Today my wife surprised me by asking if I had done my bird blog. What she really meant was my bird log which I usually send off to Charente Nature each day. I replied (rather guiltily) that I had not sent a post for almost a year and when asked why this was so, I had to have a think.
I could have said that I had been too busy or just simply lazy but although there is a good deal of truth in both those excuses I thought of something which was l little less self-damning. My motive for starting the blog was not simply to describe some of my birding activity in Charente but also to provide some kind of bird record for the department as I was at that time unaware of the existence of Charente Nature who offer an interactive website which is the source of the official record.
I have since referred to their work in several of my posts and encouraged anyone who follows my blog to register with them both to find out what is being recorded on a daily basis and, if they wish to do so, to add their own observations and even photos.
Perhaps I was thinking that my blog was therefore redundant but on reflection perhaps it isn’t. The website is very useful and informative but is primarily a data collecting tool and the scope for comment is rather minimal so maybe I should start posting my personal ramblings again for what they might be worth.
There were white storks around yesterday and today which indicates that return migration is already underway. I haven’t seen any of them but my friend, Steve Dolan, sent me his pics from near Suaux today.
There have also been reports of cranes this week. The last ones I saw were in the first week in January and they were still heading south but although it’s not been clarified I think that there latest birds must surely be moving back north by now.
The bramblings which have come down from the north in large numbers this winter are still with us though and are regular visitors to my bird table as I’m sure they are to yours.
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