Diary: June 2003

At this time of year, even a few minutes snatched in the garden is likely to bring you into contact with some of its wild inhabitants.

This evening I was entertained by a new family of great tits; the new fledglings noisily pursuing the parents and begging for food. The adult birds, normally very smart looking with their bold plumage, looked rather the worse for wear! But they had done well: at least four fledglings, by my estimate.

Meanwhile in the pond, I noticed the small black diving beetles seem to be on the increase. At least one of these arrived in the new pond shortly after it was created last year and I saw a rather moth-eaten one very early this spring. Also in the pond, for the first time, I noticed some very small snails which have the 'flattened' spiral shape; like a rams-horn snail. We have plenty of large snails with elongated shells (possibly great pond snails), but these are the first I've noticed with this shape.