Swift Half Update - 26th July 2010

• I've left any Swift Half (general) update for a fortnight or so now, because of our computer woes if nothing else - so here is a bulleted update.
• Plenty of dragonflies out and about now - common darters finally visited the pond about a week ago (and laid eggs).
• Water lily produced two flowers this year, this week.
• Sunflower in garden now well over six feet tall, and producing flower head this week.
• Gatekeepers (butterflies) on honeysuckle last week.
• First potter wasp of the year spotted by bee post.
• Spider-hunting wasps very obvious at present (even had one in the office last week!)
• Otter prints spotted on local river - will try and investigate before too long.
• First (LARGE!) potatoes dug up last week - delicious!
• First raspberries of season from canes in garden last week - need a fortnight or so more.
• Damsons and pears doing well on trees, even with the lack of rain in these dry 5 months.
• Comma butterflies doing well in garden - as are red admirals, but no painted ladies yet (unlike last year).
• Two flying ant days in last week (hot and humid) - the dragonflies and birds (and chickens!) adored those days!
• As for the chickens - egg production has tailed off significantly - cutlery just produces a mess these days (and doesn't look too comfortable - I wonder how long shes got left sometimes) and couven hardly produces anything at all. All very strange, but at present they seem reasonably content.
• Pigeons still nesting in damson tree in the garden.
• Grass still hardly needs mowing - no rain really. I know the parks around south UK look like deserts - our garden is no different really - no significant rain in the next two weeks may mean a hosepipe ban down here also, come september.
• Only the female (adult) swift roosted in the nest last night - both her chicks have fledged as has her "other half". I guess breeding has taken it out of her somewhat, and she's building up energy for the big trip south - I wonder if I am a day or days away from saying goodbye to ANY activity in our swift nest -quite sad really!