Flaming June…

25.06.15

Once again this year it would seem that, when applied to June,  the word ‘flaming’ is more of an expletive than an adjective. The weather has been distinctly odd and my veggie patch is as confused about it as I am, although it is now showing signs of life at last. The solar panels go from one extreme to another, producing their maximum so far on a wonderfully bright day just before the Summer solstice (27.5 kW for any solar nerds out there). Today, however, it’s made just over 6 kW – more like Winter.

The wildlife don’t care mind you and McMurdoston is now home to gangs of baby tree and house sparrows, goldfinches, greenfinches, greater spotted woodpeckers and buzzards. We spotted a family of redstarts up the hill too and I had the pleasure of watching them dive-bombing a stoat which got too near their territory. Several of our guests have visited the fascinating osprey nest at Threave and here we had regular visits from red kite during the period when the farmers were cutting the silage.

Steve’s big success has been filming a barn owl in the roof space of the old cottage in the yard. We’re doing everything we can to attract it back again. He’s also made a spectacular film which we decided to put on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BZqNBfaxKA. Have a look and please ‘like’ it – if you  like it (just make sure you watch the first 40 seconds)!