Dunnock update No.1

They are looking a wee bit fluffier now. Hair is still very Jedward!

M.D. is still in and out so all seems good!  Not a great deal of room in the nest :)

Meet the neighbours.

There I was on Sunday, making some beads, when hubby came in and told me he had a present for me!  It turned out to be a dunnock chick that the kids had found on the path to our front door.  An ugly, but fiesty thing, he (she?) won me over a bit with his mad hair.  The kids affectionately named him 'Jedward'.....

We had a good hunt around for a nest and found it eventually in the hedge next to the path along with 4 of his brothers and sisters.  So we popped him back in - he seemed happy enough, and hoped that Mummy Dunnock wasn't too put off.

The next day we found the little fella had fallen out of the nest again!!  This time I thought he was a gonner, but no, still alive, though very cold, so I warmed him up for a moment or two in my hands, then popped him back in his nest again, this time making sure he was properly snuggled in.  All the time M.D. was sitting in the tree next to the hedge chirping angrily at me!  When I checked later all looked well and a mass of fluff with five beaks were spotted. 

If you were wondering I also watched Mum fly in and out this morning feeding them, so it looks like she's not been put off!  However, I suspect that 5 baby dunnocks are not going to fit in that tiny nest for long. I guess that this is the order of things, but the fella was cute and I couldn't just let him die.  I'll keep you posted on developments!

Jedward is the one with his gob open!

A smiling rainbow and other bits and bobs.

Yesterday I saw a fascinating sight.  An upsidedown rainbow!

It was wonderful, if a little freaky to begin with as I'd never even heard of one, let alone seen one before.  I dashed in for my camera and to quickly google it too :)

Officially it's not a rainbow as there was no rain.  It was a gorgeous sunny evening with a few wispy clouds. Normal rainbows are formed when light passes through raindrops and as it shines it shows as arcs of colour on the other side.  Yesterdays (non)rainbow, or to give it its posh name - Circumzenithal Arc, is formed when sunlight shines down and bent through a thin layer of ice crystals found in the atmosphere. 

From what I have read, it's not brilliant that we can see something like this, it's really, rare and usually it is only seen in conditions found in places like the North Pole.  However, we can now see it every now and then in Britain.  Showing that the planets weather is changing!?  Amazing though!

Picked some more strawberries from the allotment and made them into an extremely bad for you (but quite yummy I thought) icecream.  We've had loads and loads so far this year, however some of the strawbs have started to take on a bit of an odd shape.  I've had a few of these now and wonder if this means my oldest plants are starting to be a little past it?  They're in their fourthish year.

Still tasted good mind you!

In the back garden - I've had a general tidy up and made a start on digging the border that hasn't had anything in it since we had the new fence in (so ages then!) - I think I'm going to try chucking a few things in to see what I can get from the last part of the Summer.

I've got toms on the go, still no fruit yet, but flowers galore.  Chillies - a few but not going very mad yet.  My fig tree is loving the renewed attention, amazing what a top dressing, and regular watering can do!