How weird has August been?  The weather's loopy, lots of people are away on holiday, my garden seed feeders are being depleted as often as they are in deepest, coldest winter and despite the heavy downpours, wetlands remain dry.

Both our Rainham and Rye Meads reserves have struggled to maintain water levels. On the plus-side it means you can get closer to small wildlife, such as water voles, insects and the like.…

The swifts that danced over my house have gone. They'll be half way to Africa by now, but it gives me an opportunity to clean out my old swift box and try to fix it as high up my outside wall as my nerves and ladder will allow.

Hopefully, it will then be a bit more attractive to a passing swift next year.

I've also been humbled this week by a young teenager from Waltham Forest, who's cycling more than 200 miles…