There's a drumming on my flat roof .. it's raining heavily and I can almost hear the plants and trees sighing with relief.
Yet, newspapers and programmes continue to talk about drought. Now look at the lush green field pictured on the right. That's our Rainham Marsh nature reserve seen from the visitor centre at Purfleet. It looks good doesn't it?
The image is completely wrong. The reeds along the trenches should be green not brown and the lush green field should be under water. This is a site that supports waders and wetland birds. It's going to be hard on them this year.
It's an interesting week for our summer garden survey too. Make Your Nature Count runs until the end of the weekend. So far we've had good reports of bats. It's too early to offer any real comment but I can reveal that more than half of you who've responded have bats in your gardens. Less surprising with the current downpours is the number of people who've seen amphibians; 54% have frogs in their gardens and 30% have toads.
In my garden, I have a couple of foxes, at least one grey squirrel, a jay, numerous blue and great tits and a soggy looking blackbird (pictured, enjoying a feast of worms brought to the surface by the rain). Whatever you see, please do let us know, even if you see nothing. It's important to know what is out there, but it's equally important to know what isn't there.
If the showers have alerted you to work that needs doing on your roof, consider stepping-up what you can do for wildlife and install a swift nest box while you're fixing the roof tiles. These nest boxes need to be up high, under the eaves. These amazing birds can remain airbourne for two years or more, but their numbers are falling, so they desperately need our help.