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Sue - if, (as I think) the Thame Chapter didn't arrive until the 8th or 9th and yours arrived on the 7th or 8th - are you south of Thame? I noted it was overcast with a stiff northerly breeze when they showed.
I know what you mean about the shuttlecock - somewhat unsurprisingly cabbage whites also seem to want to join in the game.

Nature's own Ju87

Living in Bournemouth as a small girl during the war my mother recalled the times that planes before returning across the Channel would release any of their remaining ammo on the coastal towns. In those days, it was a distinct evolutionary advantage to be good at speciating flying objects. One of the most dreaded was of course the Junkers 87, or Stuka dive bomber. You would hear a heart wrenching doppler whine before you spotted it and then came the explosion. Swooping in low over the roof tops Me109s gave less warning and would strafe their way down the streets.
The children have one of those ubiquitous round trampolines on the lawn and the two girls were taking advantage of it in this morning's sunshine. From the house I heard their laughter turn to shouts of alarm, and they had rushed to the edges. They were wailing, "get rid of the nasty things!". Assuming it was spiders or maybe those new giant wasp jobs, even I was a bit tacken aback on finding something I'm more used to seeing under several feet of water. They were Great Diving beetles, or, Great dive bombing beetles as they are now known here. The reflective surface of the trampoline must look like a pond to a GDB. Fuelled on tadpoles and all muscle, these things seem to have little to no gliding capacity. On spotting the target they cut the motor and come tumbling in and their heavy armour makes quite an impact. And it's not just trampolines, a car roof must also resemble water - or atleast a coastal resort. GDB outer plating on flimsy civilian vehicular metal makes quite a ping.
On the subject of dawn raiders, I heard only my second cuckoo of the year today. She is concealed in the birch close to the pond where alot of small birds (including the gray waggies are nesting). She has only released one clear, loud call all day.

... and then came the last days of May

Thanks Paul for the kind comments. '... and then came the last days of may' is a song from blue oyster cult (from my youth!). The lyric starts "parched lands ...". Do you remember they also did "the seasons don't fear the reaper"?. Somehow seemed appropriate.
Thanks also for the heads-up! it's a sign of the times when you look forward to listening to the 'Beetles' on the radio.
George - that pipe of yours is a blimming menace. The billowing clouds around your gaff is the lacal cause of Salopian climate change. I'm jolly glad you are not trying to pin the blame on that Ironbridge Power Station next door.
The sooner the govt take some real action and apply the wet blanket to all smokers the better!

Ed - I know what you mean. There seem to be a couple of in-sync flying ant days every year. They come pouring out of cracks in the ground and the weather is always the same. They like it humid, hot and sultry. The air itself is thick and swarms of crows and gulls take full advantage of the in-flight glut. Nice natural selection - if you're into that sort of thing. I've seen it in Baltimore, the New Forest and down town Birmingham. Have you also noticed how the time is always around 14:30 hours?
A few years ago while on a family holiday in the Sporades we saw something very similar, only instead of gulls it was Elenora falcons, hundreds of them. At around lunch time there was a small seismic tremor. They say that seismic activity also has an effect on atmospheric conditions and I can corroborate. Within a couple of hours it turned from a classic, crystal clear Mediterranean vista to a hot aqueous medium. You know, when you look out to sea and can't tell the difference between sky and sullen waters. All around us, every living thing that could was crawling out of the ground and taking to the air - to the sheer delight of the falcons.
It was too hot to stay out and so we had a relatively early night, I fell asleep while reading (my pre-holiday novel choice was Richter 10). I was awoken by a couple of things. Being bounced out of bed was odd, but I didn't like the sound of the screams. These days they build them quake proof, nonetheless we were amazed that our rapidly vacated building was still standing. Both ends of the pool resembled something closer to cliffs in Dover on a rough day. There was a bad accident in the bar. But that's a different story.

Dear Giudicessa Eleonora d'Arborea

Please accept my heartfelt apologies for the misspelling of your name. We are very grateful to you for passing the law to protect nesting birds.

May Bugs
I've only seen one and a half cockchaffers so far this year. I think I've already told the tale of the headless monster outside the front door, and how I came face to face with it - or at least would have done. How are they faring in other parts?

Elderflower Cordial and Champagne

The flowers around here are now just about ready to pick. The weather tomorrow looks a bit dicey and it'll be important to get the timing right. The end product seems so much better when the flowers are picked in full sunshine. The borage is now also in full flower. These edible flowers look fantastic when frozen in ice cubes to go with the cordial (plus sprig of mint).
Despite their abundance in the verges, it's probably best not to pick the flowers from the roadside (Bob's hot tip of the day!). I'm not sure if wayside fodder is now safer as a result of the switch to unleaded. I read the latest score with fish and it is worrying. I guess the good news is that with all that mercury the anglers catch will weigh in nicely.