Birds, Butterflies and Bees

I haven't been walking far as it's been too hot, so I've just stuck to walking around my village. Even when the sun's not out it's still tiring trying to walk around. It was a little cooler today as I walked around the village ponds and the village lido.

The water in the lido is low as it's not rained for some time. The Canada geese were actually standing in the water when normally it would be deep enough to swim in it.

On the ponds, the female swan was teaching her cygnets how to dive for weed to eat.

Of course, the male swan was sunning himself on the grass. If it's hot they tend to stick their leg out. When they are all lying on the grass, the male swan lets his mate and the cygnets have a sleep while he stays on lookout for any danger that might arise.

As the water level is low, one of the smaller cygnets cannot get out of the water. Some kind man has built a wooden ramp to help it get out. Unfortunately, one of the village parish councillors who has nothing better to do said the man needed permission to put it in the pond and now wants it removed. There's also a tyre in the pond. The same parish councillor wants to remove the tyre as well. I can understand it if it had just been thrown in, but it's been there for 25 years. The mallards stand on it to rest, saving themselves from having to get out of the pond. Most of the villagers want the ramp to stay. Once the swans get used to it I'm sure the cygnets will find it useful.

The buddleia bush is often called the 'butterfly bush' as it attracts lots of butterflies and bees. It was good to see the peacock butterfly and the many bees after the nectar. It was also good to walk around without getting bloody heatstroke!