Japanese quince

Those of you who were around last autumn may remember this piece of wanton destruction. I replaced the unloved weeping pear with some shrubs which I thought might cope with life in this dingy part of the front garden, and possibly even improve it in time. One was this Japanese quince, Chaenomeles speciosa 'Moerloosei', which has now delighted me by flowering. It's still very small, but I'm looking forward to the day when the whole area is filled with these lovely blooms.

As soon as I saw this photo I knew that it would be today's blip, but I was also pleased to capture a shot of one of my new neighbours this morning. Though when I say neighbours, I actually mean squatters: they've broken into the roof space. Again. I've been trying to photograph them for a few days now, but they don't often land on the porch roof, and when they do it's usually only for a second. Yesterday, after missing them three times, I set up the tripod, with the camera pre-focused and set to burst shoot, and the cable release just to hand by my keyboard. They were having none of it though - all I saw for the rest of the day were the sparrows which are currently in possession of the space behind the soffit above my window.

This morning I tried again for the starlings, and got this one decent shot before they finished work for the day. In their breaks from building furniture they're apparently rehearsing for a revival of Riverdance,  right above my desk; I can't wait till there's a troupe of tap-dancing babies up there too.

Thank you for all the nice things you said about yesterday's strange sunrise - I didn't expect it to be so well-received, so I was especially chuffed! Technophobe pointed out that what I'd thought was mist was this pollution spike, which certainly explains the peculiar quality of the light. I hope that none of you suffer too badly from the filthy air, and that you all have a good weekend.