleeear round 'ere.
• I've never heard so many redwing and fieldfare coming in for the winter either - huge numbers of them are arriving to gorge themselves on all our berries...


• The photo which looks like a fire, added to this post is of one of the trees on our road, lit up by a sodium lamp at night. I've jogged the camera deliberately to get some movement in the shot, as it was a still night with no breeze - the effect I was after.


• I've included a few photos I took this morning, in the dark, of our cats - posing nicely for me and then getting bored - so having a little furry scuffle on the landing... More images can be found on my images website.

Swift Half update - 25th October 2010

• Another blue-sky autumnal day - cold and clear, but with the promise of rain to come tonight / tomorrow, the kites were making the most of it...

Swift Half update - 24th October 2010

• Yala caught another woodmouse today - an adult, in broad daylight.


• She played with it for about an hour (warning off Malu at the time), before leaving it to the Malu-meist, to do his impressions of it...
• 

General (County) update - 24th October 2010

• Up at 5am again, to drive twenty or so miles to see if our short-eared owls had returned to their winter grounds quite near us.


• A glorious dawn greeted me after a glorious drive - its lovely just to put your foot down on empty roads occasionally...


• No owls yet, but a few hares, a few kestrels, a beautiful pale buzzard, some skylark, corn bunting and yellowhammer, lapwing and a couple of roe deer.


• Plenty of winter starling flocks n all (please click photo to enlarge) - I'll be back soon enough to see if my owls have made it back...

Swift Half update - 23rd October 2010

• After another "dawn run" this morning - and a saturday off work, I took another "old man's kip" between noon and three pm. Of course this is when the hen pheasant decided to turn up in our garden and set our hens off -my wife told me, as I emerged bleary-eyed from the pit, mid afternoon.



• Bear in mind here that although there is fanastic countryside a stone's throw away from "Swift Half", no-one could really say we live in that countryside (yet!).



• We live at the edge of one of the biggest towns in the south of England - in a very built up area (next to an industrial estate) and one really shouldn't expect game birds to just drop in the back garden!



• I expect the hen pheasant was flying over and saw our two chickens (which superficially look like hen pheasants I s'pose) and thought she'd drop in for a chat.

Allegedly the chickens weren't really up for a chat - and shrieked "BUGGER OFF" repeatedly to said pheasant -at the top of their voices. They're good like that - our hens - always warning us if a red kite is low, a fox or rat is around, they've caught a frog or the like.

The strange thing is as far as I'm concerned is that in our two houses we've lived in since moving here from London several years ago - both have been in bulit up areas - and BOTH gardens have had a pheasant drop in! Must be some sort of pheasanty pheremones we're giving off....



• Nice to start feeding the jays again today - photo at top of post (click to enlarge).

General (County) update - 23rd October 2010

• Up at dawn (aggggain) to pop down to a local wetland nature reserve with Mr.T, to see what was about -maybe to include the bittern(s) also.


• Well.... no bittern but we were treated to a sparrowhawk killing some kind of passerine in front of us.


• I'm lucky enough to have seen a good number of successful ambushes by sparrowhawks over my years - but I've never seen a hawk drown its prey before, even though I know it happens.


• This morning I watched this sparrowhawk (male - unlike the bigger female in the linked video) catch a small bird and drown it in the lake shallows for a good ten minutes - before making off with his breakfast - stunning to see.


• Other birds of note at the lake - shovelers, teal and very bossy little grebes.


• Please click the photo above to see the lake a little larger -click again to see it full size and right at the back of the lake, in the shallows, sitting at the bottom of the 7th post from the left - is the hawk, sitting on its drowning prey. Apologies for the poor quality of the photo, but it was very gloomy (and indeed wet) at the time this morning and the hawk must have been 400 yards away...

Swift Half update - 22nd October 2010

• Full(ish - at 98%) moon nicely visible last night - so I took a quick piccy. 100% full will occur tomorrow morning (23rd October).


• NB. The "Harvest moon" is the first moon after the autumnal equinox (around 22nd September). This year, that full moon occurred ON the autumnal equinox.


• The first full moon AFTER the "Harvest moon" is known as "blood moon" (or "sanguine moon") or "hunters moon". The hunters moon is so-called because any full moon around this time of year (October) gives hunters plenty of light to shoot migrating birds, or so rumour has it.


