Sunshine!!!!

For reasons I fail to fathom the sun keeps shining.  Australia is colder than us today!  It is 43% in Perth and 53% in Brisbane, we reach 77% here today and it is past the zenith!  Jings, Crivvens and Help ma Boab Jimmy!   I spent twenty minutes in the sun and found it too hot.  Oh if this can last a few months I will be happy.  I was meant to live in hot places, with a Tesco close by.  
The swifts are racing across the sky chomping on beasties and screeching after one another, doing their best to avoid the police helicopter that has suddenly appeared.  Scattered around the part are half dressed young women, this is fine unless they are fat and insist on wearing shorts!  Worse still are men in shorts, it's not clever and not fashionable, especially at your age mate!  Fat men in T-shirts with ageing messages across the front is one thing, add shorts and it's a no go area.  Fine for the garden, not the street!  
A strong breeze is waving through the trees blasting warm air on everybody, this I assure you is unusual here.  Around the pubs in the town centre the 'continental layout' introduced by the council some years ago features folks sitting chatting at the tables while soaking in the sun and beer.  Whether the continentals fail to hold their drink like the English is a question others can answer.  The English flags that began to spring up a week or two ago have all but disappeared again.  I must check the recycled bins to see if there is one set apart for them alone.  

The gap in the world cup games has been useful, I have caught up on sleep!  I was so tired and feeling worn out that I fell asleep as the extra time began in the USA game the other night.  This half hour turned out to be the best of the tournament!  Typical innit?  The big four teams, all getting through by luck rather than talent, now face each other.  The 'smaller' nations who attempted to play with a bit of swagger are out but the usual crew are through.  Hopefully Belgium, the least of the four, will turn them over and take the cup home.  Any team that manages to beat Scotland deserves to win the World Cup I say!

I am touched by the birthday greetings I have received.  My great niece made a point about being an uncle, then changed it to 'Great Uncle' because I am old. Her Christmas has been spent on Amazon Books but she does not yet know this. Funnily enough I look at the cards and still expect to see one from my mum, yet she died almost five years ago.  How things stick in the mind.  I am grateful for those kind greetings, even though the poison bottle was empty......bah! 

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Barley

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I walked out to the edge of town this morning and wandered slowly (I don't do fast) along gazing at the fields of Barley growing far too slowly for the farmers liking, and watched the Swifts cavort over my head. What a lovely way to spend the early morn. I suppose the Barley is headed for beer or whisky use although some goes into foodstuffs and other uses. Rabbie Burns often called whisky 'John Barleycorn,' as I am sure the literary amongst you would realise.  Barley was the first grain to be domesticated and was known around ten thousand years ago. When Jesus taught his men to pray, "Give us our daily bread," most would have considered he meant Barley Bread as this was the cheap staple of most people. Wheat Bread cost around three times as much! It is fair to say that as a staple it was worth much more than the bread so many of us eat today. Most white bread and a great deal of brown stuff bought from supermarkets is so bad for us. The requirement for shelf life has led to a manipulation of bread to make it dangerous for us to keep eating. Some doctors are beginning to believe that this is a major cause of much illness!  The bread of Jesus day would not have anything taken out, and better still nothing put in!  There are many additives in bread that the producers do not have to identify on the label. Can this be good for us?  It is time to review what we are stuffing into ourselves, and I know for a fact that this government will do nothing to hinder big business, will they?

As I walked, still chewing the breakfast toast that lingered, I looked skywards and attempted to count the host of fast moving Swifts that gamboled in the sky. At first there was twelve, or was it twenty, the brutes kept moving, left and right, up and down, swooping at high speed past my ear and racing to the far reaches of the field and returning high above. It was like untangling a ball of string, it just cannot be done!  I decided there was forty or more birds, then looked higher and found a cloud of them over the By-Pass. Maybe fifty, let's say.....no, let's move on as watching the birds I have just walked into a youthful oak tree and knocked my cap off. Who put that there at the side off the pathway? Returning the branches to where they belonged I moved on, always looking for a better picture than the one shown, amazed that these birds kept going without any break. They appeared not to contact one another, no two chased one another, they were all happily running about madly in the sky, I think just having fun! Imagine coming all the way from Central Africa to cavort in southern England? Would you?

 
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Swifts

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Science Museum

Today I saw the first Swifts of the year! This is always a great moment in my little mind. These fabulous birds have travelled all the way from Central Africa, fought their way, possibly up through Israel, Turkey, the Balkans, crossed Europe including gun crazy madmen in France and take up homes, usually last years, somewhere in the UK.  Others may have crossed the Sahara desert, jumped over to Gibraltar, avoided the dangers in Spain, and France and now screech across my skyline!  Such tiny creatures yet they travel so far. Animal migration is one of the wonders of creation. I believe there is a type of butterfly that makes its way from South to North America, why? Such slender creatures and with such a short life. For me the sight of House Martins and Swifts gambolling in the sun, or even in the gray overcast days of summer, really makes the summer.  It fascinates me how Swifts manage to  do everything but lay eggs in flight.  They close one eye and sleep up there, still chasing one another around in groups. The smaller House Martins follow similar behaviour but I believe they climb into the nest to rest. I was in Cumbria some years ago and a host of these birds formed a constantly moving ball of birds, about thirty feet across, playfully chasing one another. A great sight but I wonder if there will be as many around today.

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Swifts

Yesterday afternoon, when walking the streets looking for dropped coins, I saw the wonderful sight of two swifts chasing one another around the skies. How wonderful to see these delightful birds. They speak of Summer and happiness. They bring enjoyment to life as they gather in groups are race at high speed between the houses, screeching loudly and thoroughly enjoying themselves.

It never fails to amaze me that these seemingly frail birds arrive here after an epic journey from central Africa! Just imagine the difficulty! From the hot Serengeti up over the Sahara Desert, across from Morocco to Gibraltar, through Spain and France to the UK. Personally I would rather have the heat of Nigeria or Uganda myself, rather than the usual Atlantic rainstorms that cover the UK. However these birds often carry are are known to go as far as the Arctic Circle, allowing for 'global warming' which is moving it south of course.

These birds endure great heat, storms over the desert, danger from larger birds who have learned to enjoy a swift or two for lunch, and then travel through the European nations where shooting unarmed tiny birds can be considered 'sport' by men who's brains have not evolved beyond the Neanderthal, although some would believe they still exist in Glasgow! Eating airborne spiders, and other delicious (they say) insects, the birds not only fly all the way, they can actually sleep in the air! Quite how they manage this is beyond me. Sleeping at work, on the bus, in church and even standing up has been done, but not in the air. While in their Spring and Summer residence they apparently also mate while in the air, although there is something worrying about people who spend so much time researching this sort of thing. Swifts however only sleep with half their brain while in the air, the other half being awake. Now that I can understand!

While watching them cavort around it brings real pleasure as they do appear to have a good attitude to life. This from a bird that might not land for three years after leaving the nest! That some do land is clear as they have nests for the young in holes in various places. For two or three years one nested in the space reserved for the fan in the bathroom. There was a small hole in the wall for the fan to kick out all the smells I produce, however there was a space that allowed the clever bird to squeeze past and make a nest in the attic. Arrival to feed young would be heralded with a noisy screech which, if unprepared, would find the individual had sat in an appropriate position! While delightful to watch their approach to noise control was minimal. However once inside they cared for the chicks in silence. Unfortunately the recent work on the building closed of this opening, and I for one miss them. I hope the birds found 'a decent hole to go to.'


Read more at the RSPB