Hello again
Returning home at dusk the other evening, a large dark shape flew silently overhead – a tawny owl – the first I’ve seen this year. I 
haven’t heard many owls either, which is unusual. Biddy tells me that they have a family of little owls in Colestocks. These are not much bigger than thrushes.
Late in June, there was a lot of activity on our feeders – lots of young birds – finches, tits, sparrows, collared doves plus 
a great spotted woodpecker, which was always around. Then, I discovered that there were two of them, a pair? We’ve also been visited by a nuthatch, but only once! Did you know that nuthatches can walk down tree trunks head first?
Down at the Tale, at Tuckmill, the young swallows were sitting on the wires, being fed by the parent birds. There are a few more hirundines (swallows, martins and swifts) about now, but not as many as we get in some years. I wonder why?
Walking back home, I noticed more butterflies on the wing – gatekeepers, meadow browns, whites and a comma. The main flush of butterflies has not appeared yet. It is a bit early in the year for them. They usually wait until our buddleia has gone to seed but they then feed on the windfall apples.
