WILL THE SUMMER HEAT COME BACK AGAIN?

So summer has finally arrived, well at least for 48 hours anyway.

It felt like the heat of mid summer in Cyprus had hit us, but it’s gone again and left us with a tantalising glimpse of what our summers can be like.

The wildlife being seen in the garden is mainly insects, with an increasing amount of butterflies – some of which are making straight for the growing cauliflowers leaves!

The fruit from the greengage tree is ripening and falling everywhere, while flies occupy any bare human flesh causing irritation, which the wildlife must be feeling too.

Young robins and blackbirds are being seen with a little more frequency in the garden, while the numbers of swallows is increasing every day.

The youngsters are definitely learning how to manoeuvre in the skies and they’re hopefully going to start having an impact on the number of small flies that are annoying everyone.

There are no tomatoes yet, but plenty of flowers, while the broad beans probably only need a few more weeks before they can be harvested.

One thing that hasn’t done too well this year is the batch of sunflowers. Only one is taller than six foot and some are even flowering at less than two feet.

Perhaps it’s the new seeds bought in spring, or perhaps it’s the weather. Final conclusions can be drawn in August when they have all flowered.

Until then let’s wait, and hope, the summer heat comes back again soon!

A VERY GREEN GARDEN IN WET JUNE

Activity in the garden has been mainly limited to the flora, with plenty of growth in many plants including the cauliflower and broad beans.

There has been a favourite sight this week with a visit from a couple of newly fledged robin chicks.

They spent quite a while in the garden, watching from various posts and pouncing on the odd invertebrate.

Apart from the off visit from blue tit chicks and flocks of house sparrows, the main visitors have been swooping swallows.

It’s great to see and hear them, particularly the newly fledged youngsters who are constantly chattering to the adults as they chase their insect food.

Sadly they’ll all be gone in a few months and the slow process of summer turning into autumn will begin.

Until then we can enjoy them and hopefully some summer sunshine, which has been particularly lacking following a thoroughly wet June.

LAST WEEK THE SWALLOWS RETURN, THIS WEEK NEST BUILDING IS IN FULL FLOW

The wildlife certainly thinks spring is on the way as nest building is in full flow in the blue tit nest box.

It appears the house sparrows have decided to use the triple sparrow nest box, now that one of the three boxes has been vacated by the second camera.

They were happy to use the ones without the camera as soon as the nest box was erected, but after two years of no interest in the box with the camera, the ‘secret eyes’ were moved to a new nest box designed for blue tits – they have yet to show interest after a couple of years nesting outside the garden.

The original blue tit nest box has once again got a nest, having had one every year since being put up in 2007 – making it the tenth year in a row.

Unfortunately the camera signal was not working when I put this post up, but I’ll be checking daily from now on to ensure the next post has a couple of images.

The nest builders are a pair of great tits, and the nest is well on its way to being complete.

The garden will see a limited vegetable number this summer, with broad beans, chillis, tomatoes and a new one for this year – cauliflower.

Seeds will be planted this week and it is hoped the sunshine and warmth will continue, not only for the seedling growth, but the fauna.

While the current weather conditions are favourable, the outlook for the weekend is not good for growth and wildlife breeding.