Nature Blog by Jenny Bourne

A pair of wrens have nested and successfully raised young in Matt’s shed! Matt says: “There’s an old T shirt hanging in the rafters of my shed. I went to dry my hands a few weeks ago and a wren flew out of the armhole

Pop-up Plant Sales have been well attended following the ‘official’ one in the first week of May; plotholders have been making the most of the warm weather and a few rain showers to get their purchases in the ground. Well done, Ruth and team for organising!

Near neighbour Matt reports from his shed: ‘The wrens have hatched in my T-shirt! The parents are going in and out with food and taking out poops!’ No photos yet as Matt doesn’t want to disturb the nesting family… It’s that time of year;

RPA beekeepers Jem and Rose collected a swarm from a plot near the beehives on Monday. So far the swarm season on site has been busy this year despite the beekeepers’ efforts to minimize swarming of the colonies by careful management.

The fruit blossom has been abundant this year, thanks to a largely warm and dry spring and the bees have been all over the trees; the old apple on my plot is a-buzz with them. The early plum has given way to cherry and apple and in the SW wildlife area the blackthorn blossom is almost over and hawthorn is on the way,