Day 350.

The day the helicopter came. Photography by F L Campbell

Bush eggs: one. Nest box eggs: none. Feed hopper: half full. Weather: warm at last... lovely.

I was telling Buttercup and Camilla the story of the whirly bird today to keep their minds off their impending first eggs.

It was a day like today: still, calm and sunny. Major, Bertha, Steve and I were out on the old drive by the house when this mind bogglingly HUGE bird dropped out of the sky and landed not two hundred chicken-feet from where we were standing. It made this awful sound by flapping its wings around in a circle and it kicked up a terrible wind that bowled me over backwards on to my fluffy behind! But if that wasn’t strange enough, the side of the bird opened up and The Female Person’s BROTHER stepped out. He had a brief talk to The Female Person (who didn’t seem at all concerned about her brother stepping out of the stomach of a huge bird), then he GOT BACK IN and the bird flew away!

The pullets were astounded. Feathers – I’m still astounded!