Harriet's house

Our martins continue to do well behind the sparrow barrier. Meanwhile swallows have built a nest in the porch of our neighbours and it is now full of hungry mouths. The nest is very similar to a martin's nest but more coarsely built and with much wider access making it much easier for the adults to fly in and out.

parliament convenes

A great gathering of rooks over the village, maybe to introduce the young to the old.

Flutters and flies

A juvenile chaffinch showing the subtle colouration in the feathers. Unfortunately this juvenile is injured in some way and is unable to do more than flutter away. Below is a hoverfly, one of 276 species identified in Britain but impossible to identify (I think) on the wing.

by the church

Summer has arrived and the lanes are full of foxgloves and ox eye daisies.

more from the bee's eye view

one of the smaller flowers in the meadows is eyebright (above), and like everything else this year bastard balm (below) is flowering very late. It is noticeable how similar the basic structure of these meadow flowers is, with a landing pad, and colour coded docking sites.

bee's eye view

The glades and fringes of the meadows were full of cowwheat today but there was no sign of any heath fritillaries. In fact we only saw three miserable meadow browns and a speckled wood in the entire course of a long walk. The meadows are also full of rattle but it has only grown to a few inches above the ground. There were some butterfly orchids (the smaller more fragile 'lesser' variety) and lots of marsh orchids. The structure of the cowwheat flower is fascinating, and the little fur collar on the hood is virtually imperceptible to the naked eye.