Catch-up

Rampton woods & meadows, 25th May 2019, 3.30pm, slight breeze, partial cloud, warm 21 degrees

For various reasons, a new grand-daughter being the nicest, I haven't been out around our local woods and meadow for a good few weeks and wow it has turned green!

We popped out this afternoon for a quick walk and the meadow looked lovely with lots of different grasses. As the breeze caught the heads the colours changed from green to brown, orange and red which, along the vivid yellow of the buttercups and the cerise common vetch against the blue sky, made for a beautiful natural canvas.

Rampton meadow

The woodland was a tangle of green and white with the initial flush of cow parsley I saw a few weeks ago now starting to seed and become swamped with clumps of sticky weed. Clear tracks through the mass of stems giving away wildlife corridors.

Some tiny moths and butterflies flew across from one small sun spot to another, unidentifiable without a close up view or photo but a faded peacock - maybe from last year - rested on the path.

We could hear the birds - chiffchaff, blackbird, tits and thrushes but the canopy above our heads is now too thick to make them out and only two young squirrels showed on the low branches of the big oaks half way into the wood. We have also seen a squirrel in the garden this week. They have been over in the garden beyond ours over the winter but this was a fairly young one who has found our peanut feeder.

Common vetch

Also in the garden this week we have had squabbling starlings both parents and juveniles and sparrows feeding their flapping youngsters. I also watched a female blackbird with a large slug on the grass. It spent some time wiping it and then her beak backwards and forwards on the grass - presumably to get rid of the slime - before finally pecking it into submission and carrying it off.

Morning walk in the woods

Rampton wood and meadow, 7th May 2019, 8.30-9.30am, partial cloud, bright, calm, 7-8 deg

A grey squirrel scurried up the oak tree in the churchyard as I passed by and a pair of Dunnocks flew along the fence. Today I opted to first cross the meadow where buttercups, dandelions and grasses swayed very gently and a bird (unidentified) called with a high pitched single note.

The crops in the next field are beginning to show now and the ditch has a little water. Magpies and wood pigeons called out from the trees.

I stopped to have a look up The Cut and noticed two very small warblers in the reeds on the bend. Having taken a quick photo and checking at home I think they were Whitethroats.

Whitethroat

Back into the woods and the cow parsley is now around shoulder height. The woods are green and dense and it is difficult to make out the birds and yet it is noisy with calls - blackbirds, thrushes, great tits. The undergrowth rustles as I approach - blackbirds or rabbits - and flies appear as I brush the grass.

A tiny Chiffchaff's big voice fills the canopy as I come to the large oak trees with their leaves bright and new, unfurling fully now. The undergrowth is encroaching the pathway, nettles, sticky weed and cow parsley the greens interspersed every now and then with a touch of hot pink from the Red campion.

Red campion

Out of the wood and along the path towards the church a small tree is covered in tiny bees enjoying the yellow flowers and two Long-tailed tits hand from the branches. A woodpecker (probably Green) calls across from the fields beyond the hedge.

More plants!

As part of 30 Days Wild I added some more plants to the garden (as if I need any excuse!) specifically bee and butterfly friendly.  I appear to have added some more!

My girls had bought me tickets to Hampton Court Palace Flower Show for my birthday and on Thursday, after sitting in horrendous traffic and with the mercury edging over 30, I found myself overwhelmed with what to purchase next!

Whilst looking at the great gardens on show my eyes were drawn to the hot purples, reds and orange planting - colours I wouldn't normally go for, preferring the pinks and mauves of cottage flowers. This I decided would be ideal for my south facing front garden. Since removing the old huge lavender bushes from the front I have planted a few bits and piece but hadn't really got a grasp on where I wanted this garden to go but now I have in mind tall agapanthus and globular alliums with dark lavender, sea holly, ladybird poppies and hot pink echinacea. A riot of sexy, deep shades and textures.

Well that's the plan!

It was a little too hot to spend lots of time pursuing the stalls but I have photographed the ideas I like and will plant it up gradually. In the meantime I did managed to buy the sea holly (it was covered with bees!), echinacea and a poppy to get going and remind me of a fabulous day. I will definitely go back hopefully on a slightly cooler day!

