User:Greenlife21

'''A monthly history of country life in an East Suffolk parish written two decades ago. July 1991''' By all accounts the great activity in the bird world during these summer months is as ever providing much of interest in our gardens and fields.Garden nest boxes, much favoured by the blue tits, are in full production. The blue tit will lay her clutch over probably 10 days, yet the hatch date will be on the same day. Swallows and house martins are travelling many miles a day collecting mud for nest building. I was interested to see the beginnings of a house martin's nest in what use to be the shop doorway of a local bakery. Ground nesting birds will be at great risk from our increasing fox population which in turn thrives on the rabbit " explosion". The entertaining but rather plainly attired spotted flycatcher should feature in most rural gardens if a modicum of vegetative cover is available. Best of all, my evenings are often made the better by the sight of a patrolling barn owl. Feeding birds in the summertime is unwise so why not replace the bird table with a "butterfly table?" Whilst I can take no credit for the idea, a suspended tray with shallow containers of a sugar solution, regularly renewed, will provide a feeding station for them and entertainment for you ! The welcome showers of early May will have been of great benefit to the barley and wheat acres. Oil seed rape, especially after flowering, is "water hungry" to help swell the seed pods. These same growing conditions certainly encourage the intruder weeds. Go away for a few days in July, and your garden weeds almost seem to revel in your absence. Have you ever possessed a " homing duck ?" An injured mallard, rescued by a neighbour, and brought to me for repairs, is now fully fit apart from a limp.It returns  most days from I know not where, demands feed and just as suddenly departs.