Early Autumn

Well, yet again months have passed by without me putting fingers to keyboard; it's such a shame I can't write via thought, if I could, there'd be loads of blogs to wade through!
Like most of the UK, Spring was our Summer with wonderful hot sunshine and desperately little rain. Since, we have had just enough rain to keep everything from shrivelling until now. In the last fortnight lots of trees are looking stressed and beneath them are great patches of brown grass. In fact, a neighbouring farmer has just said that he believes it is actually drier than 1976. He said that in  '76 stuff looked brown because of hot sun but that he reckons this year is drier. There is no doubt that our hay crop is lighter. Although the grass was thicker it did not make early growth, so was shorter.
Wild birds seem to have had a good year. The early warm weather meant plenty of insects for raising young families. This year the Swifts were the first back, and earlier than usual. The Swallows followed and the Martins were so late I thought that they weren't coming but the sky has been full of them recently. The Swifts have left and last week I thought they'd all gone except the last batch of Swallows but they must have been hunting elsewhere because there are masses hawking over us again. In May 3 Swallows arrived back to their nest in the cowshed and promptly 2 set about trying to fob off the 3rd. I assume it was a youngster not yet leaving home! However, 3 have stayed as a set and earlier this summer I saw them mobbing a sparrowhawk. An amazing sight considering the size difference. As Summer has progressed I am now not surprised at their audacity as they are particularly aggressive and divebomb every time one goes near the shed.