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!

Swift half news - 2nd May 2010

• The swift that spends the nights in our roof (we still hope that its a female) is spending more and more time in front of the camera - and the local house sparrow population are giving her quite a lot of grief. They had months to move into the hole though, and chose not to, so I have no idea why they are so insistent on sitting by the roof space entrance and shrieking constantly!
• I'm still going for a May 4th first egg, Anna May 6th...
• First potato plants appear above ground this week (three weeks after planting on April 10th).
• First bit of proper rain over this weekend - yesterday evening and this morning especially.
• Off to my annual bluebell pilgrimage in an adjoining county tomorrow at dawn, weather permitting...