With temperatures in the high 20s in the car park, where we were sheltered from the cooling breeze, it was hard to believe that temperatures in the same spot last weekend were in single figures.
A red kite flew over as we were setting up the information point, at least 10 black terns spent the day hawking over Ferry Mere, and some lucky visitors saw a turtle dove fly over, all adding to our tally of 73 bird species recorded today. A pair of swans now has two cygnets, their nest having floated and survived the recent floods.
There was a wide range of butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies to be seen, but perhaps the most unusual insect record was of a bee swarm. We heard a buzzing noise and looked up to see a few hundred bees flying our way. The bees were about 7 metres above the ground, flew directly over us and continued in a straight line northwards. There were enough of them to cast a shadow!
I spent Saturday afternoon with a group of families - when they came in April, we were very cold, and they also noted the contrast. This weekend we were exploring the natural world using four of our senses (taste was excluded), and we enjoyed the scent of various flowers. We found some magical listening jewels, which helped us find lots of interesting wildlife and fossils.