CHICKS AND RAIN EVERYWHERE

It’s been four weeks since my last post, and quite a lot has happened.

The main thing is that summer hasn’t even started, with much of the recent weather akin to autumn, rather than the warmest season of the year.

The great tits chicks did fledge, although it must have been while I was at work, because one day they were very audible in the morning and when I got home later in the day, there was silence.

However, the air was filled with the noise of newly-fledged tit chicks and has only stopped in the last few days.

It’s hard to tell if they are great tit or blue tit chicks from the sounds, but when the parents give alarm calls it’s much easier to identify.

They all appear to have been doing very well, and they probably stuck around for a bit longer due to the unseasonal late spring weather.

Of course, the last few weeks have been awful, particularly for the wildlife who expect much warmer conditions.

The constant rain and very cool temperatures mean many of the insects that birds feed on are difficult to find or have been washed away.

I’ve been continuing to hand out mealworms, which the great tits, blue tits, robins and house sparrows have been swooping on very quickly.

Just when I thought the bird life would fade away for the wet summer, the robins provided me with quite a surprise.

In the last few days I’ve noticed robins heading into part of the ivy just outside the kitchen window.

A pair of robins did spend time in the same area last year but didn’t raise a family there.

This year I’ve seen evidence in the last 48 hours that lead me to believe they have nested and now have chicks.

Two robins are now going into the area with caterpillars, and also some of mealworms I’ve been handing out.

I’m going to monitor the behaviour of the robins over the next few days, because I’m concerned the weather will reduce the survival chances of the chicks.

And given the incidents of the various chicks in Scotland on Springwatch over the last couple of weeks, my concerns are real.

The sound of summer, in the voice of the swallows and swifts have been heard when the rain stops, with swifts seeking higher air while chattering and the swallows swooping around the garden.

I think the swifts I’ve seen haver had young, but I think the swallows are either on eggs or have young. They usually cause quite a racket when the young leave the nest, so I think I’ll be able to tell when that happens.

In the meantime, let’s hope summer does come along and doesn’t leave us with a soggy and disappointing June – I think the swallows will agree with me!