A BRIGHTER END TO SUMMER?

It’s not been an ideal summer, weather-wise, but it seems the summer visitors to these shores have benefitted quite well.

The swallows seem to have raised at least two broods, while there have often been swifts filling the skies over the last few weeks.

The latter have now left the area, heading back to Africa for the UK’s autumn and winter, before heading back to these shores next spring.

What’s fascinating is the way these two, seemingly similar, species feed.

This has been particularly noticeable when the youngsters of both species had fledged and were learning to fly and feed.

The swallows swoop around the tress, bushes and houses, often just inches away from the ground or colliding with something solid.

But the swifts were circling at a much higher altitude, obviously after different food and so meaning they can live alongside each other without competing for food, or indeed nest sites.

In the news there appears to be plenty of very large slugs around the garden. And strangely they seem to be spending quite some time out in the open during daylight hours.

Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any hedgehogs about to help keep the population down

The broad beans have been harvested, and the six plants produced an amazing 42 beans – even with some pods that failed.

The tomatoes are next, and some may well go red if there's a warm interlude of weather.