The cold winter we had may be a distant memory but the impact felt by our wild birds is now becoming more apparent as various survey results are reviewed.  Several of these are common garden birds and it is no surprise that those suffering the biggest loses are the smaller species such as Goldcrests, Wrens and Treecreepers which have had declines of 60%, 22%, and 15% respectively. Initial results from a House Martin survey conducted as part of the RSPB’s Make Your Nature Count has also shown that this species is in decline with households recording nest on only 5% of the houses surveyed down 1-2% on previous years. The reason for the decline however is up for debate with some arguing it could be the cold north wind in May putting of breeding birds, or simply a decline in numbers.

Some of you may have also seen in the news that the reintroduction of White-tailed Eagles, or Sea Eagles as they are sometimes called, has been put on long term hold by the main leader of the project English Nature. The project was reviewed and it was thought that in such tough economical times it was difficult to justify the expense.

As I said in my previous post June is often a case of ‘As you where’, but June does have a habit of throwing in a few good birds. One such example if a rare American Sparrow that was found in a Woodbridge garden on the morning of the 6th. A county recorder for that area I was asked to confirm the identification and was greeted by a splendid male White-throated Sparrow feeding on the occupants lawn. This represents the 3rd record for Suffolk and continues a run of observations of this species in Britain this year, making it 6 individual to date.

White-throated Sparrow

The possible Booted Eagle mentioned in my previous post put in a couple more appearances in the Ipswich area but consensus now points to it being a Common Buzzard, a recent colonist to the region.

Some of my focus this week swayed from birds and lent towards flowers and dragonflies and provided a few photographic opportunities (at least flowers don’t fly away!) A couple of shots are included to incourage you to get out there and find a few goodies.

4-Spotted Chaser

Butterfly Orchid