August 2024: Quick Roundup
Snapshots from a busy month.
Sunny, humid and often bright: summer in abundance this month, but with some telling signs of a season on the wane.
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| Trimming/harvesting lavender, garden |
A bright and often warm month with many evenings spent by river, broad or sea.
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| Swan and cygnets at the far bank, river Yare |
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| Warham fort |
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| Red clover |
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| Eyeing up the elderberries, garden. |
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| Sunset pink on the birch |
Tomatoes ripened at the start of the month and proliferated throughout it: a bumper crop.
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| Tomatoes and basil from the garden |
In-season local cherries were baked in a cake, an enjoyable summer treat.
My own cherry trees are immature: will they bear blossom (and perhaps fruit) next year?
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| Homemade cherry and pistachio cake |
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| Larkspur |
Grasshoppers stridulated from the front garden; crickets chirruped from the back.
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| A 'Gertrude Jekyll' scented bed for this cricket |
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| Mystery fruit tree |
I located a mystery fruit tree which might or might not relate to something half-remembered from childhood. This gnarled little tree was suffering in the heat; I returned with secateurs and took some cuttings.
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| Lunch among the nettles |
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| Between the wildflowers |
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| Field Scabious, Knapweed |
Mid-month, smoke from wildfires in North America drifted across, high in the atmosphere, causing some dramatic visions of the sun and moon when rising and setting.
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| A orange waxing half-moon |
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| Green Woodpecker juveniles |
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Waders continued to trickle through and passed overhead from their breeding grounds.
Geese convened their flocks.
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| Green Sandpipers |
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| Greylag Geese |
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| Canada Geese |
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| Cherry plums for the foraging |
Small, sweet and juicy: cherry plums were foraged from hedgerows, whilst named varieties continued to be bought from the local plum orchard.
'Discovery' apples ripened mid-month, enjoyed fresh or grated into birchers.
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| 'Discovery' apples |
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The third of four full moons of this summer: a blue moon.
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| Almost full 'blue' moon |
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| Fly-by Spoonbill |
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| Cattle in the reeds |
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| Mixture of clouds at sunset |
A named storm pressed overhead towards the end of month, and lingered all day until evening.
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| Storm clouds |
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| Great White Egrets |
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| Chinese Water Deer |
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| Great White Egrets preening |
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| Great White Egrets |
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| Great White Egret |
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| Bowed reeds |
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| Greylag geese at sunset |
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| Sunset |
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| Three Spoonbills (Little Egret flying) |
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| Spoonbills, sun-fall. |
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| Crows after sundown. |
On the 25th, a sense of transition was felt, reflecting the changing seasons.
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| British white cattle |
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| Pheasants at sunrise |
Spoonbills, Little and Great White Egrets and geese (Greylag, Canada, Egpytian) were most present on many of my walks. Cranes were seen, distantly this month.
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| 5 Spoonbills feeding on the marsh |
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| Sweep sweep sweep Spoonies |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Mirrored: Chinese Water Deer |
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| Cygnet called home to the reeds |
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| Egyptian geese |
More numerous Egyptian Geese and particularly Canada geese noticed in few years.
Two Swifts were seen close by a flock of House Martin, a pleasant surprise so late in their season.
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| Swift |
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| Waning half moon, fly-by House Martin |
I scouted for Hazel nuts, but very few were found on trees or the ground below them!
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| Old Hazel tree |
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| Glade |
Amongst this year's lambs feeding on the grasses, one small lamb still nursed.
At Blickling, only 4 of the 5 Cygnets seen last month were sighted.
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| Calling -- Green Sandpipers |
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| Feeding in gentle blues and pinks. |
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| Looking east over the treetops |
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| Looking north over the water |
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| Looking west over the water |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Starling juveniles |
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| Settling down |
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| Last meal (plus baguette) of August 2024. |
The tomatoes continued ripening in abundance and so it was right to finish the month with a simple seasonal treat from an appreciably-sunny month.
