SUMMER IS HERE, WELL FOR NOW ANYWAY

A week of lovely early summer weather has been enjoyed by all forms of life, wild and human.

The railway bridge robin family is still gathering mealworms from my garden, although I suspect the chicks have fledged, as the parent birds dart of in different directions each time they pick up a mealworm delivery.

I’m hoping the parents bring the chicks to the garden, as they have done in previous years, although I’ll just have to wait and see.

As I’m writing this outside in the morning sun, the parents are buzzing all around me, calling at me and looking forlornly in my direction. It’s weird but they have done it so many times recently that I know they’re basically asking for my next supply of mealworms!

The blackbird parents are busy gathering food too and making use of the mealworms hand-outs for their chicks. The nest is behind our house and near the horse stable where the swallows are nesting.

Just now a swallow has burst into song and it’s probably my favourite sound of summer.

The blue tits have not been seen all week and I suspect the parents have taken the chicks to explore the wider area, while they begin their moult.

I’ve only seen fleeting glances of the great tits, so suspect the chicks have fledged and will soon be heading off just like the blue tits.

The one surprise has been the house sparrows. At least two families have fledged chicks, with some even being fed in the garden.

But the strangest news is around a pair of house sparrows that has built a nest in the camera nestbox, on top of the old blue tit nest.

Most years a pair of house sparrows has inspected the camera nestbox, but usually after it’s been occupied. In 2011 I found a dead house sparrow in the nest of the great tit family when clearing the nestbox out in the autumn.

This behaviour is something I’ve never seen or heard of before and I’ll be keeping a close eye on this as the month progresses.

My only disappointment is that the camera is still not working!

The flora in the garden has burst into life and the foxgloves are about to open the flowers and provide bees and butterflies with an ample supply of nectar.