- Up at 5am again, to drive twenty or so miles to see if our short-eared owls had returned to their winter grounds quite near us.
- A glorious dawn greeted me after a glorious drive - its lovely just to put your foot down on empty roads occasionally...
- No owls yet, but a few hares, a few kestrels, a beautiful pale buzzard, some skylark, corn bunting and yellowhammer, lapwing and a couple of roe deer.
- Plenty of winter starling flocks n all (please click photo to enlarge) - I'll be back soon enough to see if my owls have made it back...
- No swift egg in the roof yet - Anna and I have had a little wager on this - I predict May 4th and Anna says May 6th will produce first egg. Anna may be closer to the mark looking at the weather forecast for this weekend!
- My red mason bees are incredibly busy filling the bee-post holes with bright yellow pollen, laying eggs and bricking the drilled holes up with mud (lifted from our watered potato patch!) One hole has already been sealed by a red mason bee, three others are stained bright yellow inside and I guess will be sealed soon enough (complete with egg). Slightly worried about the torrential showers forecast for this saturday evening - I'll have to make sure the bee posts are sheltered.
- Very low, pale buzzard over the garden this afternoon, mobbed by the sentry crows of course.
- Male blackcap (warbler) in the garden yesterday.
- No damselflies seen as yet - very late now!
- The hen blackbird is back on the nest in the honeysuckle! I'll have a peep over the long bank holiday weekend to see if she's laid more eggs (2 at last count a few days ago - after I thought she'd abandoned).
- First Brimstone moth (photo of a brimstone moth at our old gaff) appeared at kitchen window tonight (didn't even set moth trap up!)
