After sixty days of lovingly bringing up her babies (apart from tossing them in the air so she could eat their food) Spot today moved on to her own house (actually a house that Bert vacated a while ago
She was given a choice – did she want to stay with her litter or follow a feed bucket. She neither ummed or ahhed
For the first time, the youngsters could eat unhurriedly
Bert looked on
The hen chicks also moved house – into the greenhouse
Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:
and the fledgling Great Tits have been struggling
The swallows are better off – still snug in their nest
There have been evening gaps in the clouds
In some areas dampness causes swelling
Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:
By the end of the week we need to:
– Separate Spot from her offspring
– (But keep one of the litter with her)
– Persuade four out out the remaining six to enter a trailer
– Encourage the other two to go off with a strange man
When we look at this lot
we realise this will require encouragement and guidance so we starting to get the latter in place:
Lottie knows she is not under threat
Around us nests are vacated but youngsters are still acting incapable
This blackbird has to stock up on snail
Overhead the Raven does not stoop to such indulgence
Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:
As the low sun slants over the opposite hillside tonight
the fledgling woodpecker knows that the way to get food is to sit in the feeder
where one’s parent does not have to go far to feed you
hoping they will put their beak down your gullet
But parent thinks that is too easy
Fledgling is left to understand the feeder
while parent feeds elsewhere
Down in the field Bert is slightly put out
he thinks other beings are about
he is probably right
We can agree as we have sheep in the house
Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:
The pig tail barometer:
A double curl means hotter than normal
and a sign of blue skies
This is corroborated by the Bert facial mudpack index
we are still working on the Spot Nasal Hair indicator
as she currently has to put up with this
Earlier Bert decided to barricade himself in his house
he definitely wants to Remain
Natural hedgehog food – beetles, worms – are in abundance in this warm damp weather but they still think it worthwhile turning up at the bowls
This post-solstice weekend draws a traditional gathering so preparations are being made
the facilities also have the traditional reading matter
Meanwhile the tree-creeper tree creeps
Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:
Well into night time and the light still ricochets across the field
The Blackbird still sings but most birds just want to roost after a frantic day of chasing fledglings round the plot.
This robin is finding nursery duties a bit debilitating
Elsewhere today the leeks are planted out
as is celeriac
and the broccoli
Lottie and Bina enjoy some pruned hazel
Upon the hill the bull has a little sit down as the sheep mix with the calf nursery
When Spot left her winter enclosure it was barren and deeply rutted – now it is growing new life forms
Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:
The sheep go down the lane and come back up a little thinner
When we first arrived the house sparrows did not venture up here. As the news spread that we were indeed a house they started to move in. Now we have fledglings all over the place
Our neighbour resowed his field next to us last year and after it started to fatten his lambs he is looking forward to the silage
The air is full of insects – and the blackbird’s evening song
Earlier he, and the magpies, alerted us to a skulking fox – signalling early bed for the ducks.
We have strange growths on this conifer
and encouraging flowers on the beans
and luscious leaves on the lily
and it is not over yet, as the light hangs in the night time air
some people may think that the year peaks later, but all around us the message is that this solstice marks the beginning of the end. The air is full of fledglings with attendant parents thinking job almost done. Growing things are nearing maturity – although maybe not the celeriac
or aubergines
but Jerusalem Artichoke is going for it
Courgettes are burgeoning
berries swelling
Meanwhile the Lower Field has a wash stand
and we are developing a pigtail barometer – if it is muddy then rain is happening
Bert is broody, making a nest of rough branches
The chicks from our own eggs are looking perky
The Vehicle went for an MOT – we picked it up and were told all was well but there was a nest on the spare wheel:
Having had a weekend visitation we have cut flowers
These are permeating the house with delicious aroma
and these are a result of cutting back to allow light to enter the visitor room
Does floppy know he might be the Last Cockerel Standing
The ducks divert the hose to provide themselves with a shower
Water Lily of the day
Rose of the day:
Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:
A family visit brings four generations under the Gribin Isaf roof today
It would be fascinating to know how many generations these walls have sheltered.
Elsewhere today..
The captive and the free share the same grass
Lunch is satisfactorily home grown
The Siskins don’t make a fuss
Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:
Gribin Isaf 