When I write these accounts for each month, I’m always conscious of the weather patterns. This month has been another exceptional month, with many sunny and warm days with a maximum of 34C on the 14th, and a high of 18.3C nighttime temperature on the 13th. We had significant rainfall of 8mm on the 5th, and 14.5mm on the 21st, and 12.5mm on the 28th, making a monthly total of just about 70mm (3”). Our annual rainfall figure is well down for the year to date, and you’ve only got to look at the Pit to see how warm it’s been, and how little rainfall we’ve had.

On Wednesday evening 12th August we experienced a partial solar eclipse in our area, although other places in Europe, Spain and Iceland experienced a full eclipse. This happens when the moon passes in front of the sun, blocking its light and causing the sky to go dark. Whilst this was an exciting experience for a group of us watching on the canal bank at Rowton, it wasn’t as dramatic as my wife and I experienced at Dijon in mid France in 1999, when we experienced the total eclipse, birds going quiet, the temperature dropping dramatically, and it became really dark, for the time of totality. At Rowton in August we looked at the eclipse through special glasses, and experimented with both a pin hole camera, and projecting through a colander. This brought dramatic results, but the pinhole experiment just didn’t work. The view along the canal towards Christleton was quite dark, and the birds did go silent for a time, but it wasn’t anything like the dramatic views obtained from Spain or Iceland. Thanks to Liz McClure for the image from the Picos de Europa.

This month too, showed a spectacular beech mast near the church wall and the Manor House, and two new blue plaques have been erected by the Parish Council at the Institute and the Old Glass House Inn along Whitchurch Road. Although swallows and house martins have been scarce this summer, we had our usual migration roost at Croft Close in the middle of the month. Why such a gathering occurs at roughly the same time each year, on the same set of telephone wires on the same telegraph pole is a complete mystery, but it is an annual occurrence, when an estimated 200 birds gather for just a few days and nights, before setting off on their migration route to Africa.

It’s sad to report that all seven cygnets were predated at the secret lake at Walk Mill. This is the second time in three years that all cygnets have been taken. As you can see, the nest site is covered in feathers, as I guess the adults would have tried to fight off the predator(s) We’re certain that mink are the problem, as they are often seen near the lake.

I’ve also included just one picture from Burton Mere this month, when a flock of maybe 200 diminutive grey coloured knot appeared on the main lake in amongst the Godwits and lapwing.

Having been deprived of seeing many wildlife species because of the intense hot weather, the success of the summer has been butterflies. I’ve had 241 records from sites across the country contrasting that with 38 in 2025. Some of these records include 25+ of a single species, as happened earlier this summer at Amble in Northumberland, but everywhere there have been good sightings. This has been a good year locally for painted ladies, red admiral, holly blues, peacock and gatekeeper, and I had a single sighting of a hummingbird hawk moth, feeding on lavender with several painted ladies. Although dragonflies have been scarce, I managed to get a good shot of a female Emperor dragonfly laying eggs on a farm visit, and both male and female banded agrion damselflies could be seen in good numbers on the river Gowy at Walk Mill.