• Also was lucky enough to see three orionid meteors on a clear morning two days ago - always nice to see "shooting stars". Orionid meteors all are produced only because of the earth passing through the tail of Halley's comet on its orbit around the sun...

General (County) update - 22nd October 2010

• I hear our bittern(s) is (are) back at their winter reed beds - I may take a wander over there this weekend...
• Very cold nights recently - minus five the other night - but the odd bat is still hunting over the Thames at dawn. I have NO idea what it is catching!

Swift Half update -19th October 2010

• Four seasons in one day over "Swift Half" today -bitter morning, hot sunshine and clear skies, jet black skudding clouds, driving squally rain and the brightest rainbow I've seen for a wee while...

Future plans for my photography - announcement

Some viewers to my flickr photostream may recall that I started to question how long I’d remain a fully paid-up (£20 per year approx) “pro” member of that site, some time ago. I duplicate a lot of stuff, photos included between flickr and my blog (and my lightroom catalogue!)
I also worried about “putting all my (photography) eggs in one basket” (paraphrased from a recent thought of a valued friend of mine on his flickr site) – and I worried about paying a website an annual fee for the rest of my life – a website that could stop my membership at any time and / or delete my photos without warning.
I have a few technical concerns with flickr also – the resizing service on the site, whilst undoubtedly useful, makes many of my photographs look soft – at least compared with their originals catalogued on my lightroom database. The flickr site is also occasionally down and is often slow at downloading large images.

Since my original concerns, I have thought about just where exactly I want to take my photography “hobby” and whether (or not) should I change my approach to it.

Whilst I fully appreciate flickr is a wonderful forum for displaying one’s photographs to a huge audience, an excellent medium for looking at others’ photographs and a great place to (electronically) meet people who share similar interests - I think my time as a paying member of flickr has now run its course.

Some time ago I announced on flickr that I would be leaving most of my “groups” and would ban any person who favourited any of my photos without comment or thought or invited me to their groups (full of membership rules) with spangly, flashing invitation codes – again with no comment on my actual image. In the last year I have banned about 100 people from viewing my stream.

I have quite deliberately kept my contacts down to a couple of dozen – even though something like three hundred or so flickr members have me as one of their contacts. Only the two dozen or so of my personal contacts ever comment on my photos (and vice versa) and I haven’t got time to comment on hundreds of other peoples’ photostreams, bearing in mind they rarely (if ever) comment on mine anyway.

Flickr has many plus points, but as far as I’m concerned, its main drawback for me at least, it has the effect of keeping me hunched over a computer, rather than doing what I like to do or more importantly - should be doing. Now all this might just be me, but that’s how I feel about what flickr now does to me and my photography.

I’ve always been known as a “Jack of all trades” (quite literally). I can do many things quite well but none really well.
I think I take some reasonable photographs, but would like to think that with more concentrated effort, more focus and a little less time spent on flickr etc… I just might be able to take some really good photographs. I hope so.
I would now rather take a handful of images that I am really chuffed with, rather than hundreds that I think are just ok – like so many millions of other photos that are posted onto sites like flickr.

This might take time, patience and will take a whole lot of work and commitment.
I know it won’t make me more interesting nor will it make me more “likeable” – and I know quite a few people who have said they appreciate my accompanying text to my photos, as much as the photos themselves.
I am very thankful for that, but feel I really need to concentrate on my photography now, rather than broadcasting my opinions on my photographs or wildlife-based topics on my blog. Most people don’t care about my opinion on these things - which I fully understand! I bore of other peoples’ opinions on their blogs also…

I also don’t think I try hard enough with my photography – I don’t really put what I would consider a whole lot of effort into taking photographs. I do what I do well – coast along.
Sure, my jay, mice and woodpecker photos in particular took months to set up (attracting the animals in the first place and watching their behaviour), but almost all of my other photos have just taken a keen eye and not much else. I consider myself lucky to have a reasonable artistic eye for an image and have ridden that luck for years. I think I should use it now – put it to the test. I am well aware that I may fail dismally!

