In the garden we have several nest boxes and an old bird table.
Lots of birds, average 30+ species a year. Visiting hedgehog, once hibernated in the barn. Moths, butterflies - usual garden species, plus orange tip, toads, occasional bat, various shrews, voles, wood and house mice, quite a lot of hoverflies, bees and small insects especially in the lime tree. Nettles, garlic mustard, ladies smock, ivy, hawthorn, ferns; lots of daisies, dandelions, white clover and self heal in the lawn. Plenty of weeds. We're plagued by himalayan balsam seeding itself everywhere.
Construction of pond, planted with mix of native and ornamenta plants (no fish) already producing an exciting number of new species. Increased range of 'accommodation' for birds, bats, hedgehog and insects installed. Plans to increase shrubs near the pond and introduce more wild and ornamental flowers and shrubs to provide cover and food to appeal to insects, butterflies and birds, and increase late summer/autumn flowering and winter berries. I don't want to increase the general workload of the garden which I find quite enough now.7th A beautiful humming bird hawk moth on the buddleia.
A pale green translucent patch in a shallow area of the pond turned out to be blanket weed, which I don't want. Removed it and put it on the compost heap, and found a large snail mixed up in it, at least 1 inch long, rather than the usual no more than 10mm. Sorry, total mix of measures!
8th Some little sticks of unknown species of wild flower seeds that I was given and stuck in round the pond are starting to flower, so far lesser centaury and pale pink and white poppies. The water-forget-me-not, and mimulus are still flowering, as well as the tall lobelias. The oxygenators have increased enormously, and will probably need thinning out later in the year. I have moved some ladies mantle and field woodrush, both of which grow in the lawn, to the pond surroundings.I haven't seen the hedgehog for a week, it has stopped coming for food, but the dome still looks well used, with lots of dead leaves being taken inside.10th Snail identified as Limnaea stagnalis - folding antennae, 7 whorls, long and pointed. Another dragonfly paid a brief visit to the pond, probably a darter, brownish and rather stubby. The new water hawthorn plant has started flowering. Isolated bits of duck weed round the edges, mostly mixed up in other plants.
22nd Instead of 3 whirlygig beetles, which have been there all the summer, there are suddenly 9.
25th And now 11. No sign of activity in the hedgehog dome for 2-3 days. I hope it hasn't been killed on the road. The warm weather has brought out lots of butterflies at last, small tortoiseshell, red admiral, peacock, an occasional painted lady.26th A red squirrel ran along the wall at the top
of the garden, but jumped down on the far side. A rare visitor to the garden, but all in the last 3/.4 years.28th The swallows' third brood, 3 chicks, fledged, and the whole family left on migration the same day. Some more signs of activity in the hedgehog dome. Leaves and twigs in front of the entrance have been moved aside, leaving it clear.30th Finally finished the stones round the pond. Very pleased with the result. The largest stones at the back of the pond came out of the hole. I have planted some snake's head fritillaries in the grass and between the stones round the pond.
We have put up the bat boxes on the disused telegraph pole by the oak tree, removing a low
branch to allow a clear flight path.I am fishing out fallen leaves from the pond each morning now - returning any occupants to the water - using a child's shrimping net bought from the beach shop at St. Bees, very effective.
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November 2006
1st A lovely warm sunny day brought a red admiral out onto the cosmos flowers. A few hoverflies and bees still around No sign of movement from the hedgehog now. Planted some dwarf narcissus round the pond in the grass and between the stones.
3rd. Fishing out some fallen leaves which had sunk to the bottom of the pond caught an immature water boatman in the net, which I returned. No sign of activity on the pond surface now, after several frosty nights. Still some flowers on water forget-me-nots and water hawthorn, also daisies and poppies round the edge.
We now have a cat again, which was previously our daughter's, with a reputation for hunting rabbits, which are plentiful round about. We hope he will also catch rats, which have taken up residence in one of our compost bins, and are plaguing a nearby farm. Our previous cat caught hundred of rats in his 16 years, and only very occasionally bothered with birds.
Nothing in the bugbox, except one small spider. It may not be in a sunny enough position, but we won't move it until next summer.
We have hibernating butterflies in the coal shed, and a couple have turned up in the house. The latter sometimes fall to the floor, apparently dead, but if picked up and put in a quiet corner they soon
latch onto something again, and resume their sleep. One I thought was a dead leaf on the bathroom floor, and picked it and a genuine leaf up, and popped them in the loo, where it floated and slowly opened its wings, showing it was a small tortoiseshell. I quickly rescued it and put it on a curtain in an unused bedroom to recover from its ducking.
At the end of the month the trees are bare of leaves, but the repeated gales whip up fallen leaves and twigs into the pond to be fished out. Apart from a few tiny snails on the leaves there is no sign of activity, though still a few flowers on the water forget-me-nots. A search round the garden on a dry day (remember them?) revealed 25 different flowering plants ranging from ivy leaved toadflax on the walls, groundsel and shepherd's purse in the beds to lavender, nasturtiums, roses and african daisies, as well as expected winter jasmine, ivy and nerine lilies. A second spider, much fatter,
has joined the first in using the bugbox.
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January 2007
A lovely party of about 8 long-tailed tits visited the garden every day for more than a week, feeding on fat balls and peanuts on the new bird feeder, and flitting about in the trees and shrubs.
A few cold days produced ice on the pond several days running, though there was always a patch somewhere that thawed during the day. I haven't seen any birds drinking or bathing in the pond for some time. The pond plants are nearly all showing signs of new growth, and the bulbs I planted round the edge are all coming up, some showing buds.
We put up the 3 open fronted nest boxes at last: one in the open on the rowan tree behind the pond
- it's always possible that the spotted flycatchers which used to nest nearby might
return; one in the middle of a hazel bush, and the third in the cotoneaster, which also has a little clematis growing up it, close to the front porch. Sparrows and starlings are starting to check out their usual nesting sites.
Our new cat left a large dead rat in the middle of the lawn, so he is doing his job. I must say I much prefer to find one on the lawn rather than hidden behind a curtain - and then it was usually only rat's trousers and whiskers - as his predecessor used to do!
Some changes in the garden: I have cleared the strawberry bed near the pond, and replanted them in part of the veg. patch. I now want to plant some shrubs, together with the butterfly mix seeds I have got, in that area and the grass nearby. I want to spread the flowering period, so am going to get a ceonothus, which is
evergreen, a spyrea with a long summer flowering period, and a caryopteris which flowers in late summer, together with a forsythia cutting I have got growing in a corner. I also want to get a couple of pyracanthas to grow up a wall, one red and one yellow berried. I'm also considering cutting down most the the second rowan tree behind the pond, which is a dead loss - very few flowers and often no berries. I shall leave a tallish stump to grow a climber up, which will eventually rot down like a couple of others have done. I want to get the shrubs planted before they start growing again.
March 2007
9th The first bumblebee of the year was out and about in the garden. I also found an active ladybird a few days ago. I have sown some teasel seeds, but honesty, a mixture attractive to insects (not particularly wildflowers) , and some mixed wildflowers for a poor scrappy patch will have to wait a little while.
A male greater spotted woodpecker is once again a regular visitor to both the trees and the fat balls and peanuts.
The cat is now a regular rat-catcher, frequently seen by our neighbouring farming family bringing home his trophies.
14th The solitary whirlygig beetle in the pond has now been joined by several more.
A blue tit has joined in the competition for one of the nest boxes.
16th We are about to go away for ten days, so topped up all the bird feeders in view of the forecast cold weather and snow.
30th We returned to find the fritillaries I planted round the pond coming up, and quite a lot of ladies smock growing there too. There are now lots of whirlygig beetles and a pond skater. However several pond snails have almost finished off the new shoots on one of the tall red lobelias - not very popular. I have built up stones and gravel round it in the hope that the snails won't want to crawl out on to a dry surface. Some of the marginal plants need some radical thinning out if the pond is not to be completely covered with plant growth.
I now definitely have at least two meadow cranesbill seedlings to be planted out. The kingcups and primulas are sending up new leaves (though I've forgotten where I planted some of the primulas!). I think all the hibernating butterflies in the house and outbuildings have flown - 6 that I know of - though 2 in the house didn't survive the winter.
May 2007
2nd We cleaned out the vacated hedgehog house, and found a thick layer of compacted rotting leaves on the floor, with a loose mound of dead grass and leaves filling the space above. There was no obvious sleeping chamber.
7th The tree sparrows and great tits are both making frequent visits in and out of the nest boxes, feeding newly hatched young. The swallows have refurbished the nest they usually use first.here have been a lot of orange tip butterflies in the garden, a few small white and green veined white, and a single wall brown.
The irises in the pond will soon be in flower, and two of the primulas are starting to flower.
During the dry weather the swallows have been swooping low over the pond catching insects.
15th There are lots of larvae and immature water boatmen and pond skaters in the pond. The uncut grass round the edge has flowering lady's smock, sorrel, germander speedwell, lady's mantle, field
woodrush and various grasses.
18th We found a very handsome male cockchafer on the floor in the porch.
21stI found a newly hatched blue damselfly on a leaf. When I checked the pond I found 4 empty larvae cases, and one very recently emerged still almost colourless adult on a reed stem. We identified them as Coenagrion puella, not the Common Blue I had expected.
28th Both the tree sparrows and the great tits have fledged. The young great tits always leave the garden as soon as they leave the nest, but will return some days later; the tree sparrows remain, often close to the nest box.
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July 2007
1st The tree sparrows have carried some new feathers into the nest box and seem to be contemplating a third brood, while still feeding their second.
3rd Found a beautiful swallowtailed moth in the lavender by the porch. There have been very few moths and no butterflies about in the recent horrible weather.
(My notebook got tidied away, and I didn't write down dates for things later in the month)
There was an increase in the moths later in the month (but not the butterflies), and we found a large yellow underwing, a dark arches, an engrailed, a white wave, a drinker, and a very elegant common
footman dressed in light grey with yellow trimmings.
The tree sparrows have had a third brood, though I think only one chick may have survived. There were signs that something had attacked the nest, with feathers used to line the nest scattered on
the ground, and only one, rather than at least two, loudly cheeping chick poking its head out.
The swallows are rearing a second family in the shed, using a different nest. There are 5 nest there, and one artificial one which they have never used, but whick seemed to encourage them to return
after a long absence.
Several water boatmen emerged from their larvae in the pond, but I haven't seen any more damselflies or dragonflies, and it hasn't been hot enough for frogs or toads to need to cool off.
A rare visit from a spotted flycatcher at the end of the month was encouraging. They used to nest nearby and be regular visitors to the garden, but I haven't seen one for several years.
A packet of mixed flower seeds sown earlier in the year, designed to appeal to insects, has produced a bed full of lovely flowers, which is always alive with bumblebees and hoverflies.
October has been a quiet month as far as the pond and wildlife is concerned.
8th A peacock and a comma butterfly on the buddleia. The latter is not at all common here.
13th A larva in the pond, on the shallow beach, crawling like a caterpillar. We eventually tentatively identified it as a water beetle larva, probably Hydrobius.
15th The hedgehog still seems to be active, moving leaves and twigs.The outside light on our porch which comes on at night has been attracting a number of different moths and other insects. A feathered thorn moth took us ages to identify because it was a different colour to the illustrations, reddish brown rather than yellow. There were also several lacewings, a figure of eight moth, and lots of caddis flies almost certainly from the nearby beck, not our pond. Nothing in the bug box yet.
Moved two foxgloves and a cowslip to the back of the pond from other places in the garden.
Bought and planted some thyme between the stones round the pond and some lovely autumn gentians in full flower. A dwarf michaelmas daisy bought at the same time is still in its pot in a sunny spot attracting hoverflies and a few late butterflies on sunny days.
Cleared out some of the surplus growth in the pond, leaving it in a pile on the grass for several days, to allow any occupants to return to the water. By the end of the month there were no snails or
pond skaters visible, but still some whirlygig beetles and small flying insects over the water.
I have several times caught a glimpse of a small bird coming
out of a bat box, probably a blue tit or a wren, but I never saw it clearly.
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December 2006
The mystery occupant of one of the bat boxes turned out to be a blue tit. Hearing a faint tapping from the box I watched until it emerged, squeezing out head down.
By the middle of the month the berries on the cotoneaster were almost untouched, though those on the hawthorn were finished. Very few blackbirds in the garden, which is unusual for this time of year. The water hawthorn in the pond has produced two more flowers this month.
The pond had its first thin layer of ice on the 19th, which thawed during the day. The annuals in the pond which should have died off by now are continuing to spread and flourish. If we don't get any cold weather, and a new crop of seedlings emerges in the spring they may need thinning out. Semi-double daisies round the pond have continued flowering right through the month.
We didn't put any drainage in for pond overflow, but in spite of the appallingly wet weather, about 10 inches of rain in December, it hasn't been a problem. The whole garden is soggy, and water from the pond doesn't seem to have made the grass round it any soggier that elsewhere.When gales have blown leaves into the pond I have continued to fish them out.If some have collected in deeper water then it is usual for a number of wriggly larvae or immature water boatmen to be fished out
too, but I always return these, as far as is possible.
No sign of life from the hedgehog, but I have propped a small, light twig across the entrance, so that I can tell if anything goes in or out.
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February 2007
5th I liberated a small tortoiseshell butterfly from the house, when I found it fluttering against a window in the sun It sunned itself outside for a few moments and then flew off. I had released another one a few days before. The ones in the coal shed are still asleep.
Great tits and tree sparrows are both showing interest in the same nest box; last year the tree sparrows won.
7th During the current frosty weather a narrow strip of the ice in the pond thaws round the edge in the sun, where the liner gets warm. I caught a glimpse of something coming up to this strip for a quick breath of air, before diving down and disappearing into the gravel in a basket of irises. I didn't see it for long enough to
identify it. I don't know if water beetles survive the winter as adults.
23rd A mild day and the pond is coming back to life. New shoots on most of the plants, a pond snail moving about on the mimulus leaves, and a whirlygig beetle spinning round. The birds too are starting to return for a quick drink, but are not bathing yet. I found a green shield bug on the underside of an oak leaf when tidying up the flower border. I left the leaf where I had found it. The two spiders which were in the bug box have left, and it is now empty. No sign of any frogs or toads coming to spawn in the pond.
The rotten stump of a cherry tree near the pond has started to fall to pieces, so I have dug it up, together with its rotten roots and stinkhorn myceleum. I have piled up the rotten wood nearby, filled in the hole and turfed it over. The nearby very narrow bed at the side of the pond has been extended a bit. Last autumn I gathered and sowed some meadow cranesbill seeds in a pot. Something unfamiliar has germinated, and if it turns out to be meadow cranesbill I shall plant it out in this newly extended bed, along with the primroses there at the moment.
April 2007
7th No sign of any frogs or toads spawning in the pond. Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies have made brief appearances, both species have hibernated in the house and buildings.
The nest box competition continues. Tree sparrows have been carrying feathers and dried grass in, blue tits have been hopping in and out and chasing off great tits when they show an interest.
Cleared out some of the oxygenators which are almost choking the pond and piled the material beside it. Pond skaters have reappeared.
Several queen buff-tailed and red-tailed bumblebees are about, also a tawny-mining bee, looking very bright in the sun.
8th I'm pretty sure the hedgehog has woken up and probably left. The dead leaves and grasses by the entrance have been disturbed, and I found distinctive droppings in the garden.
15th The first swallow arrived yesterday, and today a pair were checking out their usual summer home in the garden shed. The snail barrier in the pond may have kept out the pond snails, but it allowed in the slugs! No more shoots on the lobelia.
A number of common carder bees are enjoying the flowers on the rosemary bush.
The nest box dispute has been settled. The tree sparrows are using one box, the great tits another, and the blue tits have decided to look elsewhere, possibly one of the holes in the walls that they usually use.
24th The pond has been more than filled up by over 1 1/2 inches of rain in 2 days ending the lovely dry spell.
June 2007
1st A Large Red Damselfly was settling on the pond plants, especially the water forget-me-not where she was laying eggs.
4th Several more blue damselflies have emerged in the last two days, all the same species as last month.
8th A different blue damselfly visited the pond. This one looked more like a Common Blue. The tree sparrows have added more feathers to the nestbox and are starting another brood. The swallows have hatched their first brood. A Garden Bumblebee was visiting the foxgloves behind the pond.
9th Today we had a female Common Blue damselfly settling obligingly on a lily leaf, just like the book says!
11th I disturbed a frog or toad which swan rapidly down and was hidden from sight before I could see which it was.
16th It is a frog. It was sitting in longish grass beside the pond today when I was fishing out leaves and twigs after the stormy weather of the last few days. After a few minutes it leaped into the
water and swan down among the water forget-me-not out of sight.
21st We've returned home after a few days away to find the swallows have fledged. Before we left there were three little heads looking out of the nest, now there is just the mess they leave to be cleaned up.
27th The second tree sparrow family fledged today. For the last few days it has looked as though the parents have been trying to encourage the young to fly by sitting a foot or two from the nest
entrance chirping loudly, before giving in and fetching more food. The garden is full of birds with young families (house sparrows, starlings, robins, great, blue and coal tits, dunnocks, blackbirds, greenfinches, goldfinches, tree sparrows, swallows and a juvenile greater spotted woodpecker), with the young clamouring to be fed, adults squabbling and chasing each other off the feeders, bathing and drinking parties round the pond, and occasional visits from a sparrow hawk producing uproar and, if successful and undisturbed, leaving a neat circle of feathers on the grass where
some small bird has met its end.
I recently read "No Nettles Required" by Ken Thompson, an excellent book on gardening for wildlife, based on research projects, rather than commonly held beliefs.
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August 2007
2nd The surviving tree sparrow chick fledged, and I saw it fly off
following a parent. Looking in the nest box later I found it stuffed
almost up to the entrance hole as new material had been added for each brood.
4th The swallow family fledged. I'm not sure if there were two or
three chicks this time.
6th A tree creeper spent some time checking out the crevices in the
cherry tree. We only see one once or twice a year as a rule.
8th A hedgehog has returned to the garden for the first time since
the spring when the hibernating one left. I shall put food out for
it and listen for the familiar rattle of the saucer on stone as it
puts its feet on the dinner table.
11th National Moth night, but raining so I didn't look round the
garden. A large yellow underwing, a chinese character typically
looking like a bird dropping, and sever grass moths on the porch
under the light. There are some newly emerged butterflies about, red
admiral, peacock, small tortoiseshell and wall brown, but very few
compared to other years.
19th I disturbed a large toad while gardening, which crawled off into
a cavity in the wall - plenty of cover there for toads all the year round.
26th a noisy party of at least a dozen starlings were holding a
bathing party in the pond, with much splashing and squabbling.
27th A grey wagtail spent half an hour catching insects around the
pond, and then flew up onto the roof of the greenhouse/conservatory
where we were sitting, and scurried up and down the glazing bars just
over our heads picking out flies and spiders. We had a marvellous
close up view. There have been bats about recently, but not I think
using the bat boxes. I haven't seen the hedgehog for a couple of
weeks. I gather the wet summer means lots of food available for
them, so they don't need to forage far afield.