The summer started well, with some sunny days, but didn’t it go downhill fast! We have been building a poly tunnel on our allotment, and it has taken so long mainly because of the weather.

But, all this rain and “warmth” has surely made things grow! Our pumpkins are sure to be ready with the best of them in the local shows, so watch out Nicola! The fields have been mown and grown even more lush grass for hay-lage or whatever the farmers are able to get in in between this “unsettled weather”. Have you noticed how it can rain for days, but is still classed as “unsettled”!

Still, there has been lots to see. I have been privileged to see a kingfisher on the creek on a number times, but the best you get is a flash of electric blue disappearing along the creek. Not quite as rare or special as the black browed albatross seen off Gwennap Head at the end of the month. This wanderer of the Southern oceans must have really got his left and right hands mixed up, or maybe his Sat Nav needs rebooting – either way, it’s a long way from home. Hopefully it will not become a millstone around some modern day mariner!

All the rain has kept the owls away from the road, but the other night I was coming home past the Lanhay turning, in the pouring rain and was startled to come across two deer in the middle of the road! Pitch dark, pouring with rain and not a light showing between them!! (Mind you, sometimes it seems as though half the cars around here can only muster one headlight at a time!)

What else have I seen? Well, the beaches are once again full of noisy, squabbling black headed gulls (and some commons as well). At the moment the black headed gulls are turning gray; by the end of the month they will be white-headed-but-black-eared gulls until the spring when they get all dolled up for the annual breeding season.

The tops of the beaches are covered in pippits and pied wagtails, but I did also see a gray wagtail at the back of Pendower beach the other day. Gray wagtails are easy to spot because of their distinctive yellow markings!I have also noticed a lot of yellowhammers. They have been in the garden on a couple of occasions, I have also seen them when out and about with the dog. (me, not them!)

Please let us know if you see anything unusual or just beautiful on the Roseland. Very often the everyday wildlife that surrounds us can be so special – it can lift us up, and put a spring in our step for the rest of the day.