Having been stuck indoors for the last week I was itching to get out, but not for too long, So when Liz said that she wanted to visit Waitrose I cadged a lift to see if I could catch the Yellow-browed Warbler that has been reported in the centre of Worthing. As I arrived a really friendly birder name Mike informed me that "you've just missed it" but reasured me that it would show again soon and that I would probably hear it first. Spot on! It was calling loudly from a dense bush in Parexel's car park. Then a fleeting glimpse and finally a really good show, even the light picked up but the little chap wasn't going to sit still long enough for even a record shot. Then I met Leigh who had discovered the bird in the first place and broadcast on SOS - many thanks Leigh.
So on home and with the weather improving all the time I decided to do a tad of light gardening, risking yet another week indoors. Over the weekend I had left the greenhouse door open and had inadvertently trapped several Bumble bees inside when closing down for the night. One of them was decidedly worse for wear, just managing a feeble crawl and for all the world was on the way out. I had read recently that you could revive an exhausted bee by feeding it with honey. So I duly mixed up a blob of Mr, Seggiano's finest chestnut honey with some rainwater and fed the bee using a cocktail stick. Well blow me - it works. After a couple of minutes I could see the bee taking up the honey and then searching for more. This went on for at least half an hour and following a crawl around the bush that I had perched him on, he spread his wings and flew off strongly.
The warm weather is also encouraging the amphibians resident in the garden pond. There are now three large blobs of frog spawn amongst the plants and several smooth newts getting very active. When we refurbished the pond last year I rehoused a total of 17 newts, I hope that they all return as they are fascinating to watch.
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