As we drank our cup of coffee in the conservatory this morning we gradually realised that the bottom lawn was the scene of much frenetic bird activity. Bird were dropping down to just above the lawn where they hovered and then snapped up prey. The penny dropped - it was an ant hatch - and we were kept busy trying to identify which species were involved. The final tally was: 4 Spotted Flycatchers (two adults, two juv.), two Chiffchaffs, one juvenile Blackcap, one juvenile Bullfinch, one adult and one juvenile Robin, one juv. type Chaffinch, two juv. Blue Tits and a Wren. It was a bit like sitting on the verandah in some tropical country watching the birds at the feeders, with the rather obvious difference that all our birds were pretty well brown or dull-coloured, with the notable exception of the late-arriving Great Spotted Woodpecker!
Rosemary Royle