WARMER WEATHER ON THE WAY?

Is the weather playing mind tricks with us? The wet weather over the last few days came after some glorious days with plenty of warmth and sunshine.

The swallows made the most of the warm and dry days, and were often joined by local swifts in the early evening swooping low over the hedges and small trees in and around the garden, feasting on a seemingly endless supply of small insects.

Both groups of birds were calling throughout the feeding frenzy, the swallows with their dance-like tunes, while the swifts shrieked with delight at the abundance of insects lifted above the treeline by the warm air.

It’s possible that the swallows are already on their second brood, and if weather conditions continue then a third might just be squeezed in.

The other birds are infrequently visiting the garden, with the young blue tits being recently spotted again, this time without any parents nearby.

A couple of great tits have also been seen, along with recently fledged robin chicks.

The crane fly hatching continues at a fast pace, although many falling foul of the house and seemingly dying before being able to mate.

One pair was caught mating in the house, so were gently moved outside to continue their rituals in privacy – well as much privacy as outside in the garden can give!

Growth of the garden plants has been good, with the tomatoes and broad beans already flowering and producing a few early fruit, while the sunflowers are all getting taller by the day.

Whatever the rest of July brings, a good harvest of broad beans is hopefully on the cards.

The sunshine did bring out plenty of butterflies – orange tip, red admiral, small tortoiseshell, painted lady and green-veined white.

They were mainly attracted by the buddleia flowers and with both buddleia plants growing rapidly, this summer could be great for seeing the beautiful butterflies in the garden.