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

30 Days Wild - Day 27 - Snail Trail

And then the rain came!  After our heatwave of last week where I couldn't move for sweating today the drips are coming from the skies!

Some people may not enjoy the rain but my garden is crying out for it! My water butt is on empty and the grass is curling at the edges. So welcome the rain! It is forecast to continue for a couple of days, which it needs to soak through - the initial downpours just running off the hard earth.

Today in the office, we saw the lightning light up the dark oppressive sky and we jumped as the crack of thunder came immediately behind. The gutter leaked under the deluge with a waterfall outside the door.

Then the snails came out. Outside one of the office windows the foliage has not been cut back for a while and is covering the glass. Three snails made their way across the windowsill to the tender shoots on the other side. My 30 Days Wild act for today was to encourage my colleagues to put down their pens and stop looking at their screens for a few minutes and come to the window to see the snails. They may have thought I was mad but they came and we watched and we chatted about the rain and the snails and how not a ripple could be seen as they slid over the glass.

A nature break without leaving the office.

30 Days Wild - Day 23 - Researching ponds

Today I have been researching small wildlife ponds for 30 Days Wild. We have a bigger raised pond with fish but I wanted to do something to encourage the frogs more. We used to get quite a few in the garden but in recent years we have struggled to find one.

Obviously we have our granddaughter to consider so it needs to be not easily accessible to her but in a suitable location for the wildlife.  I have read various websites recommending in the sun, not in the sun, semi shade, no shade! The jury seems to be out on that but as our garden is small anyway we have limited options.

I think I have decided it should go up near our bug hotel and the wildflower patch. It has lots of places nearby that frogs could use to hide out, it should be protected from little hands but open enough that she can see it.

I have an old washing up bowl that should be ok to use but I want to bury it so it's flush with the ground to give maximum access. Having an interview today and a wedding tomorrow I didn't want 'gardener's fingernails' so this project will have to be postponed for a few days.

In the meantime though while surveying for suitable sites I was really pleased to see some of the wildflowers I seeded a while ago are beginning to flower. I seem to have some oil seed rape in there too along with niger seedlings from the bird feeders but as long as it flowers I'm not too bothered!

30 Days Wild - Day 18 - It's A Bug's Life

Hot! Hot! Hot! I really wanted to get out for a walk this morning and find some butterflies but even early it was too warm and sticky for me so, as we are busy this afternoon, once again I took the camera out in the garden for 30 Days Wild.

All was still amongst the plants except the odd movement of tiny wings. The birds were oddly quiet too as I topped up the water in the bird bowl and the bee watering station. Then I sat under the umbrella's shade with my early morning coffee and silently wished my dad a Happy Fathers Day.

The deep purple salvias and lavender I bought at the garden centre a few weeks ago had come into flower and were welcoming their pollen hunting visitors.

No sound of lawn mowers, no smell of bar-be-ques but they will surely come later. Just me, the insects and my memories.

30 Days Wild - Day 13 - Nature Apps

I've lost count of the amount of times we have been out on a walk and have heard a bird singing but can't see it. I can pick out the common species - blackbird, robin, chiffchaff but otherwise I'm at a bit of a loss to identify them. I knew there was an app out there that you could record the call and it would give you an ID so today, for my 30 Days Wild act, I decided to check it out, and while I was at it a whole host of other nature and wildlife apps.

Here are the ones I went with - the links are for iTunes just because I have an iPhone but I think most of them are also on Android, and because a list of links looks a little boring I have of course added one of my relevant photos!

Bee Count - Friends of The Earth's Great British Bee Count - ID and log sightings between May and June.

BirdSongID - £3.99, record the bird and the Automatic Recognition identifies it.

BirdTrack - This is from the BTO and allows you to log your sightings and see what others have seen.

British Trees - An ID app from the Woodland Trust

Mammal Tracker - Contribute mammal sightings to The Mammal Society's Mammal Watch project.

Nature Finder - The Wildlife Trusts app giving details and maps of over 2000 reserves.

Stellarium - £2.99 Point your phone at the sky and identify the constellations, stars and planets.

And of course I already have the 30 Days Wild app! Please let me know of any nature apps you wouldn't be without.