I am very much of the opinion that if you want to be good at anything – you really must put the work in. Something I’ve avoided quite well in my life, to be brutally honest.
I have thought of a handful of very time-consuming plans for my photography, future projects really, and intend to think of some more. I’d ideally like any photographs I take to be very different from the millions of other photographs I see - and I know this will take a whole lot of effort and, of course, I may eventually fail to get the results I’d like.

After being highly commended and acknowledged in the first two successive (annual) British Wildlife Photography Awards, I’d like to think that with more concerted effort, I might be lucky enough to actually win an award – you never know?! Having just returned from the second annual British Wildlife Photography Awards ceremony (which Anna and I thoroughly enjoyed, by the way) I really do think I could try harder and make some of my images a little more thought-provoking than many.

I’d like more of my images to challenge any viewer – to almost force any viewer to form an opinion of the image – love it or hate it.
My favourite images in the BWPA book (and exhibition) were demanding of the viewer – my least favourite were what I (and Anna actually, on the night) called “chocolate box photos”- you know, photos of squirrels, deer, seals etc… Technically superb, but lacking in real depth (and thought) we thought.
I am most certainly going to concentrate now on the final image, rather than a (biological) record shot – this is particularly important to me.

I intend to take my photography a little more seriously, but intend to lose absolutely none of the enjoyment I get from it – I hope to enjoy it even more in fact!
I would certainly like to apply myself a little more to something I thoroughly enjoy – and this will mean far less time on a computer.

So.
In summary.

FLICKR.
In early December 2010 I will have been posting photographs on flickr for three years.
From early December 2010 onwards, I will not be uploading much onto flickr. The odd photograph from time to time to keep my free account from being deleted. My “third year set” will be my last “year set”.
From February 2011, my “pro” membership will expire – I do not intend to renew it.
I will remain a free member of flickr though – and will try to visit my old contacts’ photostreams occasionally, commenting on photos from time to time.
I really have appreciated meeting (at least electronically!) some wonderful people out there, who share similar passions to me and take (and upload!) some truly inspirational photographs.
Thanks in particular to all my contacts. I certainly will return to the site to comment on your excellent shots!

BLOG.
I have deleted all posts on my blog that aren’t “Swift Half” or “General” updates. I’m sure you aren’t really interested in my opinions on river access campaigns or bovine tuberculosis! My factual update posts really are for me – so I can compare my sightings and notes on the local wildlife, year on year. If our swifts return next year, I will endeavour to provide live nest web-feed again - the whole original point of the blog. I’ll blog my local wildlife sighting facts and possibly a little on my photography projects - but I’ll give you no more of my opinions on anything else – and therefore I don’t anticipate a whole lot of comments to my future posts – as they will only interest me (for comparison purposes as described). I will continue to post a few photos that accompany “Swift Half” or “General” updates on my blog, but these photos will not appear on my new personal website (see below).

BLACK RABBIT BOOKS.
By the end of this year, I will have self-published 5 books including three “Black Rabbit” books.
I haven’t made my mind up on this yet, but this takes a lot of my time each year and also dilutes my photography - there’s no specialism or theme to the books. At the time of writing, I will probably make “The Black Rabbit III” my last “Black Rabbit” book.

NEW, PERSONAL WEBSITE FOR MY PHOTOS.
This is the big change for me.
Instead of paying for a “pro” flickr account each year, I will pay a website to host a few of my images (around 100 or so) with my own domain name.
There will be no accompanying text or “witty titles” to any of my photographs uploaded to my own domain – just a short “about me” section, a guestbook, a list of links and of course, a limited gallery which will only contain shots I am very happy with, from an aesthetic end image point of view, rather than being happy with taking any shot of a particular subject and uploading it onto the web.
The photos appearing on my website will not appear on flickr or my blog.
My website will start slowly, with only a very few photographs, and will be work in progress for some time.
I am currently building my own website – it should go live within a week or two.
If you like – you may be able to get a sneak preview by scrolling down this home page to "MY LINKS" and clicking on “Doug Mackenzie Dodds – Images”. Please do let me know if this doesn’t work though – website design is not a strongpoint of mine!
If it does work, you’ll see I’ve lifted some images of mine from flickr, to start the ball rolling. All these photographs have one thing in common – I’ve chosen them in particular, to start my website, as I like the final image in each case. Forget the subject – think image.


