Beau

I found golden box bug eggs in the area that of the garden that I used to call Crab Spider Corner for the third year running. It's Jazzy's Corner now as it's where we buried her. Lovely buttercups have sprouted on her grave.

Ollie dog and I had fun in the long grass down the field chasing the first common blue butterfly of the season. I'm still feeling bittersweet about having a new photo assistant, it's amazing how quickly Ollie has fallen into the role though. She's such a gentle dog.

As we walked up Butterfly Alley we heard a birdie commotion, all sorts of twitters and cheeps. The only bird I could see was this bemused-looking great tit fledgling staring at me. Great tits are known for having a wide variety of calls. My birding mate told me that if I hear an unusual bird call, chances are it's a great tit. I've read today about the “Beau Geste” hypothesis. The hero of the novels about the French Foreign Legion by P.C. Wren, when under siege from his attackers, propped up the bodies of dead soldiers around the walls of his fortress to convince his enemies that the fort was well-defended.That seems to be what male great tits do. By singing different songs from different places in their territories, they give the impression to rivals that their chosen patch is better defended than it really is and persuade their competitors to keep away. Maybe that's what the mature great tit that I eventually saw was doing?