Swift half news - 10th May 2010

• Malu had another visit to the vets today, and as he has responded so well to the first two days of his steroids etc... (he's bench pressing 200 kilos as I write this), we are hopeful that the uveitus was caused by a trauma and nothing more serious. He'll finish the course of drugs and then we must just hope...
• Hen blackbird still on eggs (Malu hasn't got her yet).
• Still no swift egg but it is still pretty parky here, with our north-easterly breeze stuck in a rut.

Swift half news - 6th May 2010

• Last night both swifts spent the entire night in the roof space and this afternoon, both came back for 30 minutes or so, but as I type this, only one is in the roof. I trust the other is around and ok - the only things that can take a swift are the weather (no food) or a hobby (pretty well the swift's only predator). EDIT (20:56) BOTH swifts back now...
• Talking of birds of prey, this afternoon provided a three species bird of prey afternoon from the back garden at "Swift half" - with kites, a female sparrowhawk and a male kestrel all seen within one hour.
• A new addition to the birdtable - one of the local jackdaws had a go at the monkey nuts - must have learned that trick off the jays (which the nuts were successfully, originally put out for).
• Had to drag Malu off the blackbird's nest in the honeysuckle this evening - the hen is still sitting on four eggs - Malu will get them in the end - I still think thats pretty well inevitable.
• Anna (6th May) and I (4th May) both wrong with timing of first swift egg then -no swift eggs in space as yet!
• No odonates (especially damselflies) over pond yet - incredibly late this year.

Swift half news - 3rd May 2010

• Our swift got up very late today - maybe around 10am, and bad news - sparrows are moving nesting material into the swift roof space. Not much material granted, but there's certainly a little turf wars going on...
• Next door neighbours' vixen was out late this morning also - around 8:30am, and the girls (our hens - Couven and Cutlery) were a little twitchy. Cutlery is still having trouble producing decent eggs, but she managed a reasonable one this morning, and both girls took an extended dust bath this afternoon.
• Both (quite large) fox cubs seen in neighbours' garden at 9:15 tonight - quite bold they were...
• 5 potato plants above ground now.
• Hen blackbird still sitting on her (doomed) eggs in honeysuckle.
• Cold week ahead (northerly wind) - may put the breeding/hatching/growing back a bit.
• The mason bees in my post are really busy though - plenty of pollen brought back to the holes by the bees this morning. I think we'll have a full compliment of eggs in bricked-up holes by june at this rate - at present I have 5 holes all bricked up with pollen and egg in (to hatch next year) and twelve occupied holes (I can see the bee inside the hole) ready to be bricked up soon I hope). Wonderful stuff - my bee post is unbeelievably successful this year!