Swift Half update - 3rd April 2011

• This blog is celebrating its first birthday TODAY!
• It was one year ago today that I thought I'd start blogging again, after I had an initial attempt over at Blue-grey.
• A year on and we're still here, at our super little rented house, "Swift Half", with the garden to die for, our two cats, three hens (RIP Cutlery), jays, hawks, woodpeckers, foxes, newts, frogs, bees and.... in about three weeks (I hope!) our beautiful, fascinating swifts back again.
• Anna treated me to an early birthday present today - a trip to a garden centre to choose some bee and moth-friendly plants - what a lovely wife I have!
• We bought a buddleja, a white valerian, a scabious, two lavender, a pulmonaria (which my bees have already found!) and an evening primrose.
• I am not a botanist, nor a particularly avid gardener -I know very little about plants and flowers - and in the main, think of them not as pretty, but there to do a job - attract all my insects! I am very lucky that Anna knows me very well now - and what a lovely birthday present - a whole load of insect-friendly plants!
• I hope our bees appreciate Anna's efforts - and maybe, just maybe, we'll get a hummingbird hawkmoth in our garden this summer....?
• So here we go again - another year at "Swift Half"?
• You know what  -  I hope so!
• So for the first post "this year" (year 2 of the blog, but year 3 of our residence at "Swift Half") - I'd just like to start by saying that spring has most certainly sprung a good ten days or so earlier than last year.
• The whole point of this blog originally was to record certain natural events in the locality, to compare in years to come (plus of course, to show anyone interested our nesting swifts!)
• The garden daffodils have already come and gone this spring - last year they were only just blooming.
• The blue and red mason bees have been with us for at least a week - last year they didnt appear until ten days or so into April.
• The damson blossom is masive this year, but has already peaked - not so for this time last year.
• I guess all this is down to the very hard winter of 2009/2010 and a less harsh season at the beginning of this year - not to mention the very warm temperatures we've had for a month or so now.
• So... does that mean our swifts will arrive back before St.George's day then (3 weeks). I doubt it - thats as much (if not more) to do with the weather in Africa than it has to do with our weather.
• My money's still on 23rd April!