30 Days Wild - Day 11 - Visit A Nature Reserve

Most Sunday mornings my hubby and I go for a walk. Alongside this 30 Day Wild challenge I am also doing the Walk1000Miles challenge - I know!  Today we decided to cover both with a 5.5 mile walk round our local National Trust Nature Reserve - Wicken Fen. It is the National Trust's oldest reserve, a Site of Scientific Special Interest and a Wetland Special Area of Conservation. We've been lots of times before and during the winter it has thousands of birds visit but this time of year the insects take front stage with dragon and damselflies - in fact the reserve is also home the British Dragonfly Association's Dragonfly Centre

As well as walking and photographing as much as I could, I also thought for today's 30 Day Wild challenge I would endeavour to identify whatever we saw and find out one fact about each key species. There were a few things we didn't manage to photograph - Reed buntings, Egrets, Buzzard, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Shoveler ducks, Cuckoo, Small Red-Eyed Damselflies, Common Blue Damselflies and a possible Marsh Harrier - and probably loads that we missed or could only hear - it is home to over 9000 species after all!

Marsh Orchid: These could be Southern Marsh or Early Marsh Orchids - both are found here. FACT - apparently notoriously difficult to tell these apart unless you're an expert!

Scarce Chaser Dragonfly: FACT - only 6 main locations in UK - Norfolk/Suffolk, Sussex, Wiltshire/Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Kent and Dorset/Hampshire

Yellow Flag Iris: FACT - chosen as the county flower for Wigtownshire, Scotland

Four-Spotted Chaser Dragonfly: FACT - the males prefer a perch looking away from the sun as their eyes are more sensitive to UV and blue-violet light and therefore suited to detecting pray against the sky.

Ragged Robin: FACT - in Shakespeare's time it was called Crowflower and was featured in Ophilia's garland.

Buff-tailed Bumble bee (I think!): FACT - it is the UK's largest bumblebee species
Thick-Legged Flower Beetle: FACT - often called the Swollen-Thighed Beetle

Garden Tiger Moth Caterpillar: FACT - commonly known as 'Wooly Bears'

Meadow Pipit (I think!): FACT - it flutters like a parachute in display flight

Lapwing: FACT: Lapwings (or Peewits) are a red list species

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly: FACT - the species was first defined in 1758

Snipe: FACT - the male 'drums' with its tail feathers in his courtship display

30 Days Wild - Day 10 - Gardening With Grandad

Our granddaughter was still with us today so she 'helped' grandad in the garden for 30 Days Wild. We bought her a little set of gardening tools a while ago to encourage her to get a bit grubby - she's a little apprehensive of having dirty hands at the moment!

Along with raking and digging we also showed grandad the bee station we made yesterday and topped it up with some water as it had already gone dry.

The weather was warm and sunny so eventually the sun hat had to go on and her little watering can was being sprayed around with abandon - I'm not sure a single drop actually made it into my pots though!

She smelt the roses and lavender and fed the birds and topped up their water too. We've had a lovely few days and I hope we've made some happy memories for her.

30 Days Wild - Day 8 - Emergency Flowers

The thing about challenges is they aren't meant to be easy peasy. They require a little thought, planning, commitment, they encourage a step outside that cosy comfort zone. Sometimes a little tiptoe, other challenges may need a huge stride. The 30 Day Wild is a flexible challenge. You can do little acts of random wildness such as reading a wildlife book or collecting interesting stones to bigger gestures such as volunteering at a local hedgehog hospital. There are lots of ideas on the app, online and of course from other challengers. Sometimes the whole day stretches ahead ready to be filled with nature walks and other times life just seems to be getting in the way of even the smallest nugget of randomness.

For me, today is one of just those days!

Work, food shop, chores, voting, cooking, clearing up..... it's days like today where I have to remind myself this is meant to be fun and therefore not to be too hard on myself that I haven't got around to anything more interesting that a quick walk round the garden with the camera. There will undoubtedly be more days like this - we are only on no. 8 after all - but I have added a few acts to my list that don't need loads of time, equipment or commitment, so hopefully next time life takes up too much of my time I will have something to fall back on. In the meantime here are those photos!