GARDEN BLOG - EARLY SUMMER
There has been quite extensive disturbance in the garden since my last notes! An old retaining wall made of wooden posts had to be replaced and the upper lawned area needed to be supported. We were concerned that the upheaval would frighten away our Bank Vole and Long Tailed Field Mice - but no - they have re-appeared and do not seem to have been affected by the activity.
The new wall is made of natural sandstone walling and topped with flat coping slabs - one advantage of this is that the suns rays warm these stones and butterflies like to rest here. Our house faces East and catches the morning sunshine, I have noticed several ladybird pupae on the brickwork - perhaps they too like to take advantage of the warmth from the brickwork. I am pleased to say that we have had lots of Masonry Bees emerge recently plus much smaller bees from the earth in the garden beds - unfortunately I haven’t managed to identify the latter. It is very rewarding to see so many bumble bees and insects visiting the flowers I specifically selected to attract pollinators.
Blue tits and Great tits have safely fledged from our nest boxes. Every day we see 20 - 30 juveniles at one time feeding on the fat balls and sunflower hearts we provide and - more importantly - on the green fly on our roses and on the tips of our Victoria Plum tree branches. Young Goldfinches and Greater Spotted Woodpeckers are also daily visitors. In fact the woodpeckers seem to think the garden belongs to them and make quite a fuss from adjacent trees in the park if we dare to go into what they perceive as 'their area'.
Bird seen in the garden since March:
Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Magpie, House Sparrow,Robin, Wood Pigeon, Feral Pigeon, Dunnock & Collared Dove
