Birds I Met in July

We're into the seventh year of Birdy Round Ups, and compared to when I first started these posts, it would seem birding as a hobby in general has greatly increased in popularity. While it always feels a little strange when something I have loved for a long time becomes a 'trend', it's absolutely great that people are noticing and appreciating our beautiful wildlife more and more. They need as much help as they can get, and when people are more aware of who we share the planet with, it raises the chances of them getting that help.

As someone who has been a birder for around 22 years now, I vouch for the joy and peace that our bird kingdom brings. For what we get from them, we must give back. Feed the birds. Provide fresh water sources all year round (keep them topped up in Summer and the ice broken in Winter). Plant native trees, bushes, flowers - look into which are great food sources, shelter, etc. Resist the urge to sanitise your outdoor spaces (for example, leave the leaves, don't over-prune, try to keep things as wild as possible with as little concrete and such as possible). Give them space. Stop pets and children from chasing or scaring them, even more so in Winter when they need to conserve energy and taking flight takes a lot of their energy! Most importantly, just be kind. All species, from gulls and pigeons to birds of prey and 'game birds' like pheasants, are all equal and deserve to live a safe, healthy life.

Anyway! Here are all the beautiful birds I met in July.

5th July 2026
Swallow
House Sparrow
Garden Warbler (?)
Chaffinch

11th July 2026
Pigeon
Collared Dove
Magpie

19th July 2026
Swift

24th July 2026
Dunnock

27th July 2026
Wood Pigeon

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Annual Total
Avocet
Blackbird
Black-Headed Gull
Blue Tit
Bullfinch
Buzzard
Canada Goose
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Coal Tit

Collared Dove
Common Tern
Common Whitethroat
Coot
Cormorant
Dunnock
Eider
Fulmar
Gadwall
Garden Warbler


Goldcrest
Goldfinch
Great Black-Backed Gull
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit
Greenfinch
Greylag Goose
Grey Heron
Grey Wagtail
Herring Gull

House Sparrow
Jackdaw
Kestrel
Kittiwake
Lapwing
Linnet
Little Grebe
Long-Tailed Tit
Magpie
Mallard

Meadow Pipit
Moorhen
Mute Swan
Oystercatcher
Pheasant
Pied Wagtail
Pink-Footed Goose
Razorbill
Reed Bunting
Ring-necked Parakeet

Robin
Rock Dove
Rook
Sand Martin
Sedge Warbler
Shelduck
Shoveler
Siskin
Skylark
Sparrowhawk

Starling
Stock Dove
Swallow

Swift

Treecreeper 
Tufted Duck
Wood Pigeon

[& Greylag x Canada Goose Hybrid]

- 68

Monthly 'New' Totals
January - 28 birds
February - 8 birds 
March - 14 birds
April - 3 birds

May - 10 birds
June - 4 birds
July - 1

A bit of a disappointment for July! Especially as a month I expected to score some newbies. We had our long awaited camping trip booked for the beginning of the month but I unfortunately end up poorly and we had to travel home about 18 hours after arriving and so missed out on going to visit the Black Guillemots and more. 
I've also noticed a very obvious decline in birds, particularly small garden birds, around just now which is sad. 

Eclipse Day at the Hallow Household

 

12th August 2026, around 7pm, our view.

I have a weird take when it comes to things like the Eclipse and other natural world events that the general public become obsessed with en masse. Because, yes, you should be taking notices of the magical moments, but why this one and nothing else? Why were beaches and clifftops packed like a concert area to look at the sun, but not to marvel at a mid-Autumn sunset? It seems to be the 'limited edition' of it all - mark something as rare, uncommon, and then people will queue for hours to buy a pair of special glasses, pack a picnic and tear their eyes from their screens for an hour to be outdoors. 

We're lucky that the sun rises out the back of our house and sets out the front, so we have great views of the sky from our upstairs windows and so had the privilege of getting to watch the Eclipse from home. Well, attempt to. We didn't bother with glasses or homemade viewing devices, and I'd managed to see and photograph the partial eclipse in March 2015 with no problem, therefore wrongly assumed I would see this one too. It ended up that our Eclipse was more so dark clouds passing over the sun at the exact same moment, but we were still treat to a haunting darkening, beautiful patterns and some cloud iridescence. 

As a photographer, especially someone who documents life through daily photos and is so connected with Mother nature, it was of course slightly disappointing not to witness this enchanting Natural event in its fullest form, nor capture those prizes images. Where my disappointment is for my own future viewing of my photo books, many people seemed underwhelmed when they didn't get the perfect shot to share on social media...and I think that also ties back to why people normally not interested in Nature wanted to join the flock and stare skyward for that short time.

Anyway, here are a few images of our view during the 2026 Eclipse. 

Our Lughnasadh

 

After a wonderful Litha, I was looking forward to an equally enjoyable Lughnasadh. 
We'd planned to go for a walk once Mr H got home from work and have our meal outside, however life had other plans. Sadly that morning I woke up to find our beautiful Saga had passed away during the night and so we prioritised giving her the burial we have with all her sisters, Rura, Nyx and Calypso. 

Not only that but we had a call from our garage to say they had a pigeon for us. (Long story short, when picking up my car from it's MOT a day or two earlier we had tried and failed to get hold of a pigeon in need of help. They then returned to the garage asking for help.) So we had to go pick up this little pigeon, get them home and settled and work out a plan. 

With spirits low and motivation to do anything else absent, we sorted the pigeon and Saga, then had a slow day. Mr H made a lovely meal which we ate in the living room and watched comfort shows for the rest of the evening.

Our walk was rescheduled for the next morning, when heartbreak struck again and Saga's little friend Dan left us too. Another burial followed. Thank goodness for the wildlife who visited us while we said our sad goodbyes. 

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