Barry the pet cockerel narrowly avoided sending a glass of red wine flying in his peck around the picnickers, missus in tow, during the interval in Sweeney Todd at Longborough on Sunday afternoon. “Nearly coq au vin,” joked my neighbour.

Feathered friends are a source of entertainment at a number of venues for outdoor opera. The shrieks of peacocks from the darkness beyond the tented auditorium are a feature of the evening at Holland Park. Visitors to Mark Getty’s Wormsley estate for Garsington Opera gawp in wonder — at least I do — at the black swan on the lake.

But outdoor opera is largely over for the year again — although I wonder if it ought to be. The Daily Telegraph’s opera critic Rupert Christiansen was spot-on with his advice that the season ought to begin a month later to avoid the horrors of early summer weather like this year’s.

There is still a chance, though, to see Sweeney Todd. Longborough’s Young Artists are giving a final performance on Saturday at Cirencester’s Bingham Hall (01285 653313). It is in support of a fund for young singers set up in memory of Chris Treglown who had been cast in the production in January but died eight days later in a car accident. Members of the company are giving their services free in Chris’s memory.