Sunbathing

A wonderful day for the first day of summer. I was in Thorpe Wood just after five thirty in the morning to do my last breeding bird transect of the year. This one is always a bit sluggish, as most birds have either fledged their first broods or are busy feeding young, so far fewer calls to listen out for. The Wrens still seemed to be giving it their all though!

The warm weather has finally brought out some insects in the garden, including many Red-tailed Damselflies and Footballer hoverflies who are now busy egg-laying in the ponds. We also had a surprise visit from a Scarce Chaser, a wanderer from the River Nene which is about a kilometre away.
The No-Mow-May grasses are just coming into flower - in my opinion they're are a beautiful addition to the garden. As is the Hound's-tongue, which we have almost certainly brought to the garden on our work-wear - its hooked seeds are almost impossible to brush off, way better than Velcro!

In the afternoon I went to a local chemists for my second Covid jab. There was a very long queue, and it was quite unpleasant having to stand in the heat wearing a mask, but after about half an hour I finally reached the vaccinator. She was a lovely lady, and, having told her of my last experience, when the vaccine was injected into my shoulder capsule and triggered several weeks of painful inflammation, she was very careful to get it into my deltoid muscle!