The Wildlife Garden in July

July is always a lovely month in my wildlife garden and this year was no different with spotted flycatchers nesting here this summer. I was able to watch these wonderful, charismatic little birds around the garden every day with one permanently on the nest and the second of the pair feeding, although I never witnessed a changeover.  All around the garden lots of wildflower species were in flower but meadow cranesbill in particular was still much in evidence, creating a huge swathe of blue in one area of the garden right outside my office window which was wonderful to look out on! Oxeye daisies were also flowering well – especially outside the house back door – again a beautiful sight.  Elsewhere, there were large areas of hogweed in full flower These are left where they are as the flowers attract huge numbers of small invertebrates, which in turn provide food for chiffchaffs and other small birds in the garden. A Juvenile great spotted woodpecker was seen on the 5th which was the first seen here for a while. As the week ended one of the flycatchers was always on the nest while the second bird could usually be seen in an oak tree nearby.

Gatekeeper

In the second week of the month St John’s wort was flowering prolifically around the garden especially on the pond bank and in some of the nectar borders. Lady’s bedstraw and common knapweed were also both flowering well and attracting a wide range of invertebrates.  The common spotted orchids though were now over and setting seed.  However the long herbaceous borders were coming into flower and it seems they are going to make a good show this summer! The yellow flowered Centaurea is very tall as is the Echinops – both wonderful for summer butterflies.  Elsewhere in the garden more wildflowers were in bloom especially meadowsweet which has seeded and is flowering all around the garden now – in fact July seemed to be a good month for many of the wildflowers in the garden.  Lots of young goldfinches were seen feeding on the seeds of the sow thistle and both flycatchers were seen daily this week including one on the 15^th with a white butterfly in its beak!

Meadowsweet in full flower

The third week of the month saw a complete change in the weather to a short heatwave! It was very hot, humid and dry. There were very few butterflies around, – in fact it had been a very poor summer for butterflies so far with only a few browns in the meadow and the odd gatekeeper.  The flycatchers however were feeding young in the nest which was brilliant!. The wild mallard seem to have abandoned our pond and the moorhens had moved to the pond in the field next door.  Knapweed and St Johns wort continued to flower in the meadows, and the meadowsweet scented the air.  On the 18^th I had a glimpse of a kingfisher by the Big Pond.  The last week of the month saw the weather back to ‘normal’ after the mini-heatwave. In fact by the 25^th it was quite cool and windy! Two mallard reappeared on the pond – an adult female and a well grown youngster.  There was no sign of the flycatchers at the nest but on the 23^rd several were seen around the garden in various places, especially by the pond and in the orchard, so presumably they had successfully fledged.

Yellowhammer on the overhead wires

The 25^th of the month was quite cool and windy but lots of young tits were feeding around the garden and a pair of yellowhammers was seen on the hedge and sometimes on the overhead wires. The linnets, which appear to be nesting in the big meadow, were still with us but there was no great increase in the numbers of butterflies except for whites and there were no migrant species at all.  Excellent news though was that house martins seem to be investigating the nest cups we put up above the back door of the house seventeen years ago, and they are spending some time in the nest cups! 

At the end of the month the weather was cooler again and by the 28^th it was quite cold!.  A wren was seen again in the log pile in the copse where there had been a successful nest earlier this year, plus two juvenile greenfinches visited the feeders in the garden along with an adult male. At the front of the house the swallows were feeding a second brood (and dropping their poo sacs onto the car!) and the month ended with a lovely bright day on the 31^st with lots of exciting wildlife all around the garden.

Meadow Cranesbill

Moving on ………..

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Small, Elegant Birds…….

The weather is a bit hit and miss here in South Shropshire at the moment – sometimes mild and bright and sunny and the next moment there are flurries of snow and a raw, bitter wind. Yesterday was freezing and even the birds weren’t feeding that much – they all seemed to be sheltering in the thick holly hedge! However there are still signs of the spring that will inevitably come as snowdrops, hellebores and even a few daffodils are in flower. Other birds are now singing including the local coal tits – sweet little birds that I love to see around the garden. Where they nest is anybody’s guess but we do have lots of small woodlands round about that are overgrown and not managed in any way, so I assume that coal tits and the local marsh tits are able to find nesting holes in old trees. The large local elders in particular develop hollow stems and branches where the soft heart wood has decayed. Both coal and marsh tit are amongst my absolute favourite birds and we are so lucky to have plenty of them here. At times in late spring we see small family parties so know that they must breed somewhere nearby. In their soft palette of buff, grey and black, they are truly elegant birds.

Nearly Spring……..

This is a time of year when my senses get a bit confused – I know it’s early January and there are probably at least two more months of winter to endure, but in my heart I feel it’s spring.  Getting up at six this morning – and yes it is mild at the moment so its easy to think that it’s nearer March than Christmas – but there was a definite feel of activity outside as the sun rose. It wasn’t long before a mistle thrush began to sing from a tree at the top of the hill, and by 7.30 a song thrush was singing heartily from the wood next door.  Other birds were joining in just a little – great tits were calling, nuthatches making a lot of noise and the odd dunnock was contributing with a short snatch of song from the top of our hedge.  Yesterday I watched a blue tit thoroughly investigating one of our nest boxes, going in and out, and sitting on a twig outside, looking carefully around to make sure this was a good place to bring up a family.  I also noticed a flurry of movement in the pond in the field next door (an early frog??) and our snowdrops are in bud.  All this activity helps increase anticipation – spring is not far away and the wonderful wildlife cycle starts again in the garden.

Wild Weather Visitors…..

Everything in my Shropshire garden over the last couple of weeks has been completely dominated by water.  Rain, flooding and saturated ground has made it difficult to do anything constructive outside and has severely restricted any travelling.  It has though brought many smaller birds flocking to the garden, especially tits, nuthatches and at least one treecreeper.  Marsh and coal tits have been very active, taking sunflower seeds to cache for later in the winter.  The small feeding tray I use outside the back door has food placed on it every few hours, but I have to keep my eyes open for the local grey squirrels who will devour the whole lot in a few minutes.  Lack of natural food after such a poor summer is very apparent, with even the squirrels taking the apples from our trees and eating them there and then. 

We have also been lucky here in the last couple of weeks to see both a stoat and a weasel around in the garden, the latter popping in and out of the mole runs and the log store.  But although the wet weather has brought a few less usual visitors, hopefully as we move into December the wet and windy weather will make way for something more settled and dry.

Winter Visitors…..

The weather is considerably cooler here now and there is a real feel of autumn in the mornings with frost on the grass and a cold wind from the west.  This has meant the arrival of the winter thrushes, and I can put up with any amount of cold weather if the consequence is having redwings and fieldfares here.  The largest flock of redwings I have ever seen here – over 200 – arrived a few days ago and they are making their way around our little valley eating every berry in sight.  Fieldfares so far have only arrived in small numbers but they are as grumpy and feisty as usual and already arguing over the remaining apples on two of our biggest trees. 

Gardening at this time is certainly lessening, as I tend to leave alone as much as I can from now until the spring.  So much lives here in sheltered places that I have no desire to disturb hibernating mammals and invertebrates.  Raking leaves from the grass though is a job I do when I can, as we have a large number of trees here, and the leaves all go into the chicken wire leaf compost area where they can be left to break down over time, while making a great wildlife habitat.

Back home……

It’s holiday time, or at least it has been for the last two weeks, and I have been away in the wilds of Cornwall enjoying gardens very different from mine here in Shropshire, as well as catching up on some wildlife watching along the coast.  I always find it inspiring to look around other gardens and often I come home from trips away with ideas for this garden, with a list of things I would like to plant here that I don’t already have.  Rarely though, do I see a garden with as much wildlife as this one, and that gives me a great deal of satisfaction.  I must be getting something right!  Often the gardens I visit are those under the care of the National Trust and generally tend to be very large, but I am sometimes disappointed with the lack of planting for wildlife.  But still they are beautiful gardens and I enjoy them very much.  Back home the autumn is well and truly upon us.  There have been frosts while we have been away, but still plenty in the vegetable garden.  Apples too are still in need of harvesting so hopefully there will be some pleasant weather to tempt me out, although it probably won’t be as warm as Cornwall!

Happy sheep……….

September brings lots of work in the garden, and we have been cutting our meadows as well as storing vegetables and fruit, especially apples.  The poor summer weather has meant the apple crop is poor, but there are still enough cookers for puddings through the winter, and more dessert apples than we can possibly eat!  Potatoes have been dug and stored in a dark basement and onions and shallots lifted and dried in the greenhouse.  We have an overload of lots of good things to eat as I am still picking spinach, courgettes and french beans amongst other things.  The fruit store and freezer are overflowing and cupboards are beginning to fill up with jam and chutney.  Preparing all we have grown for the months ahead is a long job, but I still have to find time to make sure the meadows – and we have about an acre of meadows and mini-meadows all together – are cut and raked.  This year the job was made easier by a small flock of friendly sheep in the field next door.  The hay has been raked up and thrown over into their field, and they are the happiest sheep I have even seen!

Hungry Dragonflies…….

As the weather has warmed up (and it stopped raining!) in the last couple of weeks, the garden has been transformed.  Suddenly we have masses of dragonflies including four species of colourful hawkers, plus lots of ruddy darters and other smaller species.  The hawkers are quite a nightmare to photograph as they rarely sit still for a moment.  They have been fighting over the Big Pond with a constant clashing of wings.  The smaller species, especially the ruddy darters, are very obliging and often come and sit on me if I am using the garden seat by the pond.  They love this area and will perch on the back and the arms of the seat whether it is already occupied or not!  The larger species can also be watched catching their prey – they are formidably quick and I have seen them take butterflies on the wing, dashing from a perching place and plucking the unsuspecting insects out of the air with astonishing accuracy.  One hawker in particular has a little spot for himself above one of the long borders, but in spite of their brilliant eyesight, I have seen him dash out and catch a passing thistle seed!

Bunnies versus Vegetables…..

Although I appreciate all the wildlife we see in the garden here, there is the odd creature I would prefer not to have. Our previous garden in Oxfordshire was invaded by rabbits, and although we had carefully fenced them out, neighbours had not been as thorough and rabbits managed to find their way in. Only the vegetable garden was safe as a second line of defence was erected. When we arrived here, although there were no rabbits around at that time, we rabbit proofed the whole garden to keep them out from the start as we grow vegetables for our own consumption, not for little rabbits however cute they are. Recently though our defences have been breached. Baby Bunny has managed to find a way in. He is certainly sweet to look at and quite confiding so I am not minding him too much, but he will soon grow into a lettuce munching monster, so he must go. I am setting a live trap for him, tempting him with carrot tops and other tasty rabbit treats, but no luck so far. I’m hoping he will soon succumb though, so he can be reunited with his rabbit friends on the outside of the garden.