More this and that

Around and about the garden

I'm sitting in the garden this afternoon,lapping up what may be perhaps a few days of summer's final blast, with temperatures currently at 5pm around 77f
I've been noticing for the last few days that the acrobatic swallow and martin's had been replaced by the local small flock of starling, and our resident house sparrows in the stalling flight insect hunt they are both very good at. 
BUT, only just this minute I am hearing the twitter of a small group of swallows telling me that they haven't all made the trip down south yet. 
The swifts departed probably three or four weeks ago.
All in all it's been a good year in the garden for birdlife.
We've been inundated with linnet's, nesting in our hedges, they all seem to have left the surrounding gardens now, maybe the harvest is calling them to more abundant food sources.
The robin's are currently singing their quiet plaintive call in several locations nearby. Our own, I assume a male having the brightest of red breasts I've seen for some while. 
That may be due to reflective light, but he certainly looks in good full colour. 
Generally, the other birds have not fared quite so well, blackbird and song thrush although having a good number of broods, have been noticeably restricted in the end to one or two fledglings, with the odd three showing earlier on in the spring. 
The woodies only appear to have one per brood surviving , but they have been rampant all year. Flimsy nests cropping up all over our higher hedges
Other than that, we've had dunnock, wren and house sparrow producing one clutch successfully, but not other birds.
Our annual great tit  nestbox was squatted by house sparrow for the first time since we've lived here again just one brood although there has been great success around as we often have up to 30 around our pond.
Our two apple and pear trees have been quite successful this year  the victoria plum however, has for the last two years after an excellent harvest failed, and we had a great deal of rust spots on the leaves. 

I've cut it down now, before leaf fall, on the basis that I think it's diseased, and don't want to chance an infection of the rest of our trees. 
Other than that we didn't plant a great deal of salad/vegetable crop on the basis that we may be moving.
Alas that hasn't come to pass yet. 
We did have enough for tasting at least, of raspberry and blueberry. No gooseberries this year though, and as for the grape vines, not enough to even trouble the blackbird.

Fishing
I was going to venture down to the Trent again tonight, but decided too many beers on the patio probably made it not such a good idea.
I did go down yesterday and fished for four hours up to dusk.
Only one take just after 6pm, and that turned out to be a very angry barbel of about eight and a half pound. He gave a cracking tussle for his quarter tin of garlic spam. 
I think you can see where it ended up!

.
My hook knot tying method appears to be improved, lack of care beforehand I think.
The mojo is definitely back, this stretch of the Trent isn't easy, but I'm winkling them out slowly but surely. A challenge gratefully accepted.
I thought the two barbel reported in last weeks blog were different fish, so thanks for those of my readers who responded to confirm my thoughts
Unlikely to go out again until Friday at the earliest, unless I get the dawn call.

In the meantime off out to the patio with a bottle of wine...... or two