Rainy days

The weather forecast has been full of rain and thunder warnings this weekend. I'd made a start on going for a walk on Chat Moss yesterday, despite its being warm and very, very muggy. I hadn't gone far before the rain and the tingling in my fillings suggested it not be such a good idea and it took no persuasion at all to have me jack it in and get the bus home. Time was I'd have shrugged and frolicked in the rain, which is probably why I've got rheumaticky joints. I'd have been better off going into town and getting the train out to Hadfield or Marple but the problems the trains were having on Friday were a lot worse yesterday.

Today's more of the same, without any trains to ride on, I decided to deliberately have a reading day. The blackbirds and young magpies have been ploughing their way through the rowan berries at a fair rate. There'll be none left when the first of the Autumn migrants arrive. The silver-cheeked cock sparrow brought in yet another batch of fledglings, four of them this time. Unfortunately the larder's a bit bare, I couldn't get any sunflower seeds yesterday as planned so the feeders are down to their last scraps. It's quite a good strategy, though, show the youngsters where the easiest food is, see them safely through a few visits then leave them to it.

The cock robin's showed himself a couple of times this weekend. The reason became apparent when I saw the usual juvenile, it'll soon be chased off the territory to find its own way in the world.

The rain it raineth after tea. The black clouds rolled in like time lapse photography. The two dozen jackdaws and handful of rooks that had been a feature of the school playing field all day disappeared. The three lesser black-backs and dozen black-headed gulls that had been loafing on the grass woke up and started dancing for worms. They included two youngsters: a heavily tea-stained black-headed gull and a skinny lesser black-back so dark and sooty as to be almost black when wet. More gulls joined the throng, in the end there were 44 black-headed gulls (3 juveniles), 22 lesser black-backs (5 juveniles and 2 first-Summer birds) and 5 herring gulls (including one first-Summer bird) dancing in the twilight.

The seasons are a-turning.