Alarming afternoon

Photo: Martien Brand

I've spent much of the day tidying up the bit of garden around the pond. A useful way to pass the time you'd think, but it has earned me a near-constant scolding from our resident wrens.

The wren pair now have chicks to feed in their converted swallow nest in our garage roof and have been coming and going all day. But whenever a perceived threat appears they start up with their click-click-click alarm call and keep it up until the danger has passed.

Today's 'threat' has mostly been me because I've been coming and going close to the garage door. The wrens also seem to have a problem with the pair of swallows that are using another of last year's nests, a couple of feet from theirs.

Most of the time they ignore the swallows as they come and go, but from time to time a swallow arrives as a wren leaves (or vice versa) and the alarm call sounds. I've been keeping out of the garage as much as I can to try to keep things as calm as possible.

By the pond some of the lawn has been taken over by speedwell. It's a plant that usually rates as a weed, but I rather like its pale blue flowers and so cut the grass around it rather than strim it to oblivion.

I'm not sure which speedwell it is. Based on my field guide I think I'd plump for germander speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys), or bird's eye speedwell.