Hello nature lovers!
I saw a rather gruesome sight the other morning –drawing the bedroom curtains back first thing, I noticed a jackdaw pecking furiously into the bank, at the top of our garden– then he pulled out a big slow worm, about a foot long (half an inch thick!), and proceeded to eat it bit by bit– nature in the raw again!
Another bird up to no good in the garden – a jay. I’m afraid this means he’s after the young nestlings, which is typical of members of the crow family, which the jay is, of course. However, the jay is a beautiful bird – pink, grey, blue and black. I think it is one of our most attractive birds, but what a disgusting screech it has!
The young birds are now starting to appear, having left the safety of their nests. We have young goldfinches, blue tits, great tits and house sparrows. They don’t have the full colourings of their parents yet, but soon will have.
Margaret and I visited a Devon Wildlife Trust reserve last Saturday. Meeth Quarry Reserve is their newest reserve. It is in north west Devon, near Hatherleigh. It covers a huge area, and is wonderful for birds, butterflies, wild flowers and other wildlife. We saw 
roe deer, several species of butterfly, including wood whites and brimstones, lots of warblers, plus thousands of southern marsh orchids. I’ve never seen so many orchids, some of which were over a foot tall with lovely blue/purple flowers – amazing!
Alan Jones
