Scorchio

It was another ferociously warm day and the pollen count was officially Very High. The blackbird had started singing at ten to four in the morning and the robin — which had for all intents and purposes vanished this past couple of weeks — kicked in five minutes later. The woodpigeons waited until dawn had well and truly broken more than an hour later before they started singing, the robin and blackbird had packed it in long before then. The wren has other things to do and only starts singing once the kids have gone to school and often waits until about ten to set his stall out. The end of the dawn chorus season is always ragged and fitful.

The small birds had the sense to stay in the shade. Four black-headed gulls loafed amongst the woodpigeons, rooks and jackdaws most of the morning before moving on. For once no large gulls came to school for the lunch break.

Tea was called at the Test Match. I decided I'd assay a quick trip out into Urmston to stock up on bird food and cat food, a ten minute job, which it has to be as that's as much time as you've got between the train from Humphrey Park arriving at Urmston and the train back to Humphrey Park departing. (On paper it's twenty minutes but that doesn't take into account the delay caused by the eternally late-running Transpennine Express train. There's a train every two hours and you've ten minutes to get your shopping done.) I got to the station just as the train was cancelled due to signals failure. I took the hint, there's enough in to see the cat through the weekend and there are enough aphids about on the roses to feed the spadgers.

Despite a bumper crop the blackbirds, woodpigeons, blackcaps and squirrels have seen to it that I've only had a couple of handfuls of boysenberries this year. I've fared better with the self-sown raspberries.

I'm used to the magpies, woodpigeons and even a grey wagtail eating the scraps I throw out when I clean the cat's bowl. Today one of the young spadgers was having a go at it, though it just as likely could have been after the flies.

I've received another couple of "Anywhere on the Northern network" return tickets, making it an even dozen burning a hole in my pocket. The weather for next week is predicted to be cloudy and sweaty, it would be no bad thing to spend some of that time sitting drinking tea on an air-conditioned train.