Who killed Cock Robin?

I know exactly who. Flad, the cat. I shouted at him and he blinked blankly and dropped the limp bird on the floor. It looked untouched. No marks. Just dead. And now poor Mrs Robin will be sitting on her nest wondering what's happened to her mate and the food. It's heartbreaking.

When I was a kid, our mother trained Cloudy, our huge silver tabby, to kill mice but not birds. He would sit on the lawn with sparrows hopping round him and not make a move. I think it's too late to train Flad, at the age of 12. I wonder what is the biggest threat to birds, cats or lack of a suitable breeding and feeding environment? Probably a combination of both.

Butterfly on my toe

As I was sitting drinking juice and reading a book on the garden bench, a beautiful peacock butterfly chose my bare toe as its perch. I felt its little spiky feet clutch my toe and looked down at its furry body and magnificent wings. If only I'd had the camera with me.

Peacock on lawn

Saw this newly emerged Peacock butterfly drying its wings on the lawn yesterday. Its perfect wings and bright colours made such a contrast to the older, more battered butterflies which were emerging having overwintered in hedges and sheds.

Black swans in Uxbridge

Walking along the towpath beside the Grand Union canal yesterday, I was surprised when a pair of black swans flew over. I had only seen them in Dorset before. Later. they were joined by a second pair. They were obviously nest-building, as they would fly in one direction, then come back with twigs in their beaks. Wonder where their nests might be?

Olive spotted?

I think I saw her a few nights ago, half a mile down the road, sitting in the driveway of a big old house. It was her stance, her size, her way of sitting like a dog with her head cocked on one side. In fact, I'm sure it was her. She hasn't been seen in our garden again. The only fox to come visiting is a very sick one that has lost all its coat to mange. Towards the end, we saw Olive being driven off by her mum, so I guess Mum owns the territory and daughter has had to establish her own. Not far from Iceland's bins, so that's a jolly good choice!

Kama Sutra Magpies

I saw the strangest sight on the lawn. I didn't know what to make of it at first, so I blinked and looked again. It appeared to be a magpie with its wings in a kind of pyramid shape, lying face down on the lawn. Then I noticed it had two heads. As I reached for my camera, the shape began to dissolve and the top half of a magpie sandwich flew away, revealing the female lying flat on her back beneath him. The odd shape of the wings had been caused by hers being tucked around his. I have never come across birds using the missionary position for mating before. Are they unique in the bird kingdom?

Butterfly Ball

The butterflies are out in force today. First to appear was a Peacock, which soon found another and courtship commenced. Second was a beautiful golden Brimstone and third was this cheeky Comma which chose my shoe to warm up its wings on.