Wildlife notes August 2024 Dr Phil Smith Despite the opinion of many, August was a dry month, England having 62% of average rainfall. That is comparable to the 48.5mm measured by Rachael Parks, which was about 64% of normal August rainfall for Formby. It was a windy month, including a named storm on 22nd-23rd, but...
With deep puddles everywhere, it was obvious that the month was much wetter than normal. Rachael Parks recorded 19 rain-days with a total of 129 mm which is nearly twice the February average for Formby. As a result, the sand-dune water-table rose dramatically by almost 20 cm during the month, close to the record level...
With measureable rainfall on 22 days and a total precipitation of 152 mm, November 2023 was a wet one. In fact, Rachael Park’s Formby garden rain-gauge recorded 71% more rain than average for the month. Two named storms largely passed to the south and north of us, though ‘Storm Debi’ on 13th produced severe gale-force...
In July 1997, a Black Guillemot chick was ringed in Orkney. This bird successfully fledged from its nest and lived for nearly 25 years without being seen again. In May 2022, the bird was recaptured, still in Orkney, making it the oldest-known Black Guillemot in Britain and Ireland! This is one of the new records (see...