The Manchester Birder

   July was something of an enigmatic month.  It felt like a lull in parts, where I barely lifted optics for two weeks during a much needed rest; and yet I've added more birds this month to the year list than I did in a June I was praising for overperforming!  This month I went past my highest previous year list (278 in 2023) which feels a little surreal for July.  Though I'm often disappointed by local birding in the summer months my year's only Little Stint was no more than 5 miles from home.  Either end of the month was characterised by long trips, from a visit to the Scottish Borders for a beautiful Blyth's Reed Warbler on July 1st, to a boat trip across to Scilly for Shearwaters on July 29th, the summer so far has wildly exceeded my expectations heading into my favourite time of the year to be birding.  Late August and early September are always exciting times, filled with the promise of scarce migrants and visually spectacular gatherings of birds...