Bullying Magpies

Another glorious summer day. Worrying this morning to watch the magpies harrying a young, green woodpecker. I feared they might set on him and kill him as they did the blackbird a few weeks back, but the matter was settled as soon as we went outside because the magpies flew away.

June Happenings

Again today, I watched a grass-snake, this one medium-sized. The noisy magpies have been in and out of the garden all day, with their youngsters.

Tonight we again watched with pleasure the young fox, once more he ate his fill and when he was done what he couldn’t eat he carried away – making untold journeys. Cut the hazel trees back today. We lost a fine crop of nuts, but the trees had grown far too large.

Along the A10

To Papworth for brain scan.

Hedgerows are so green. Last year’s teasels dark brown stand giant-like on the tall daisy-filled verges. Passed two stretches of bright red poppies and long stretches of lime green euphorbias. Across a field I caught a glimpse of the river, with tall rose bay willow herb growing along side. On the roadside verge I have seen large growths of bright yellow tom thumb and delicate lavender coloured vetch, I also spied one blue lupin plant, I’m looking forward to the next few years when hopefully it will have seeded and spawned many offspring. I think they will make a good addition to the verges. Sorrel has grown tall and reddish-brown patches of it stand out amongst the wild flowers.

We passed again the field full of bright red poppies, this time at 8am, there was a lady standing right in the middle of it, her bicycle dropped on the side and her, with her hands on her hips, just standing and looking around at the wondrous sight.

There is a roundabout on the A10 near the A120 and the predominant color on the verges leading to the roundabout is a strong purple from the thistle-like plant growing there.

Mallows, poppies, and umbellifers embellish the next stretch of road. Elders grow thickly here and are in full creamy white flower, following is a stretch made beautiful by the huge bushes of dog and field roses, with their graceful hanging branches, thickly adorned by blossoms from white through palest pink to darkest pink – so beautiful.

We passed a breathtaking field of red poppies and brightest yellow rape, growing side by side in large loose stripes of red and yellow – breathtaking.

How lucky we are to live in England and to have all of this beauty freely available for us to enjoy. The lush green background naturally enhances the foreground. More hedgerows adorned by even more wild roses.

Toward Royston, yellow rape has escaped the confines of the fields and now brightens the verges, together with white campion this we used to call milkmaids when I was a child.

Past Basingbourne-cum-Kneesworth is a very pretty stretch of verge it has red poppies, white campion, daisies and umbellifers, and contrasting beautifully blue geraniums.


Toward Papworth we passed ditches with fluffy seed-covered bulrushes reaching upward and waiting for a brisk breeze to spread their seeds.

Homeward bound.

A sober journey – the tumor is larger than two and a half centimeters not yet three and is stage 1b, but they think it has spread into the lymph glands.

I feel a great weight of sadness within me at the thought that I might not beat this cancer, so much in life I wanted to do, and I fear it is too late. I must adapt to this and be strong, for Mike, Rick, John and Angie. I think I shall miss the little girls growing up and any children Rick may have. I have already been so lucky: I have never lost a living child and I have been so close to my own dear children and to dear Rick, also to my darling little granddaughters.

Foxes

An entertaining hour this evening from 9 to 10pm, we had put the fox food out early and were not disappointed. The pale-coated youngster came, he either sat or laid down to eat. There were 8 slices of cheese on toast all cut into bite-size squares, spread on the lawn in front of the patio.

At first he just ate, and ate, and ate, then he became selective, he moved across the lawn from piece to piece, stopping here or laying down there and eating a piece. Soon he changed mode again, and slowly walking over the lawn he investigated each piece, sometimes laying down and taking a square between his paws, he would then scrape off the cheese with his teeth and eat it discarding the bread.

Eventually, he reached a point of satiation and could obviously eat no more, so, slowly, piece by piece, he gathered them up and carried them off making journey after journey until he had cleared the lawn.

Earlier today we found a large hole dug under the old bendy apple tree, and immediately thought of foxes. We both feel a fox den in our little bit of heaven would be wonderful.

The Longest Day of the Year

Today dawned bright and beautiful, the sky was so blue and not one cloud in sight.

On my way to Addenbrookes for my full body scan, up and breakfasted by 5am, then back to bed until 8am. We drove the A10 route, and had hardly traveled any distance, before we saw road verges red with poppies and near to Ware a field of poppies, breathtaking in its redness made all the more so by green field edges, hedges and trees which surrounded it. All the verges are alive with flowers especially the tall white daisies, that Pam, my mother-in-law was so fond of, the mainly white changed to purple as thistles overtook the daisies, then yellow as buttercups became the main flower.

