A magpie and a hot air balloon over Orchard Farm

No news as yet on the baby blue tit front but there is a lot of flying in and out of the parents; the dove that the crow attacked is still about but if she has chosen anther nest it is certainly better hidden than the one in the haybarn.

All the other birds are full of song. We sometime wonder whether there is something strange acoustically round our part of the village – the birdsong does seem exceptionally clear and you could say noisy, especially if you are listening to the rooks and crows of an evening.

We are not that keen on magpies for all sorts of good reasons, but John has taken a beautiful picture today of a magpie in flight and you could almost begin to admire them. Just for fun I will also add a hot air balloon which flew over at the weekend, so close and so low we all wondered whether it was going to land here. But then suddenly it rose quickly (they are noisy too) and disappeared over Parwich hill behind us.