WILDLIFE AND PHOTOGRPAHY WEBSITES AND FORA.
I am a contributor to a few wildlife and photography website fora. This will end by the end of the year, or at the very least be severely cut back.

CONTACT.
I will still be contactable at my email address (tbr@live.co.uk), by commenting on my (now limited) blog here, by adding a comment to my guestbook on my own website (soon to go live), by flickrmail (if you must) or of course on the phone, by post or in person!

I know this is a big change for me, but I’ve had a busy three years which have made me think about where I want to concentrate my efforts and time - and where I don’t. I have appraised myself and realise I need to do things differently – and start again, only this time with three years photography experience under my belt.
In the past three years I’ve faced redundancy twice (from the same organisation), turned down the job of a lifetime (for various reasons which seemed sensible at the time), lost my mother and my stepfather and of course I’ve got married to a wonderfully patient, loving woman.
I turn forty next spring, I now have responsibilities which I take seriously, I hope to have a few more before too long – and it’s about time I grew up and started working hard.
I feel right now that I’m out of shape physically as well as mentally and I need to challenge myself and shape up – not only for me, but also for my wife.

I’m genuinely excited about spending less time on a computer and more time doing things I should be doing!

Regarding the photography - I may eventually fail to shoot any better photos by changing my approach – but if I do fail, at least I will have tried, eh?

That’s all, grapple fans.
I hope all this hasn't come across all precious! I don't think I've ever been called that!
I just have plans ahead - and these may take a bit of work!

Catch you all soon I hope....

Cheers!

TBR.

General (County) update -17th October 2010

• Went for a walk 'round a local gravel pit nature reserve at dawn this morning and it was interesting (to me at least!) that the winter ducks had hardly arrived at all yet. No goldeneye, no wigeon, no shoveler. Just a few gadwall and teal -and yet I know wigeon (in particular) have started to arrive in the county.
• I'm pretty sure our short-eared owls will be back at their winter site within a week or so, if they're not they're already!

Swift Half update - 17th October 2010

• Fieldfares now arriving over the garden in numbers, "chuckchucking" to each other.

Swift Half Update - 14th October 2010

• Two nights ago now (12th) Anna and I watched two foxes in the garden on the "infra red fox cam" at 21:30. Looking for hens eggs I eggspect.
• Talking of hens, both Couven and Cutlery have begun to moult. Feathers all over the garden - quite a sight. This is quite normal and about the right time too - they're almost two years old now and chucks don't normally moult properly for the first time until they're approaching 2yo.
• I've only seen a grey wagtail on our pond once before today- but this afternoon one came bouncing in, which I'm really chuffed about. I do love my wagtails!

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2010 - news

• Last night, Anna and I had the great pleasure of being invited to the annual British Wildlife Photography Awards (2010) after being told that my photograph of a cabbage white butterfly would be used for the book and touring exhibition.
• Well, it was a hot affair, a tiny gallery, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Nick Baker, the compere was kind enough to mention my photo at length during his spiel - pretty decent, considering I wasn't strictly a winner! Richard Benyon turned up late, after ditching his ministerial car and getting the tube like everyone else.
• Anna and I were very lucky to bump into Maggie Gowan (the organiser of the event) and Nick baker again outside a local pub, after the exhibition - and also Brian Goddard and his wife - whose photo (Brian's photo at the awards ceremony) Anna had specifically singled out as being one of her photos. Seemed like Brian and I agreed on a lot of photography-related views - I do urge you to check out his excellent site.
• This morning, a few people called or texted me to tell me that my name and photo were printed in the national metro newspaper - page 34 if you picked one up today! If not, you can always read about it at the link below (although my photo isn't on the online page).
  

Capturing Britain’s wild side in photos Metro.co.uk

Anna and I don't go to London much these days, for a night out or a drink, so even in the middle of the week, it was a lovely change to the norm and a real privilege to be invited to the exhibition. Thanks Maggie.

Anna and I also had time to talk about our future plans, where we'd like to be, what we might like to do - where we should concentrate our efforts. This involves me primarily and where I would like to take my photography etc...

I have an announcement to make in a few days on this subject - big changes are ahead for me as so far as flickr is concerned, blogging is concerned and my photography is concerned. I'm working on those subjects now - news soon.

