The big event on my patch at the moment is the restoration of Murray’s Cauld on the Ettrick Water, which has been breaking up over the years with each successive flood. The complicated task has attracted much local attention and I count myself as one of the frequent visitors to the site to check on the amazingly rapid progress.

During these visits, I have been taking in the riverside wildlife as well and the aforementioned weather conditions have been particularly good for hearing birdsong, which will soon be stopping.

Song thrushes seem to have had another successful year with lots of singing males and the warblers were all to the fore. On Sunday I heard all six common to the area – willow warbler, sedge warbler, chiffchaff, whitethroat, blackcap and garden warbler, and even managed a lucky snapshot of a tiny sedge warbler, easily identified by its prominent eye stripe.

On the river itself, the oystercatchers are beginning to gather in groups after the breeding season and the common sandpipers are still making their usual racket. Pied and grey wagtails are taking full advantage of the contractors’ disturbance of the riverbed and are following the bulldozers to grab any invertebrates exposed.

Wild flowers are probably at their most spectacular at the moment and, if the prolonged dry spell continues, it will be a relatively short season.

Riverside gravel is always a good place to practice identifying wild flowers as they are all extremely obvious, with no competing undergrowth and access is relatively easy.

Ones to look out for just now are Red Campion, Monkey Flower, St John’s Wort, Gowan, Pink Purslane, Tufted Vetch and many more.

All sorts of seeds are carried down by the river and deposited amongst the stones, so you never know quite what is going to turn up.

Another once-a-year opportunity is upon us now for those of a culinary bent.

Walking past any elder tree, you can’t help noticing the heady sweet aroma of its white blossom. It can be picked to make fritters, but it is best made into a refreshing summer drink and there are many recipes available for cordials, champagnes etc.

This year I’m going to have a go at elderflower lemonade, which should go down well if the promised heatwave arrives.