The Beginning of Summer

In the Scrapes the summer flowers are starting to unfurl their petals.  Yellow Flag Iris can now be seen amongst the vegetation.

Another yellow flower in bloom is Yellow Rattle also known as Hay Rattle, which helps to control the growth of some grasses across the middle moor, as it is semi parasitic on the grasses and so restricts their growth.  This encourages a variety of flowers across the meadow and in turn these host many invertebrates.

The beginning of summer sees a 4am start for the Swaledale Ringing Group.  It was a very cold day and this was reflected in the number of birds processed.  Sensibly most of them were hiding away in the trees keeping warm!  We are just beginning to see juvenile birds coming through the ringing room.  Mark photographed this young Robin.  Not a red feather in sight!  Over the coming weeks the red breast will appear.

This adult Robin was heading towards the feeders.

A male Bulfinch was sitting high in a tree singing loudly.

All these are signs that summer is on its way, all we need is a bit of warmth, a bit of sun and not a bit of northerly wind!