Four flew out of the flycatcher's nest.

How lovely it was to see the four chicks fly their nest, mum and dad shrieked at them to keep them in order, and off they all went. So now I have been able to work in the garden without the tweeting abuse from the parents.

And that is what I have been doing - lots of work: weeding, digging, moving pots, Things are starting to feel organised and look quite decorative.

There are also a few veg to eat- peas, beans, spinach, salad etc. BUT the tomatoes, peppers and courgettes have just sulked. No growth, so no fruit which is a blow. However, this morning I picked my first blueberries for breakfast and look forward to some alpine strawberries tomorrow. Not all bad then!

In between the domestic duties, I have been cycling and walking and we have planned the next walking trip. It's to Italy, around the Pisa area, so the next task is to learn some Italian - enough to get us around on buses and trains. I find it difficult to remember the vocab in any language - even English at times, so I am going to have to work hard at this one!!

Over crowded and there is an horrendous night to come.

Today's update on the 'lodgers'. A quick peep into the little ledge at the end of the house, showed that one little fledgling had moved out of the nest, behind the lantern and was perched on the ledge, what's more he showed clear signs of stretching his wings! By the end of the day, all four little birds were there, obviously enjoying the ability to move, as I suppose a nest must be quite cramping. Every time you move a wing feather or a beak sticks in you ... can't be all that good for brother/sister relations!

At one stage, I thought all was clear to go down to the car, and it was as far as the flycatchers were concerned, but blow mw down if there wasn't a young blackbird sitting dumbly on the roof of the garage. He seemed not to know how he had arrived there or what he was doing - life must be terrific if you are a bird - never mind the walking, how about the flying? This is why I love the book about the baby owl - Plop, who was afraid of the dark.

The forecast for tonight is for torrential rain - I just hope it does not blow in onto their little ledge. Keep your fingers crossed for them, its going to be a rough night.

Thank you Tami!

The short but succinct message has done the trick Tami; yes, I am home again and there is no excuse for not blogging!!

Let me tell you about the exciting things that are going on at the moment - I have been spending a lot of time playing catch-up in the garden. Every time I walked down the steps to get to the car or the garage, a small bird shot out in front of me, so I searched around for the nest. In the end wall there is a little niche that the builder made, which I have put a little lantern in and sometimes remember to place and light a candle in there. Just behind it there is now a tiny nest with at least four fledglings. They are spotted flycatchers, a family of birds that is now in danger. So, we have a family in the garden and going out is now quite a trial - if I get in the way, I get a screaming lecture from mum or dad as they swoop in to feed the young, or sit on the roof waiting to catch some food. Which brings me to another point, I have deliberately planted my garden so that the plants will attract insects. Hmm, it seems like all that hard work was not actually for the insects, but for my squatting family who dart out from their vantage places on the roof of the garage or the top of the spoil pipe of my neighbour's house every time they see some food on the wing! Have a look at this site, there are some good videos on it.

http://www.ukbap.org.uk/UKPlans.aspx?ID=463

A few weeks ago, some of my walking friends stayed the week-end to explore this part of Shropshire. We have two lovely ecologists in the group and they brought their equipment for listening to bats. There were two different types in the garden that evening, now I am wondering if the flycatchers are leaving enough food for the nocturnal visitors! Perhaps I should take a drink outside and find out - the soprano pipistrelle sounds rather lovely!

We also have lots of other birds nesting nearby - the robin, blackbird, thrush and many members of the tit family are all feeding in the garden from time to time. It is a lovely time of year to spend time watching them - oh the bliss of not going to work! And I have been smelling the roses too!!