The RSPB is urging people to make damp mud available for birds that desperately need it to make their nests for the breeding season.
After the driest April on record, and more dry weather forecasted, birds like house martins and swallows are struggling to find enough sticky mud for their nests.
The wildlife charity suggests putting wet mud in a shallow container like a dustbin lid, or creating damp mud at the edges of borders and ponds or in bare patches of grass.
You can read more about this here.
Just to show how much under pressure birds can be , here’s a couple of photos taken in Rayleigh this weekend by Sid Cumberland. With all those hungry mouths to feed, the poor parent has found a caterpillar but doesn’t have time for preening….
(click on the photos to enlarge)
Look out for the pigeon that has made a nest on the bracket of a satellite dish in Durham Way.