There was much drama in the garden last Saturday when an early morning visit from a Sparrowhawk resulted in the loss of one of our Long-tailed Tits. Emma managed to witness the whole event unfold with the hunter entering stage right before finishing up with a small ball of feathers Read more…
On Sunday we took part in the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch, the largest citizen science project of its kind and one which has been reporting on the state of our nations birds since 1979. You only need look at the number of people who have already submitted their records Read more…
The dry summer has really helped keep garden growth under control this year but on Saturday I could finally put off the inevitable no longer. It was time to cut the grass. I can hear your shrieks of despair from here but fear not for I had a cunning plan. Read more…
Last weekends wall to wall sunshine capped off a perfect week weather wise and it wont come as any surprise to hear that we were out and about making the most of things. As ever options were numerous but a certain Cuckoo out west seemed like the ideal excuse to Read more…
Last years inaugural Patchwork Challenge turned out to be an unprecedented success with birders around the country willing to fly the flag for their own regular haunts. For me the real delight was in the range of different habitats covered from world renowned nature reserves to small unknown localities, such Read more…
Every check of the news throughout Thursday brought an ever increasing sense of doom as it became clear that the west coast of Britain was to be hit by its highest tides in at least sixteen years. That sounded bad enough but with every new severe flood warning issued i.e. Read more…
Time has very much not been my own of late which meant that a few hours free this afternoon were met with unfettered enthusiasm. Sadly the weather wasn’t quite on our side and could best be described as gales with added greyness. Never fear however as whatever the conditions there’s Read more…
A couple of hours running the moth trap last Saturday night delivered another new moth for the garden in the shape of this rather nice White Ermine. Unlike my previous catches this individual was found a short distance away from the trap instead of actually in it. I’m beginning to Read more…
I popped the moth trap out for a couple of hours on Friday evening which was about as long as I dared in its current non-weatherproof guise. Despite the short operation window though it still managed to catch one moth in the shape of this intricately patterned Small Phoenix (Ecliptopera Read more…
This years extended winter has meant that the garden feeders have really taken a battering from the local bird population. Each refill has typically been lasting just a couple of days resulting in us getting through a lot of seed. The care package that arrived from Nature’s Feast a few Read more…