After a cool start to June we are having some hot days

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Hottest Day of the year
Temperature went above 31 C as an alert was put in place telling people to take extra care in the sun.
Hottest Day of the year
I wonder about the risks of swimming in the River Thames. But I do know that not swallowing water reduces the risks of getting Weil’s disease.
Hottest Day of the year
It was a lovely sunny day. Whether that will help stop the spread of the Coronavirus no longer seems sure. The southern states of the USA,  and Mexico and Brazil are still experiencing a rise in cases, and they get a lot of sun.

Government advice about bubbles, and numbers of people in groups, and whether you can hug people and go indoors with them is becoming very confusing, and changing by the day, and so we are better to stay alert. We, and not the government, are responsible for our own health.
Hottest Day of the year
W H Smiths re-opened today in Abingdon. A lot more businesses including pubs and restaurants and hairdressers can open from July 4th. However tattoo shops, nail and beauty salons, and gyms still have to wait for their go ahead.

Nail salons and tattoo shops were wearing PPE before the rest of us. It is ironic that they are at the end of the queue.

Write about Abingdon in 100 words

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Great Get Together
The Great Get Together normally happens at this time of year in the garden of St Ethelwold’s House. In 2020 because of the pandemic restrictions, people are invited to enjoy the garden, and remember what Jo Cox said … we have more in common than the things that divide us.
Great Get Together
We often walk round the garden.
Great Get Together
This evening we were struck by these red scabious.
Great Get Together
and the high grasses.

The garden is not a formal park and always surprises.
Great Get Together
The Abingdon Civic Society are running a competition.

Write about Abingdon in 100 words. Create a word picture of Abingdon. Find out more: https://abingdoncivicsociety.org.uk/activities/100-words/.

Abingdon Swifts – Here until late July

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Thank you to Catherine for this piece. Catherine is part of Abingdon Swifts Group
Abingdon Swift
You may have seen (and heard) the joyful antics of these birds over the past couple of weeks as they return from their long migration from Africa. A good map of their migration path is available here (https://www.hampshireswifts.co.uk/). Happily there are 4 extra nesting sites for them to inhabit this year, thanks to Churchill Retirement Homes. It is so good to be able to say ‘thank you’ to a developer that has made an effort to make a new building more beneficial to local wildlife.

If you are out on walks over the next few weeks, do look up to try to spot Abingdon’s swift population – they like to catch flying insects, with Abingdon’s tree-lined rivers and in its leafy parks being particularly good places to spot them. With a recognisable call, it may be that you hear many more than you see. The swifts will disappear to warmer climes at the end of July; they really are a sign of summer.

Swifts are like homing pigeons with their ability to find their way back. Each year they return to the same nest site, meeting their partner (they mate for life) ready to set up house. They are also long-lived, with luck, living to around 20 years. Only landing to breed, these birds clock up an extraordinary 14,000 miles (or so) in the air each year.

Traditionally, their nests have been in draughty gaps in the walls, and roof-tiles of our homes and out-buildings. As we become more energy conscious and insulate or re-roof our buildings with increasing effectiveness, the swifts can return to find that their ancestral nest is no longer available. This has contributed to swift numbers in the UK declining by 50% over the past 23 years. Increasingly, builders and developers are aware of this problem and are working, often with some ingenuity, to make buildings fit for habitation for both humans and swifts.
Abingdon Swift
The Museum of Natural History in Oxford is closed, but their webcams are showing pictures of young swifts. (https://www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/swifts-in-the-tower-0). (Pictures from webcam on 22nd June at 20:20)

The Abingdon Swifts Group are also always happy to advise regarding the installation of swift nesting boxes.

Swift Awareness Week (27th June-5th July) would usually be celebrated with talks and meetings. Watch this (https://swift-conservation.org/) space for details about virtual seminars and meetings to find out more about these fascinating birds.
Abingdon Swift
P.S If anybody gets a good swift picture during Swift Awareness Week then please sent it to backstreet60@gmail.com and I will replace this final picture. St Helen’s Churchyard is a good place to watch swifts but they are very difficult to photograph.

Virtual Abingdon – Make Music Day

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Virtual Abingdon
Today was not only Father’s Day, but also the Virtual Make Music Abingdon Day. There were people performing from rooms in their houses. One group performed from a unknown field. The group called No Horses played from the Brewery Tap – which was otherwise empty.
Virtual Abingdon
Then there were groups that had recorded separately and been put together by the wonders of technology. The event was hosted by Make Music Abingdon. There was a virtual tip jar on paypal.

There are lots of virtual events happening in Abingdon. I found out about this from the Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council virtual events page. If you want more people to know about your virtual event then let them know.