I thought it was bird poo ...

... but on closer inspection something sinister had gone on. The chive flowers were attracting a lot of interest and buzzyness, good to see.

I have been up since a ridiculous hour - 5.30 am to be precise, and it was the final morning for my birdwatch survey. As I staggered leapt out of bed at said hour the dawn chorus was going strong but by the time we arrived at my square (Ginny came with me) at around 6.45 it had gone oddly quiet - there were curious cattle but not a lot else! Things did liven up though and we saw at least 27 different species of birds, plus quite a few that whizzed by, warbled perplexingly or merged expertly into the foliage.  Something was going chp chp - any ideas? Jackdaws, wrens, swallows and stonechats most numerous. Sadly no cuckoo yet.

It's amazing what can be achieved when you get up that early!

Last night's film An Cailín Ciúin was superb - so beautifully filmed, a melancholy tale and some excellent acting, especially the cailín. Highly recommended. And there was popcorn taken.