The hot weather seems to have given the many nestlings a good reason to fledge.This morning there was much activity on the front of the house as an adult male blackbird saw off another male and continued to be most vigilant as he supervised the breakfasting of both his young.They were equally oblivious with heads down searching in the grass and eventuallyall three flitted along the fence line and out of sight under the Ash tree.
Having enjoyed all of that whilst still upstairs you can just imagine my excitment when going out to the car I spotted what I thought was a very small willow warbler .It turned out to be a very inquisitive newly fledged bird and it had found the relative safety of the Camelia branch.Mum was not far away and for the first time I got a good sighting of her too.Thats what really makes being bird aware so satisfying . Finally I got to identify who was responsible for making one of the prettiest sounds which herald each summer.
They say things come in three and this evening was no exception. I had been watching the mallard with her diminished brood of 3 when I became aware of something flitting around on the damp stoney edge of the river.Eventually I made out the very young yellow wagtail getting used to the slippery stones underfoot whilst flying out to catch tea on the wing and showing off to its sibling.The sequece of events was so funny to watch that I quite forgot the need to prepare our own repast.I also realised just how important the long tail is for such a fine balancing act!
Happy days
Lis Collison