The Innuit have a whole series of words for snow. Here , in Scotland, we have a similar array of words for the weather! Today it was grim!!
Spent the whole day (again) behind a computer screen planning surveys and the like given that the BTO Atlas Survey 2007-2011 commences its second winter in three weeks time!! In addition to this there are many other surveys that can be contributed to, some which are European wide in their application. One is Trektellen ( www.trektellen.nl ) which is probably the foremost visible bird migration site in NW Europe. It has an ever growing network of sites on the Continent, but also here, that contribute observations on the movements of birds.
In the last couple of days 15,000 Jackdaws have been on the move in the Low Countries but also at one site, De Nolle in Holland, 5500 Blue Tit, 2500 Coal Tit, 500 Great Tit, 500 Goldcrest and 25,000 Chaffich have been counted passing through!! Migration at its most spectacular!! Whether these mass movements will be reflected in the arrival of birds in Britain has yet to be awaited....
And if you're really bitten by the visible migration bug take a look at http://www.skef.se/fbo/Index_e.html It's the web site of Falsterbo Bird Observatory and if you get away with looking at it for less than 30mins. then you're skimping!!! It's magnificent. I stayed there in August and September in the early 1960's ( let's not dwell on that!! ) and was blown away with the sheer number of birds that can move through a site. It's all in English so there's no excuse...have a go.
Ok...back to cyber space!!
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