Tits and Swallows

It seems good weather has struck at the most inopportune time, during revision. Whilst rain, frost and gusts would foster a better working enviroment, there are perks to the sunshine as I'm discovering. The best thing is that my fear of failing exams is significantly reduced by my increasingly simple satisfaction derived from nature.

As I watch bluetits, swallows and wood pigeons feed from the newly installed (anti-squirrel) birdfeeder I am overcome with an extraordinary sense of wellbeing. Watching a few sparrows gathering feathers and sticks for the nests was even more extraordinary; one sparrow had a length of straw-like debris in it's beak that was say half a foot to a foot long-too long to fly effectively with as demonstrated by a short practice flight with it-the sparrow then proceeded to hold the strip down with one foot and manipulate it so that it was folded over in several places so as to reduce it's length. Similarly, the first evidence of wildlife attracted to the newly built pond in my back garden came today in the form of two dragonfly-esque creatures. They were two-fold, a crimson colour and about an inch and a bit long; they flew attached at one end around the pond delicately trying to land on the pondweed. The irony that I was watching something so incredibly intricate and perfectly designed as I read cynically about the teleological argument was not lost on me!