...and fruit flies, they say, like a banana.
Incredibly, it's the longest day at the end of this week. It has already become harder to find the woodland birds for our weekend visitors, as they have begun to lurk in the full-flushed greenery to prepare for the return journey. (The birds, not the visitors.) Yesterday somebody had made a significant journey to come to the lake with the objective of seeing a redstart, and finding one was a struggle. Fortunately, John (who's been at Ynys-hir and is on nodding terms with Chris, Michaela and Martin, none of whom have got a life list like his) spotted a male sitting obscurely on a wire under some trees, so the visitors were pleased. A few pied flycatchers are still singing well, and a wood warbler down by the river was in full voice.
Earlier, I had driven over from Bala uneventfully, by which I mean no hen harriers. The highways people are still working to install safety barriers at the top of the road to Rhosygwaliau, so it's not to be recommended on a weekday. The midges were murderous in the Lakeside hide, so we didn't stay long looking for peregrines. But we did get a little bit of raptor adrenalin down by the dam when a goshawk surprised us out of the trees by the obelisk and flew, level and steady, across the lake towards the boathouse.
Graham