Swift Half update - 11th October 2010

• Just a quickie today - to report that our male sparrowhawk landed nicely in my camera's field of view this afternoon, after work, enabling me to take a half decent shot of him. All the details can be found on my flickr site, here.

Swift Half update - 10th October 2010

• A beautiful balmy autumnal afternoon today -clear blue skies and light easterlies - made up for my disappointing dawn fungi foray this morning, when I couldn't even find a parking spot for my little car in the middle of nowhere! The half dozen or so parking spots in the huge wood that I love so much, about an hour away, were ALL taken at dawn, by those pesky fungi feevs.
• Nice to see the kites above the garden enjoying the sun and wind - and the sparrowhawks - must have seen both hawks (the female and male) about half a dozen times today.
• Also VERY nice to see the male woodpecker is back on my patented woodpecker attractor, after his busy season producing young and a gap of a couple of months (at least) from the garden...

General (County) update - 9th October 2010

• Two days ago I heard our first winter thrushes fly over at night. These will be redwing (followed by fieldfare) and I don't think I've ever heard them so early in the Autumn before.
• They tend to migrate at night (for safety) and once you learn to recognise their contact call in the dark skies above (you'll not see them of course), you'll hear them all over the place at night.
• It is slightly strange that on the 6th October, a birdwatcher from not so far away in Berkshire, reported seeing 5 redwing on the ground at a site in the county, with 100 or so swallows migrating south overhead. I guess this is more common than I thought, but I for one have never seen our summer swallows and winter thrushes on the same day here in Berkshire.
• Generally, redwing are reported from late October onwards here - as it stands only two people have reported these visiting thrushes in the county so far - and I assume I'm the only one who knows what they sound like in the night sky. One thing's for sure -they are arriving in droves now - you'll see them soon!

Photo of the month - September 2010

• I didn't seem to take many photographs last month, but my photo of the month is one of my shots of the Harvest Moon, with Jupiter in the same shot.



• Click here to see all my photos of the month this year so far...

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2010 - NEWS

• Just a little post to tell anyone interested that like last year, when I was highly commended for my photo of a "Feather-footed flower bee", this year, although no "high commendation", my photo above of a male cabbage white butterfly peering into my old camera's lens - has been acknowledged and added to this years BWPA book and touring exhibition!
• The coffee-table book is an absolute joy to flick through and I feel very humbled indeed to have my shot sit alongside many professional photographers images.




• In order to see my photo in the flesh (so to speak) you'll have to buy the book from Amazon or from the BWPA site itself, or visit one of the exhibitions near you.




• Thanks to all at BWPA for running this annual, national competition - its such a pleasure to see photographs winning wildlife competitions that are shot here, and depict common or garden animals, rather than the big cats of Africa or penguins of the Antarctic etc...
• Anna and I have been invited and will be going to the annual awards ceremony and private viewing in London next week - I'd best brush me hair!

Swift Half Update - 8th October 2010

• The low pressure system deepens to the west of the UK still, but we are now heading into a sunny period of weather - and pretty warm for mid October!


• After posting photographs here of a peregrine over the garden, I thought I'd post one today of one of our hawks. We have a pair, but its generally the (larger, more drab) female I see, so it was a pleasure to see the (smaller, orange breasted) male over the garden yesterday afternoon. Actually the female was around too, later in the day. Like the peregrine photos, the photo of the hawk is not particularly wonderful -it was pretty high up by the time I found my camera.


• Last night (and right now, as it 'appens) I heard the first winter Redwing fly over the garden at height, making their distinctive night-time navigation peeping calls. I think this is the earliest I've ever heard them down here - October 7th. Winter - it comes!

General (County) Update - 6th October 2010

• Well, the rain has gone for now - and whilst the HYOWGE deep depression gets deeper and deeper a couple of hundred miles west of the UK in the north Atlantic, it is being kept there by a large anti-cyclone over western Europe - this in turn is dragging warm air up from the Mediterranean and we are due to hit the heady heights of 25c by the weekend - pretty good for Blighty, well into October!
• I've seen reports of swallows in the county still and seen bats at dawn over the river mesel, so maybe there's a smidgin of summer left?
• The winter ducks are arriving now though (wigeon and teal in the main) and the mallards on the Thames are "ducking" and mating constantly...

