Monday 14 June 2010

Grass Snakes

The blue tits that flew the nest on May 21st are back in the garden. It is a delight to see them flitting from bush to bush and through the trees. In the box that the first blue tits flew from earlier there is now a nest of bees – the amount coming and going is so great that there is a huge swarm all day hovering in front of the box as they have to queue for entry.

The first dragonfly also appeared on May 21st, now a month later, there are so many in the garden.

Two weeks ago at the beginning of June I saw the large grass-snake in the pond. It is enormous: 3 feet long and very thick. Yesterday, I saw what was either a female or a younger male at least 2 feet long. It was good to see another grass-snake in the garden – I’m lucky enough to have seen them at least 6 feet long. I have never seen a nest of grass-snake eggs, though perhaps I must have, when I was a child, because I remember their softness. I did once find a sloughed off skin from a fully grown grass-snake, which I left in the garden. I’ve often wished I’d kept it.

The tadpoles in the pond are enormous, but show no sign of change – no legs yet. While I watched the tadpoles a large swan flew over. I love the sound of their wings as they fly. I often play a game with myself: if I hear a bird fly by I have to identify it by the sound of its flight. Pigeons and swans are easiest.

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