Bird Bath

I was awoken this morning with the sound of much flapping of wings and thought at first that a bird must be trapped but looked out to find a family of blackbirds bathing in the pond.
The continued this activity for around an hour presumably ensuring their feathers were in good condition and free of parasites

Maize field

During our two weeks away on holiday the maize crop in front of our cottage has grown enormously helped by warm sunny weather and showers and is now above our heads as we walk the footpath.

Evening Walks

We have enjoyed some lovely evening walks recently such as this one along the Cotswold Way. As the wind drops, light percolates through the trees, birds sing and all is well in the countryside.  Hope you too are able to make the most of summer.

Hornet

The hallway window was buzzing the other day and on investigation we found it was this Hornet. We managed to move it outside using a jam jar and it settled on the patio where we were able to photograph it. In fact the trauma of it all meant that it moved itself to the wall and remained there until it warmed up the next morning.

Hornets have a reputation for being aggressive but they are said to be less so that many other wasp species it is just their noise that makes them appear so. They can be up to 2.5 inches long this one was only around 1.5" so possibly a young one. 

Bee Orchid

Look out for the unmistakable Bee Orchid in grassland over the next few weeks.

Cinnabar Moth

From mid May to early August the colourful Cinnabar moth can be seen on grass and heathland. We spotted some on a visit to Alney Island nature reserve in Gloucester on the flood plain of the Severn.

Summer Solstice

The longest day draws to a close and it was another superb sunny day. The hay is cut and bailed in the fields. Let's hope for lots more sunshine for the rest of the summer!

Pyramid Orchid

Conservation work with controlled grazing has been successful in encouraging the growth of orchids in the limestone grassland of Uley Bury and pyramid orchids are looking their best as we approach mid summer.

Hot air balloons

A nice calm morning brought large numbers of hot air balloons near to our house early this morning. We counted 21 but think we missed some earlier ones.

Elderflower cordial

It's that time of year when the hedges are full of Elderflowers so here we go...