An early Autumn?

One thing that has been apparent throughout this year, from early Summer, is that it's going to be an excellent year for fruit. We have already cropped blueberries, raspberries, peaches and plums, even though the trees and bushes are only in their first or second years, and we'll soon crop the apples, damsons and pears we've grown. These are some berries on a Guelder Rose:


















The Rowans in the hedge are similarly covered, as are the Blackthorn. The birds remain scarce, summer migrants are already heading home to Southern Europe and Africa. We keep seeing House Martins over the house but the Swifts have been gone for over a week now. In our garden most of the young raised have dispersed with the exceptions of those that flock such as Goldfinch, Greenfinch and of course the House Sparrows, we're regularly getting over a hundred House Sparrows in the garden at any one time and they're eating us out of house and home :)

Saturday being the only day without rain forecast we decided to walk around Hollowell Reservoir on the basis we'd seen reports of various waders stopping off as they head south from their breeding grounds. We did see a pair of Green Sandpipers, Dunlin a group of Snipe and a few Common Terns, but nothing of real note. This juvenile Spotted Flycatcher was mooching around in the bushes:




















Large Whites were browsing for nectar, competing with various other butterfly species. It was great to be out and about again and to be able to enjoy some sunshine:

















Of course one advantage of cloud filled skies is that they are more dramatic than a clear blue sky - maybe next year: