Festive balloons

A festive start to Christmas Day, when we looked out of the end kitchen window to see a bunch of bright red and green balloons, caught high in the birch tree.

Foxes, primroses and woodpeckers

A noisy night last night, foxes were calling back and forth to each other in the early hours of the morning.

This is unusual for this time of year as it normally happens late January, during February or early March.

Primroses are still blooming in the garden as they have all year and I notice the early arrival of fresh green cowslip leaf rosettes in the front garden.

We continue to be visited many birds including all three woodpeckers, whose name is so apt, as when I go near the woodpile I see evidence of their visits in the holes pecked in the piled wood. The green woodpecker can be spotted clinging onto the sides of trees but more often (daily) on the lawn where he/she is busily pecking and poking into the grassy sward for ants and other goodies.

Silver Grey Skies

My son lives in Seattle and he was telling me recently about the silver-grey skies there at this time of year.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the very same thing this evening over the bungalow garden.

Magpies, redwings and fieldfares

Two  striking magpies sat in the cherry tree, from here they have good visibility throughout the whole garden. As soon as a squirrel appears they drop to the ground, ready to follow and harass him until the biscuit is either eaten or buried, if it is the latter they immediately dig it up or they collect it from its hiding place and either eat it or hide it themselves.

The pretty redwings are here, they come from Scandinavian countries to feed and fatten up during the winter months, as our weather is generally milder than their native weather. They are usually to be found in mixed flocks with fieldfares on berried shrubs and trees.

They stay in our garden until they have cleared all of the berries and the malus of its fruit.

Seagulls

We awoke to a white world --- snow covering everything. No sooner was the food on the lawn than the seagulls arrived in an enormous flock, looking stunningly beautiful as they descended with their white wings held open and aloft.

The gulls and other birds were very hungry and at one point this part of the lawn was covered by jays, pigeons, magpies and two crows.

After the larger birds had flown the smaller ones came, even as I was putting more food out on the lawn and bird table they hungrily arrived. Blackbirds, robins, bluetits, great tits, long tailed tits and dunnocks.

Later we were visited by a lone squirrel, who, when I opened the window to feed him, was overcome by hunger and he greedily snatched the food from my hand.

Cotoneaster berries and hungry squirrels

Awoke this morning to find the cotoneaster bereft of berries, an early morning flock of redwings and fieldfares  must have paid this wonderfully berried cotoneaster a last visit to finally clear the berries. We probably won't see any more fieldfares or red wings until the end of the year, when they again visit this country.

I enjoyed feeding the squirrels, especially this little chap who seems to have taken over from my scarred face squirrel friend, in that he waits at the window for food and is always gentle when taking it. He very often just sits right by the window while eating.

Wood Piles

We have wood piles at the end of the garden, these are built deliberately and with wild life in mind. when the wood is disturbed it is amazing to see the various creatures living there. A vast number of insects and arachnids of many different kinds have their homes in these piles.

Birds build they nests in them and for years hedgehogs overwintered underneath them. During the warmer months, clematis and honeysuckle grow over them.

Woodpeckers drum on them and bore holes in them and always fungi is to be found growing there. They are a great addition to the garden and a source of interest, learning and pleasure, especially to visiting children.

Winters Blooms

Amazing, it is the middle of November and areas of the garden are still so pretty.

Fuschias are still flowering amid the fallen winter leaves. These were only planted a few months ago and have been such a hit. They are good for insects and I have noticed bees in particular love them.

We tried to plant only hardy fuschias, but to give them a helping hand to survive the winter we will mulch them well when we empty the composter.

Co-operation between a squirrel and a magpie

A misty moisty morning. The mist came swirling up to the kitchen windows lightly, but thickened considerably by the time it reached the end of the garden, it was as if we lived isolated in a white void, in total seclusion from the rest of the world.

As the mist lifted, the garden filled with birds, even as I was filling the bird table the blue tits, robins and great tits were flying to the food.

The first bird to feed from the lawn was a jay, swiftly followed by No-Tail the pigeon and a magpie who arrived at the same time. Within minutes a flock of sea gulls flew in, these are wonderful birds to view, as they circle above the grass, swooping and diving headlong in order to feed. I was lucky to be watching from just a few feet away. Very quickly the lawn was cleared of food and the larger birds had all flown.

The squirrels were the next to arrive, as they did so the smaller birds vacated the bird table, for the safety of the trees. With the squirrels came a lone magpie, he sat on a low branch of the old apple tree. The squirrels -three of them each collected food from the bird table, the first one sat on the roof of the bird table eating, the second one took his biscuit and ran down the back lawn to sit on a chair near the pond, the third one climbed down from the bird table, carrying his biscuit three feet along the path and on to the edge of the lawn where he settled down to eat.

This was what the magpie had been waiting for, he dropped from the branch to the grass and slowly strutted across to the squirrel's left side, where he stood so close they were almost touching. The squirrel ignored him. Slowly the magpie moved to the right hand side of the squirrel, walking closely in front of him, the squirrel remained as he  was.

The magpie stayed standing very close to the squirrel, for almost a minute, still almost touching the squirrel who still ignored him. I guess the squirrel had been harassed by the magpie for so long that he has grown used to him.

As I watched I saw something, that if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I probably would have had a problem believing it, however seeing is believing and I saw it.

The magpie slowly walked round the squirrel to face him and so they stood face to face. A few seconds passed and then the magpie lowered his beak and pecked the biscuit, which was still being eaten by the squirrel. The squirrel continued to eat the biscuit and the magpie standing very closely continued to gently peck the opposite edge.

I watched in wonderment. Why didn't the squirrel run away or the magpie try and wrest the biscuit from him?

Raising my head I called Mike to come quickly and see this odd interplay between the squirrel and magpie, this was brilliant timing because overhead flew an eleven strong flock of white geese.

Alas, my hasty call and movement had broken the spell and as I glanced down, so the squirrel and magpie had departed.

What an amazing start to the day, firstly watching the interplay between the squirrel and magpie and secondly being lucky enough to be at the window when a flock of white geese passed over the garden.

These were both firsts for the garden.

A spectacular old man's beard on the way to Papworth

A trip to Papworth, no motorways, just A and B roads through the beautiful English autumn countryside. The  many tones and shades of copper, bronze, brown, orange, green, red and yellow were reminiscent of an artists pallet, and made the journey pass quickly.

The most spectacular sight was for me an old man's beard plant, Clematis vitalba, it is a member of the Ranunculaceae family. It has wonderful soft, white, stranded, fluffy seed heads. they remind me of miniature Father Christmas wigs and always make me smile, today however I was amazed by the size of the plant and the sheer number of seed heads. The shrub it rested upon was taller than I am and wider than both of my arms outstretched, there were hundreds of densely packed seed heads on it, so much so, I was unable to recognise the shrub it had covered.

It is known as old man's beard because it's appearance is reminiscent of an elderly man's beard. It is also known as the devil's plant because of the way it covers and chokes other plants. Many people know it as travellers joy.

The flowers are a very pale creamy, greenish colour and in the U.K. are perfumed. They attract short tongued bees and insects.

The dried seed heads are reputed to readily catch a spark and if so could help with lighting your fire.

A feline predator

We seem to have a trouble maker in the garden, he is a very beautiful multi-coloured cat.

He is here daily, several times in fact and every time I see him he is either fishing in one of the ponds, stalking birds, pouncing on voles and shrews or contentedly crossing the lawn with a creature in his mouth.

I think I must seek out his owner and ask that he be given a bell to wear.

A wondrous white autumn morning

I awoke to a breathtaking white world today - not snow, but a very heavy frost, coupled with a light mist. The world seen from my window looked a wondrous place. Every branch, every leaf and twig was a sparkling white as the sun rose.

Looking out of the end kitchen window I gazed upon the silver birch tree, it was covered in golden, sunlit leaves, as the mist lifted it stood out against a perfect blue cloudless sky.

Beyond this the fields were flooded and the shimmer of the sun on the water, surrounded by the white, frost covered fields already being visited by a flock of swooping and circling gulls, gave me a perfect start to the day.

Shortly after I glanced through the window at the side lawn, it was partly covered in sunshine and where the sun had melted the frost, diamond dew drops glinted and shone from each blade of grass.

How lucky we are with the seasons, that bring so much change and eye catching interest to our lives.

So many flowers are late bloomers.

Update on facially scarred squirrel ( see 01/11/12)

A few days have passed and there has been no sighting of the facially scarred squirrel, he had become  my favourite  and I miss him. He was particularly endearing the way when he was ready to eat, he would come looking for me if there was no food on the bird table.

He would go from window to window peering into the room, looking all round and if he saw me he would bang on the window with the flats of his hands, on noticing him I would give him a wave and off we would set to the side kitchen window. He always beat me and would be standing on the sill, little hands clasped in front of him patiently waiting.

Unlike some other squirrels he was not fussy, whatever I gave him he ate it, which of course endeared me to him even more, causing me to give him the choicest titbits.

I'd like to think that he is holed up somewhere recovering, but common sense tells me that he is not and I will never see him again. I feel sad to think this is most probably the case, but thankful for all the pleasure he gave me.

A Sad Squirrel Day

A sad day, the facially scarred squirrel came to the lounge window for food this morning, as always I waved to him and went to the kitchen to feed him.

Looking out of the window there he was ready and waiting (he is always quicker to reach there than I am!). Through the window I checked his wounded head, on the left side it was hideously swollen, but looked clean and dry --- no oozing pus. I had often seen it looking much worse and wished I could do something about it.

Opening the window I gave him some food, he took it and put it to his mouth, turning it round and round in his little hands. Meanwhile I refilled the bird table with dried fruit, seed, porridge oats, suet and mealworms. Glancing at the squirrel I noticed he was still standing in the same position, holding the food to his mouth and still turning it round and round. As I watched he dropped the food moved across and picked up more.

I had never seen this behaviour before and was intrigued, so continued to watch.

The squirrel went from one piece of food to another, it didn't matter what he picked up, he didn't seem able to eat it. Watching closely I realised that although he could put the food to his mouth he appeared to be unable to open his mouth.

He was obviously very hungry, he was standing on the bird table, bringing his hands together in a sweeping motion, then trying to push the food into his still closed mouth.

He climbed back up to the windowsill and sat there looking at me. I felt so helpless, I didn't know how to help him. Then I had an idea that may work, he loved peanuts, opening the tin I took a handful and dropped them out to him. Quickly he picked one up held it to his mouth, but he wasn't putting it in despite trying, in his efforts he rubbed all of the skin off the peanut. He dropped the peanut and moved on to the next one, he did this repeatedly always with the same results.

While watching him I became aware that his tail which had always been long and luxuriant, was no longer, I noticed the last inch was hairless and looked like a rats tail, the whole of the rest of the tail also looked different. Gone were the long luxuriant light coloured hairs and left was a covering of short brownish hair.

What had happened to him I wondered. Did it have something to do with his inability to eat? Had he been damaged by a car or a cat?

He was back on the windowsill, standing, hands clutched in front of him and staring at me, obviously hungry and still he hadn't managed to eat.

I racked my brains and thought of grapes, which he also loved. Taking four I cut them in half and gave them to him. One after the other he picked them up, put them to his mouth but was still unable to eat them.

It was a good fifteen minutes now and still he hadn't managed to eat anything. He was back on the bird table and sweeping up hands full of food trying to push the food into his mouth. Feeling upset that I could do nothing to help him, I left the window asking myself, what will happen to him.

The Squirrel, the Robin and the Wren

I have often written about the magpies following the squirrels, hoping for their food. This morning I saw a robin following the squirrels for apparently the same reason as the magpies. The bird tables were full up, there was a large amount on the ground and yet the robin chose to watch the squirrel from a nearby branch as he visited the bird table and then as the squirrel left with a biscuit, the robin also left the branch and skimming across the lawn, followed the squirrel into the branches of a nearby six feet high conifer, he appeared to be in hot pursuit of the squirrel. However no sooner had he entered the conifer than he flashed out and a sight faster than he flew in, he was followed by a tiny, fiery, rocket like wren, who caught up with the robin on the woodpile and powered straight into him.

The robin, squirrel obviously forgotten, spent the next few minutes preening himself and straightening his feathers.

I can only assume that the behaviour of the wren was caused because he is nesting in the conifer and considered it his territory, I have never witnessed aggression from a wren before.

I have a feeling the robin might feel safer next time feeding from the bird table instead of following the squirrel for crumbs --- if indeed that was what he was doing.

Spiral stemmed cyclamen seed pods and sunsets.

I wrote a few days ago about autumn flowers and among them cyclamens. While speaking with a dear friend I was told their winter garden tidy was due and one of the jobs was tidying cyclamen  plants. They explained how, by pulling off all the dead leaves, flowers and the little round things on spiral stalks, which they took to be a form of dead flower.

This led me to wondering how many other people do this and I need to say, if you see stems growing from your cyclamen that have formed spirals and have a rounded end on them, it is best to leave them alone if you can bear to, because these are seed pods which if left, will when ready burst open, scattering seeds from which you and your garden will benefit, in the form of more pretty cyclamen plants.

The sky was a beautiful pink prior to the sun setting.

As it set we were treated to a very interesting blue and grey sky speckled with pink.

Green iridescent humming bird

During a telephone call today with my son who lives in Seattle, he suddenly said, "There is a green iridescent humming bird right outside my window. His head and body are perfectly still but his wings are just a blur. He is feeding on a fuschia".

I hadn't told him of my seeing a green iridescent beetle the day before and found this quite a coincidence.

Once again I wondered about the iridescence and if the cause was the same in beetles, birds, moths and butterflies.

Autumn colours and a green iridescent beetle

Pleasantly surprised down the garden this afternoon by the autumn scene which greeted me, many leaves had fallen from the birch tree and these had formed a soft yellow carpet, from which sprang many flowers still in bloom, fuschias, erigerons, michaelmas daisies, tiny ground hugging blue campanulas their bell shaped flowers resting on the leafy expanse, pansies, geraniums and pretty cyclamens.

The earth where the badger had his path was bare and heavily compacted, as I looked something flashed and caught my eye, it was a beautiful green, iridescent beetle. I wished I had my camera with me, but no sooner had I wished it than the beetle ran under the golden leafy ground cover, despite searching for him, he was too quick for me and apart from that one beautiful flashing view I was unable to find him again

I looked them up and was interested to read that the hard surfaces that we see on these iridescent beetles are composed of many layers of little plate like structures that all face in different directions, these layers bend and reflect incoming light, underneath these layers is a further layer of pigment, which enhances the effect of the iridescence.

While being interesting this still didn't answer my questioning mind,  it told me how it happened but not exactly where the beautiful colour came from, I understood there was a further layer of pigment below the plates but this still didn't explain it fully enough for me. I then read that for many species this is still an open topic of research.

Autumn colour, fungi, sparrowhawks and new bluetits

The fungi this year is amazing, I have now found three massive clumps, each one larger than I have ever seen before.

We have blue tits nesting in one of the nesting boxes, they must have a brood because they are constantly searching for food and returning to the nest with it.

The sparrowhawk has fed well on the smaller birds in the garden, sadly the nut seed and fat holders are full and yet they wait in vain for visitors, therefore I was pleased to see a pair of great tits at the feeding station this morning. The disappointment came as I watched them and noticed they were spending longer craning their necks and looking around than actually eating.

Leaves are rapidly changing colour now and the far reaching views are startlingly beautiful. Last nights sunset was one of the best I have seen.

Water and wayside wildlife, fungi and a weasel

We still love to walk by the river, always looking out for kingfishers and herons, very occasionally we see a barn owl. The tawny owls are very noisy at the moment, calling back and forth to each other every night. This time of year the river is particularly beautiful, with its autumnal reflections and the drifts of fallen autumn leaves in their myriad colours floating serenely past.

We walked by the river late this afternoon, two beautiful swans, a pair of Canada geese and an amazing amount of mallards all swam to the bank for food as we passed.

It is surprising how many flowers are still in bloom and the hedgerows are prettied up by not only by the wonderful colours of autumn leaves, but also by the bright berries, it seems a good year for berries, the hedgerows are particularly thick with them. I am also finding fungi in surprising places, today I found the largest clump that I have ever seen, in the middle of a stretch of open grassland, which has the sun on it for most of the day.

The other day we had the pleasure of watching a weasel, he wasn't the least bit worried about us, he kept popping up in front of us and just standing there on his hind legs, hands clasped together, watching us.

Badger and fox harmony at last

It hasn't taken long for the badger to realise the foxes mean him no harm.

This evening we put the fox food out as usual and were delighted when we checked the lawn and saw two foxes and one badger all eating together. There appeared to be no animosity between them.

A stand off between the badger and three foxes

Food out as usual tonight and well spread across the lawn. We don't have long to wait, three foxes and one badger appear, it is clear who is dominant.

The foxes are very wary of the badger and all stand well back, each time the foxes attempt to approach the food the badger rushes them and they hastily move back.

The badger eats  and moves faster than I have ever seen the foxes move.

Foxes are supposed to be cunning, these foxes have eaten here all of their lives, I will be interested to see if they can come up with a strategy to make sure this continues.

Foxes and a badger

Down the garden again to check on the latrines, found the first one had been used again. On to the fence to check the wire netting, if this is the entry or exit point then there may be badger hairs caught on the fencing. There was just one, definitely a badger hair, this was the proof I needed.

At 6:00 p.m. I put out the fox food, and realised that the broccoli put out last night had gone, knowing the foxes have never eaten broccoli I guess it was the badger.

The light faded and no animals had yet appeared, we gave up watching so closely. Suddenly at 7:30 pm we heard the high pitched screaming of foxes, not once but several times, we went to the kitchen window and looked out, from the light shining through the lounge windows we saw two foxes and the unmistakable black and white striped head of a badger. At last! the badger who looked surprisingly small beside the foxes, was hoovering up the food and at the same time keeping the foxes at bay.

The foxes obviously hungry and expecting to eat, were trying to close in on the food, but unsuccessfully. Each time they neared the badger he ferociously dashed at them, warding them off and causing them to scream.

The badger stayed for twenty-eight minutes and then trundled off across the lawn, toward the greenhouse. Tomorrow we will spread the food further across the lawn, so both badger and foxes can enjoy it.

I was on the telephone at the time to our son in America, and he was able to share in our pleasure and excitement, which was a bonus for all three of us.

A second badger latrine

Arrived home today, Mike said to me, "Let's go and have a look at the lawn. While you were away something has been digging holes all over it". I went excitedly outside, I could hardly wait to see if there was any further evidence of badgers, could this be it? Although we hadn't seen one yet I was convinced there was one about.

Near the compost corner I found another hole had been dug, larger and deeper than the first --- a second latrine. The first one had also been used again.

Walking up toward the lane end of garden I was greeted by this rosebush covered in wonderful hips.

Sparrows, starlings and a barn owl

Home again after an enjoyable week in Yorkshire with our little family whose home is there. Sadly the journey up was marred by the number of dead badgers on the roadside.

I wish we had as many sparrows and starlings where we live as I saw in my daughters garden. One evening I was surprised and startled to see a barn owl flying alongside the car as we travelled back to my daughters as daylight was fading and dusk settling in.

Loss of a squirrel

Sad telephone call from Mike to say he found one of the squirrels dead on the lane, obviously hit by a passing vehicle.

At my insistence he went out and collected the body and left it in the garden for the foxes, it seemed such a waste for it to be left on the lane and be repeatedly run over, when it could nourish another animal.

Badger latrine and yellow daisies

This morning on checking the end of the garden I found a hole dug and faeces in it, I am convinced this is a badger latrine.

Excitement is great, but tomorrow I am off to Yorkshire to spend eight days with my daughter and granddaughters, so I shall have to be patient on the badger front until my return.

These glorious daisies are perennial, they are very free flowering over a long period. Many years ago a friend gave us a small clump, over the years they have multiplied and we too have spread them among other friends. They are much loved by bees while they are flowering and by goldfinches when they are in seed.

Badger footprints

Went down the garden to check the fencing and in doing so found what can only be badger footprints.

My excitement is growing!

A Visit to Oxfordshire

Enjoyable visit to my grandson Rick, his partner Juliet, and their new baby. They live in the middle of the Oxfordshire countryside and their garden is always a naturalist's delight. I found the fallen autumn apples very picturesque.

I also saw a baby hedgehog desperate for food wandering about in the late afternoon. I fed him a saucer of milk and some cat food.

Broken fence, ?badgers

Along one side of the garden, the boundary is formed from perennials and shrubs foxes and deer come and go through this boundary at leisure. The end of the garden has wooden post and rail fencing, covered by fine wire mesh. A few days ago I noticed a hole had been made low down in two places in the wire mesh, checking the next day one of the holes had been made considerably larger and plants nearby had been broken.

Having had the pleasure of watching foxes in the garden for many years, I knew it wasn't them who had made the holes, the only creature I thought could be responsible, was a badger. Something I have long wanted to do is to watch badgers, now I have a feeling this might at last happen.

Robins' Nest

Cutting back a large overgrown yew tree, we came upon this robins' nest with three cold eggs in it.

Garden Spider

I noticed this spider in the garden apparently hanging in the air, but on closer inspection I saw he was in his web patiently waiting for lunch.

If you look for them the garden is full of these spiders at this time of year.

Slow worms

To my great dismay I found a dead slow worm in the lane today, squashed flat by traffic.

I have searched this area many times over the last twenty five years, in the hope of finding slow worms and have always been disappointed.

It was sad to see a dead one this morning, but it gives me hope that there may be others in the area.

Greedy Sparrowhawk

Watched the breathtaking flight and swoop of a sparrowhawk in the garden today, as he went after a blackbird.

Seeing the sparrowhawk answered the question of where are all the blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits and coal tits that used to congregate on the nuts, fats, and seed holders, over the last few days they have all disappeared.

We walked along the river to the nature reserve today.

The yarrow was flowering in profusion, both pink and white.

Herons a little boy and other wildlife

I was pleased to see a pair of herons flying over today, daily we see a lone heron fly over, but to see two is very unusual.

We have lived here for almost twenty-five years, an elderly gentleman whom we met in our early days here, told us wildlife in this area many years before had been much greater than at present. He spoke of myriad frogs and toads, grass snakes, slow worms and many, many herons flying to and fro over where we lived. (He had lived in the same dwelling more than sixty years ago.) We have a river nearby and he told us if as a boy he walked left along the river, he would come to an enormous heronry, which sadly has long since disappeared.

A couple of years later I told my then five year old mad about nature, grandson this, immediately he said, "Can we go for a walk by the river?" "Why?" I queried. "To look for their beaks and feet." was his quick reply! "Beaks and feet?" I queried. "Yes" he responded, "that's the only part left now".

As a child my grandson collected many creatures; beetles of all shapes, colours and sizes were to be found in his pockets and scurrying around my kitchen where they were often released to be watched. Worms carried around sometimes in his pockets, more often in his hands, ants were kept in a glass tank and hours spent watching and tending them. Spiders were bred in a huge glass bottle garden jar in the bathroom, the webs built inside were fascinating and dense, and for more than a year Ric found food for them, released the young when too many built up ---occasionally forgetting to put the cover back on their home causing us sometimes to be overrun with spiders! In other containers he kept different types of stick insects, in the conservatory he had salamanders, he grew up with both cats and dogs, if he found an injured creature it was brought back to be nursed and carefully tended until it could be released. Dead creatures were brought back to be dissected, I well remember the excitement of the little boy, dashing indoors to tell me how far down the lawn the intestines of a dissected rabbit stretched, and insisting I watch while he measured them.

I thought when Ric grew up he would be something to do with wildlife, but although he has retained his love for and interest in nature it has not been his work.

New Squirrel with a long, thin, stripey tail

Today I saw a new squirrel in the garden, he is very thin and has the longest, thinnest tail  of any squirrel I have ever seen.

His tail is fascinating, because it is very definitely striped, bands of black, grey and white encircle it. I tried to photograph it, but before I could he was gone.

He didn't stay and eat, but hopefully he will find a settled home here and I shall see more of him.

Honeysuckle, buddleias and fuschias

We planted several fuschias recently at the same time as the buddleias, hoping to give the garden an insect lift. I'm pleased to report it has worked as butterflies are visiting the buddleias, bees are paying court to the fuschias and I was delighted this morning to see a large grasshopper, mainly green but with some brown areas resting on a fuschia.

The smell as we walk down the garden is wonderful, firstly you are aware of the powerful scent of the honeysuckle  which draws so many moths in the evening, then suddenly another smell takes its place, it is a honeyed, moreish perfume and comes from the many new buddleias recently planted.

Although these plants were put in for the benefit of wildlife, we also benefit from the bonus of the wonderful perfume they bring to the end of the garden.

More about the Roof Mallards

I wrote recently about a pair of mallards living on our roof, I wondered as I wrote how long it would last, I was soon to find out, because within two weeks they had moved.

During the preceding week there had been a frenzied flurry of mating --- always in the pond, I thought it was a little late in the season, but trusted their judgement. A few days passed and suddenly she was gone and he was mournful. He stayed on the roof, but spent his days searching the garden for her, disappearing into the undergrowth, poking his head and neck under bushes and into large plants. He was very mournful and all the while kept up a quacking and also looking skywards as if expecting her to fly in to the garden.He didn't find her and we didn't know where she had gone.

Five days later she returned, flying into a splat landing on the lawn and hurrying to look for us --- we fed her, she ate enormously and immediately took off again.

He didn't spot her coming and continued searching the garden for her.

Every two days she returned, going first to the kitchen window, flying up and resting on the bird table, if we weren't in the kitchen she went to the lounge patio doors, after that she would do a quick search of the garden. Finding us at last she would walk hurriedly toward us quaking loudly as she did so, (a very different quack to the musical sounds she made when communicating with her precious ducklings). She would follow me to the end conservatory door, where she waited while I fetched her food, these were the only times she ate here rather than at the side kitchen window.

He remained faithfully looking for her day after day, sometimes he saw her when she flew in and hurried across to be with her, affectionately pushing his beak into her face, neck and upper body, and quietly quacking but she had other things on her mind, and although he tried to follow her she always managed to give him the slip.

Sometimes we would be busy indoors, not see her fly in or appear at the kitchen or lounge windows, on these occasions we would be alerted to her presence by a loud urgent quaking from outside and there she would be, standing in the middle of the side lawn, looking in turn from the side kitchen window to the lounge windows and patiently waiting. We always rushed to feed her and after hurriedly devouring her food while periodically stopping, standing very still with her head to one side as if listening, --- I wondered if it was for her ducklings --- she would be gone. She always finished her food, but did not always stop for a drink or a swim in the pond, often giving one last harsh quack as she took to the air.

He had grown tired of living alone on our roof and had returned to the river, he still visited the garden occasionally. His visits rarely coincided with hers, but when they did he would rush up to her chattering quietly and clearly excited, she on the other hand had little time for him.

Eventually he stopped coming, but every second day she returned ravenously hungry and we were pleased to see her and quick to feed her.

Two days ago we took bread and went to the river to see if we could see her. There she was with her brood of tiny ducklings and we were able to feed both her and her babies. It made our day.

Regenerating the front hedge

Our front hedge has long been neglected and we decided to be severe with it, a lengthy but necessary process. The hedge is formed from Escallonia shrubs and has been in situ for more than thirty years. It is a pretty hedge with pale pink flowers, however due to our neglect it is now more than twenty feet high and although the top is still flower and leaf rich, the lower reaches are brown, bare and dead looking, by hard pruning, we are hoping to replace the dead brown looking bottom six feet, with a lush flower and leaf rich growth.

It is a slow process and the fifteen feet lengths cut off all have to be chopped up, bagged and taken to the tip. I can see this job lasting several weeks, but I am so looking forward to the new regenerated hedge that will be there next summer.

The long pieces cut off have been piled on the lawn, first pile went onto the top lawn, the next pile moved down to the middle lawn, these piles are enormous being fifteen to twenty feet across and eight feet high, there is a lot of work to be done in the clearing of them, meanwhile the pile on the middle lawn, which is outside the patio window and was a source of irritation at first has become a constant delight as it has become a haven for birds.

Xylaria Polymorpha and an Escallonia hedge

I was fascinated by some fungus I found in the front garden yesterday, it was like plump fingers growing out of the soil at the base of a shrub called Escallonia.

The finger like projections were black and growing in a semi circular clump around the base of a thick dead "trunk", I had never seen anything like it before, and the thought it looks like dead men's fingers crossed my mind.

Looking it up I did find it is indeed known as Dead Men's Fingers or more correctly Xylaria Polymorpha it is found usually on beechwood stumps but may also be found on other broad leaved hardwoods. This was interesting to me as the shrub I found it on had small elliptical leaves and although it is a broad leaved shrub I had never thought of it as such (until I looked it up!).

My Escallonia is very old, it was planted in the early 1970's, there are several of these shrubs and they are part of the boundary hedge, which has really outgrown itself. I had decided it needed some hard pruning and we were cutting it back to six feet, which meant lopping off up to fifteen feet of mainly bare wood, the top few feet was still very beautiful being densely covered in both leaves and pretty flowers so I decided to try regenerating the plant by this hard pruning.

The ground underneath appeared to be very dry despite the extremely wet summer, ivy has grown all along the ground at the base of this hedge and we will remove this, I used to have hardy geraniums growing all along the outer edge but I have only two left now as I caught a cheeky man complete with gardening fork digging them up! He had the nerve to tell me he and his wife always admired them and he decided to get them for their own garden, telling me they were only wayfaring plants. I explained they were plants I had bought and put in, off he went with his wife and most of my plants. I decided not to replace them, however time has passed and I have now decided they will be replaced. I have some in the garden and will divide them to make new plants.

While looking up xylaria polymorpha (dead man's fingers) I was interested to read there is another fungus called xylaria longipes which is found exclusively on sycamores and is commonly known as dead moll's fingers!

Further investigation showed xylaria carpophila to be found on rotting beech mast and xylaria hypoxylon which is known as stags horn or candlestick fungus, and is found on rotting fallen branches and stumps of broad leaved trees. It is also found very occasionally on pine stumps.

I shall be looking out for these other types.

Month of myriad moths

This is a wonderful month for moths, every evening the kitchen windows are peppered with them.

I am fascinated by their myriad shapes, sizes and most of all their colours. I have two favourites, the first is a beautiful all yellow moth with creamy yellow body and legs. Second favourite is what appears to be an ordinary brown moth until he shows his beautiful orange underwings and then  he is truly transformed. They are difficult to spot, because they are only fleetingly on show and then he tucks them away, underneath his brown outer wings.

Scarface, the last squirrel

Often I have written about the squirrels in our garden, once more their numbers have suddenly depleted, from having six visit us at any one time, we have dropped to just one. I don't know what has happened to the others.

The remaining squirrel is our old friend with the scarred face. I have no idea what caused such a terrible wound It is still a problem to him as it has never healed properly, although it looks as if it has, but it doesn't seem to bother him. The scar is a bright orangey colour and runs across the left hand side of his face from above his eye, across his cheek and on down to the lower section on the left side of his head.

Another Squirrel -- Not Scarface

Most of the time it looks well healed, other times the whole left side of his head swells up and his left eye which is larger than the right eye due to being stretched open by the scarring, is filled with pus that oozes from the once again infected wound. He seems unconcerned by this and just brushes the pus away from his eye. I am constantly surprised and pleased that he recovers from these infections and has lasted so long.

I wish I could help him, but I know as tame as he is he would never allow himself to be caught.

Blackbird, thunder and a rainbow

It has been a coldish summer day, the evening brought torrential rain showers with it, preceded by thunder.

The fox food had been scattered on the newly mown grass and as usual birds quickly gathered to eat their fill before the foxes arrived.

Three long legged, skinny young magpies together with a balding, patchy parent, in obvious moult were the first to arrive. Next on the scene was a male blackbird who selected cheese from between the pieces of bread and building them up within his beak, flew off to feed his hungry youngsters, he was soon back and collecting more cheese when he suddenly stopped, looked up and spent several seconds scanning the sky. A sudden peal of thunder and then he resumed cheese collecting as the rain came rushing down.

Did the blackbird sense it was going to thunder? I wondered if he experienced a change in air pressure or have some other way of sensing when thunder was on the way.

The time was now eight minutes before nine and the evening sky was darkly grey and overcast, suddenly the whole feeling of the evening was changed as the sky was lit up by a glorious rainbow, the sky above it was a definite pink and below was a grey/blue. A beautiful sight to enjoy.

Another beautiful sight this month are the hardy garden plants like geraniums and lychnis coronaria bursting forth with colour. They give a wonderful show, are great ground cover and best of all reappear year after year.

Stag beetles

I was delighted to watch a stag beetle on a log,which was part of the woodpile, it is a long time since I have seen one of these in the garden, two or three years.

Many people are worried by stag beetles because they have huge jaws which resemble stag horns in shape and look quite fearsome. However these beetles are not at all ferocious, indeed they are quite gentle and will not hurt people or animals. They feed and breed on rotting wood and will do no harm even to plants or living wood.

They are an endangered species and need all the help we can give them, this is easily done by instead of burning or getting rid of wood from old trees, find a place in a corner of the garden to pile it, it is important that it is resting on the earth and then just leave it --- no further attention is needed. In time this heap of dead wood will rot down and if you are lucky will be used by stag beetles, they are fascinating creatures and need our help.

The great thing about a wood pile is that it brings other creatures in to the garden and provides a habitat for all sorts of insects as well as a nesting place for some birds and a home to a friendly toad or two who will enjoy dining on your slugs and other pests.

Help the stag beetle and you will indirectly help yourself, can't be bad, can it?

Nuthatch Youngster

A young nuthatch has been feeding on the fat balls by the lounge patio windows recently. I have also seen him bathing in the bird bath on the back kitchen lawn and climbing up the birch tree. It is pleasing to know nuthatches are breeding in this area.

It was a beautiful sunset this evening, with with shades of purple, orangey reds and lemons lighting up the evening sky.

Blackcaps

Spent almost twenty minutes this morning watching a family of blackcaps, and wondered if they were the family from the nest in the undergrowth on the bank.

They flew backward and forward across the lawn between different shrubs, they also spent time in the birch tree and around the pond, occasionally dropping down to drink from it.

It was good to see these birds successfully nesting and rearing young, and most enjoyable to watch a whole family.

Gutter Squirrel

This cheeky young squirrel has become quite adept at climbing to the guttering above the bird feeding station.

He knows if we spot him, we knock on the window to send him on his way and deter him from climbing down. Don't feel sorry for him though as he feeds very well from the bird table and also from the biscuits handed to him from the kitchen window.

Pineapple Shrub/Tree

Many years ago, we saw a beautiful shrub in an old gentleman's garden, he called it a pineapple tree --- and we fell in love with it. I was enchanted by its perfume and Mike loved everything about it.

