Its mid afternoon on a cold very wet June day. The rain is torrential having begun the previous night and it has not ceased. Flaming June ?..... Not!

What surprises me though is that my three local blackbirds have been singing all day, beginning at three thirty in the morning and continuing without a pause despite the deluge with a month's rain falling in twenty four hours.

The three birds have small territories so probably all the more reason to sing all day to deter any would be interlopers.

Nevertheless, sometimes all the males chase one another quite vigorously from one garden to the next and all of them together with the females spend much time on my lawn picking up worms in the wet. Now they are bringing their new fledglings to feed, wings quivering and cheeping loudly for mine is the only grass around as most other gardens are laid to plastic grass or paving stones, which are most environmentally unfriendly.

My nearest bird always chooses the same chimney pot on which to pour out his wonderful melody. 

Also singing constantly is my favourite avian songster the song thrush. He is somewhere just in earshot but try as I might, I can't locate him because he seems to move around within a large tree belt and does not keep still for long. I find this very frustrating!

Meanwhile I will be content enjoying my three blackbirds all singing in the rain.