
A male redstart sang on his favourite branch with whitebeam now in leaf. An interlude I see here each spring. Welsh Black cows grazed peacefully along the escarpment edge. There are clumps of mountain everlasting, distributed more widely across Scout Scar by the cattle's grazing. Tiny milkwort flowers of cobalt blue and the cliff-face is a mass of hoary rock rose.
Thinking over the drama I worked out the route the weasel had taken from the moment I noticed the jackdaws mobbing it. The blackbirds no doubt had young to feed in their holly bush. Was the weasel hunting to feed a family and where might they be? It was a tantalising glimpse into the secret life of the place.
7 June. Male stonechat is vocal and his family flit through hawthorn. Starling have bred and flocks of them sweep the scrub land, a seasonal note. An exceptionally hot May. Thunderstorms have eluded this part of Cumbria. The holly where the blackbirds erupted has some branches of dead leaves. Juniper isn't looking healthy.