Later I spotted one of these shrubs in a garden centre, I was told they were not hardy, they were also expensive, because of this I felt unable to justify buying it, and like the fox in the fable of "The Fox and the Grapes", I told myself that since it was expensive and was not hardy, it would soon die and therefore was a waste of money. Thus I convinced myself that I didn't really want one anyway!

A few years on I saw another one, marked right down, and in a very poorly state, this one I could justify. Taking it home I made a space in a border, dug a hole, enriched it with compost and planted this small half dead looking large twig.Its growth was very slight and each spring I expected it to have been finished by the cold, the rain and the bleak winds that sweep across the fields and through our garden. The first flowers were welcomed with much smelling and many visits just to admire them.

Since then it has grown prodigiously and now is enormous, it is multi-stemmed, therefore a shrub not a tree, and is twenty feet high and twenty feet across. Its Latin name is Cytisus Batandieri it is still a favourite and each year we delight in its profusion of bloom.

The flowers are brightest yellow and grow on upright spikes up to six inches long, with multiple blooms packed on to each spike, they are strongly scented and magically of pineapple. The leaves are grey green and a perfect foil for the bright yellow flowers.

However a word of warning to take care when smelling and not to sniff too deeply, because careful inspection of the tiny flower heads reveals many tiny black beetle like insects.

This shrub is a great draw to the birds, but especially wrens, blue tits and great tits, who have obviously found the secret hoard of food hidden in it's flowers. Even during the winter these birds are still present, though in lesser numbers and can be seen foraging among the leaves.

Green Woodpecker Fledgling and some New Fish

Spent a very enjoyable five minutes this evening watching a green woodpecker feeding her youngster. The fledgling was balanced on a tree stump and the mother was pecking the top of the next tree stump and then feeding him.

After two minutes she flew into the birch tree and then back to her youngster and fed him, she did this several times before they both flew away.

We recently restocked the pond with some new fish. I expect it won't be long before the heron discovers this...

Thirsty Green Woodpecker

Another first in the garden this morning.

I was looking out of the back kitchen window, when a movement on the lawn caught my eye, it was the green woodpecker, as I watched he flew to the pond, balanced on a silver birch branch in the water and proceeded to drink. We have never seen him drink from the pond before.

Later I noticed a green woodpecker drinking from a birdbath, but obviously couldn't tell if it was the same one.

Lesser spotted woodpecker

Watched a lesser spotted woodpecker on the acacia this morning, he was slowly climbing the trunk, going not just upward but across, back and forth from side to side as he slowly moved higher, his beak probing all of the cracks of which there were many.

Lesser spotted woodpeckers eat spiders, insects and larvae, in the winter they will also eat seeds and berries. They are much smaller than the other two woodpeckers --- the great spotted and the green woodpecker. Lesser spotted woodpeckers are barred black and white, the male has a red top to his head and the female has a whitish top, they are sometimes referred to as pied woodpeckers. Youngsters also have a red top to their head.

They roost at night in old holes in trees. Their nests are usually in self excavated holes thirty to forty feet high in trees, occasionally  they will not make a new hole but will use an old one, adapting it to fit their needs. The nesting chamber is about a foot below the entrance and has a layer of dust and wood chips on the bottom. During the last two weeks in May they lay between five and eight shiny, white eggs, which both parents incubate for eleven to twelve days. The nestlings then take between eighteen and thirty days to fledge, they are fed by both parents on soft insects like aphids and larvae.

Sadly these birds are now not as common as they used to be, maybe because of loss of habitat and also because they are predated on by great spotted woodpeckers, and possible other reasons also.

Young newt

I was overjoyed this afternoon to spot an eft, running across a border which was next to an area overgrown with stinging nettles, brambles and at ground level was a tangled mess of ivy. An eft is a young newt, he was golden brown in colour and about two inches in length. He was delightful to watch, I think he must have been disturbed, because it was broad daylight and the best time to spot these appealing little creatures is at dusk with a torch in the breeding season. The little eft I saw was quite a way from the pond, maybe twenty feet, but at this stage in his life he is a ground dweller, and will only return to the water to breed when he is an adult.

Newts breed in the spring, when they return to water to breed, eggs are laid singly on leaves which are then curled over to protect them from predators. A tadpole will emerge from the egg, it has feathery gills, with which to breathe, the newt tadpole will grow front legs before back ones, as it develops it will lose its feathery gills and will leave the pond to live on land. During this stage between tadpole and adult they are known as efts.

When they mature into adults they will return to the water to breed.

Foxes and ducks

Earlier this evening the foxes came to feed, both parents and the two larger cubs, unfortunately we don't see so much of the tiny cub, she is very badly set upon by her two elder siblings whenever she appears, they rush at her and attack her violently, as quickly as possible she escapes into the undergrowth and has only once crept out to feed long after the others had left, scavenging for crumbs where her family had earlier fed.

This evening there were two cubs and one adult feeding, when something drew their attention to the roof, at first only one of the cubs noticed and stared up, then the other two also became aware and leaving the food, moved with one accord further back across the lawn and all three stared upward, for a few minutes nothing happened. They continued to stare and then it was over and they all moved back to the food and continued feeding.

The only possible cause for them to be so fascinated was if they had seen the ducks.