I haven’t written anything for a while as my website has been playing up!
We’ve been having a busy Summer with lots of visitors. The swifts have gone which is sad. I’ve been enjoying watching them which is amazing considering I didn’t know what they looked like before moving here! Their numbers have been going down over recent years because old barns are being converted and the little holes, where they used to nest, are being filled in. A group of swift enthusiasts in Sedbergh are checking their nesting sites and putting up nesting boxes in the eaves of houses. I was given the job of checking where they are nesting at Farfield Mill, where there are several old barns. They go into their nests at dusk so, recently, I could be seen standing in the field at 10pm getting bitten by midges and staring up at the tops of the old barns!! They are very quick. If you blink you can miss them.
The hedgerows have been looking beautiful. I just had to paint some of the flowers.