Swift Half update - 3rd October 2010

• Not a wonderful weekend's weather with my flood warning map showing red all over the place and more rain to come in the week ahead, yet in the brief bit of sun today I managed to see a late migrant hawker dragonfly patrolling the garden still...


• I haven't managed to get out to take any decent shots this weekend, due to the rain and a troublesome cough, which is a shame, because the squally weather is producing some dramatic skyscapes.


• Its not often though, one can say within 3 miles of one of the biggest towns in the south of England, in a built up area and in pretty dodgy weather, one can sit outside with a coffee (or lemon and whisky in my case today) and watch a red kite and a peregrine pass over the garden - in ten minutes!


• Well, the kites are well documented round 'ere. If you want to see properly wild kites -you can go to Gigrin farm in Wales, where they attract several hundred every day for paying photographers, by chucking bait around - or you can come to the M40 by Watlington (and south), where the kites aren't baited but are omnipresent anyway.


• The peregrines are less well known. I am lucky in that I've been recording peregrines in and around Reading for a couple of years now, after stumbling across one scaring the bejaysus out of the woodpigeons in a town centre tiny park (well, football pitch really) in 2007, right behind our terraced house. (It took me about a month of sightings for me to believe my own eyes!)


• We have five (I think) peregrines around this part of Berkshire - very often (as you'll see I've posted on before) one roosts on a building opposite Reading station - there's no doubt about it, peregrines are a real success story in the UK these days and can be seen in many, many town and city (with a cathedral or large tower block to roost on) centres.


• The shots of the peregrine accompanying this post are pretty poor admittedly - the bird was very high up. The third shot above was taken at 7x optical zoom and its still only a dot in the sky - the first two shots have been cropped severely so you can see the bird better!After 30 odd years of peering at birds and animals at distance, including birds of prey, I tend to spot something like this, pretty early, at distance and I am very lucky my eyesight still allows me to do so, at present! The peregrine over our garden this afternoon was a juvenile - one can tell that by the fact that its breast is vertically-streaked rather than horizontally-barred.

Swift Half update - 2nd October 2010

• This squally weather has taken a almost all of the very ripe pears and lot of leaves from our trees and turned most of the rest yellow. Won't be too long before all our lovely foliage has gone (my least favourite time of year!) and the rear (rear) rear garden at present smells like perry with all the alcoholic pears on the ground!


• Bad news from the immediate Swift Half environs also, as I spotted an old fox (photo above) calmly walking through our neighbours' garden at noon today and spend a good few minutes scratching itself, pressed right up against their patio doors (they were out I guess at the time).


• The fox is covered in sarcoptic mange, which is very uncomfortable for the fox and makes it less fearful of humans (walks around at noon etc...) because it has to "keep on the move" and "keep scratching".


• I hope because it wil have to keep moving, it will move out of the area -as I'd rather not keep the hens locked up constantly - as it was today on the girls' "day off", as soon as I spotted the manky fox, I had to rush to lock them up, as they were free-ranging at the time. I've seen many foxes at Swift Half (we even have two old dens in the rear (rear) garden as some viewers to this blog might know), but I've never seen a fox in bad condition here before.

• Strange that the honeysuckle and water lily are flowering again here at Swift Half, so late in the year?


• The buff ermine moth caterpillar that I photographed the other day, has spun itself a cocoon and will remain in that state until around about May 2011. I fed it nettle leaves for about a week and it seemed to like them. If we're still around here in May (for the return of the swifts also!?) I'll update you then on our buff ermine cocoon...


• On the subject of caterpillars, I've also found what I think is a Sallow Kitten moth caterpillar - which is feeding on willow as I speak - again this should become an adult moff in May...

General (County) update - 2nd October 2010

• After venturing out in this morning's fog, I have now seen a swallow in the UK in October (one - this morning), making the 2nd October the latest I have ever seen a swallow in the UK. The latest prior to this morning I have ever seen was in north Devon in the last week of September.
• Lots of house martins in the air also this morning, fuelling up for their imminent migration.
• Pretty woolly weather right now, with bands of heavy, squally, rain moving across the UK, separated by a few hours of clear skies. For the first time this year, I'm mildly concerned about river levels....