Creamy white umbellifers stood proudly head and shoulders above all other wayside flowers. Mauve mallows, red poppies and white umbellifers surrounded by a sea of green grass made the prettiest display, just before Buntingford. Here and there were bright yellow splashes of tom thumb.

Huge bramble bushes, bloomed with the promise of autumn goodies and both field and dog roses were especially beautiful being so massed with flowers were they.

The elders are in flower, also with a promise of autumn goodies. I promised myself I would make elderflower champagne this year, but I don’t know now whether or not I will.

The best sight though was in Ware, when we looked up and saw a red kite, we have often watched these birds in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and are so pleased to see them in Hertfordshire now. Just after Royston, blue geraniums, purple vetch, mauve mallow, red poppies and yellow wayside flowers made a very pretty scene.

Evening addendum
Today is the longest day of the year, so at present the evenings stay light until late. We put the fox food out at 9:40pm and sat watching the TV with the curtains open, at 10:10pm I glanced out of the window and noticed a tiny baby fox, if he were a sheltie puppy I would guess he was 8-10 weeks old, he was very tiny – the smallest fox cub we’ve ever seen. At first he appeared to be alone, then after a few minutes an adult, pale in colour, appeared, by her size I guess she was a female, while the cub ran about and randomly ate she collected food in her mouth and ran with it back out of the garden. She must have been feeding young because before very long she was back again. This continued until all the food was gone, and then she left and the young cub followed her.

Amphibians

Mike cleared a patch of overgrown garden at the north side of the pond. I’ve never seen him work so hard or with so much fervor. I pottered round and about without achieving much at all, the pond was a great fascination to me due to myriad tadpoles, some much larger than others. I have also seen two newts: one brown and one with a red underside. There’s a beautiful yellow frog in the pond.

Fox Tales

Now the garden is full of flowers and alive with the sight and sound of bees of many types, also several baby birds including robins, blue and great tits, blackbirds, wrens, and long-tailed tits.

Another fox also walks through the garden mid-afternoons, smaller, more ginger than red, probably a female. It didn't have the same strutting confidence of the rich red one, but even so walked through at a leisurely pace. They both seem very at home. I guess they are the same ones who feed here at night.

It's wonderful to see them, but at the same time worrying, because they pass so near to the ducks and fear always hangs heavy within me, like a lead weight, and creeps up to tickle the back of my throat, and then creeps down my arms weakening them, and sending tickly feelings into the palms of my hands. The first time I did nothing but stood with my heart in my mouth and leaden limbs. Now I am able to gather myself together and make my way into the garden, where I stand between the fox and ducks. Neither take any notice of me, or each other!

I am reminded of the time a few years back when we had a lot of ducklings in the garden, and were visited by a fox with designs on them. I saw him cross the garden and I rushed out, as I did so I heard Mrs Duck quacking. She managed to get all of her ducklings on the pond and I breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, she flew out of the water and straight at the fox, in so doing she played right into his hands, because as she flew from the pond her ducklings panicked and scrambled from all sides out of the pond, and fled in all directions all over the garden peeping loudly, and by so doing told Mr Fox their positions.

Mrs Duck realised. as did I, what was about to happen: both she and I made straight for the wily fox, he ran right between us after a duckling. The next several minutes were spent chasing the fox around the garden as he chased the ducklings. Eventually, gathering up three in his mouth and leaving several others dead or dying, he left.

Mrs Duck made her way back to the pond with her two remaining ducklings, she was very flustered and I was worried about her, and wished the pond were bigger with an island and duck house in the middle, but at least for today and now, Mrs Duck is safe.

Grass Snakes

The blue tits that flew the nest on May 21st are back in the garden. It is a delight to see them flitting from bush to bush and through the trees. In the box that the first blue tits flew from earlier there is now a nest of bees – the amount coming and going is so great that there is a huge swarm all day hovering in front of the box as they have to queue for entry.

The first dragonfly also appeared on May 21st, now a month later, there are so many in the garden.

Two weeks ago at the beginning of June I saw the large grass-snake in the pond. It is enormous: 3 feet long and very thick. Yesterday, I saw what was either a female or a younger male at least 2 feet long. It was good to see another grass-snake in the garden – I’m lucky enough to have seen them at least 6 feet long. I have never seen a nest of grass-snake eggs, though perhaps I must have, when I was a child, because I remember their softness. I did once find a sloughed off skin from a fully grown grass-snake, which I left in the garden. I’ve often wished I’d kept it.

The tadpoles in the pond are enormous, but show no sign of change – no legs yet. While I watched the tadpoles a large swan flew over. I love the sound of their wings as they fly. I often play a game with myself: if I hear a bird fly by I have to identify it by the sound of its flight. Pigeons and swans are easiest.