Bat in the lounge

A bat suddenly appeared in the lounge a little after 11pm. I Have no idea how it got in the room but my efforts to let it out were held up for a quarter of an hour by the window having been painted shut at the last decoration. I couldn't tell the species. That is now three times that bats have appeared in the house - all in different rooms.

Single parent moorhen

Having written in a recent blog that both parents as usual were attending to the needs of the five moorhen chicks, I was surprised to find only one parent on duty. The reason became clear as there was a dead moorhen close by floating in the water.The cause of death is not obvious although the neck is broken which may have occurred as I fished it out of the water. The genders are identical so I don't know whether it is the mother or father that continues on feeding duty. I hope it can cope with five chicks....

Butterflies at last

Up until the last few days the only butterflies seen this year have been a few bedraggled looking Tortoiseshells and Peacocks. The warmer weather has brought them out and there seem to be a large number on the wing. The most numerous have been Speckled Woods and Orange Tips but Brimstone and some yet-to-be- identified blues (I haven't got close enough so far) have also been seen.

Moorhen chicks

The first moorhen chicks of the season were out and about today. There is a brood of five which I think is the biggest I have seen here on the moat. Unlike the mallards where the most the drake gets involved in parenting seems to be an occasional bit of guard duty, both moorhen parents are assiduous in their feeding and looking after duties.