Dark-edged Bee Fly

3 of these little chaps buzzing around the Honesty plants this afternoon. Not quite so enchanting as the hummingbird hawk moth, but pleased to see them anyway. They are not a bee at all and they do not bite or sting. However... they are parasitic on solitary bees so harmless unless you are a developing bee larvae.

Comma Butterfly

A lovely spring day yesterday, saw this overwintering Comma butterfly flitting about the copse of the East side of our little plot. It is resting on the emerging Cow Parsley. I also saw a Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterfly enjoying the Spring warmth. No sign yet of a Brimstone or Orangetip.

Coltsfoot

 

This cheery Coltsfoot is pretty much the only wildflower I could find that was in full bloom in the meadow; no sign of the leaves which lends the plant it's name; these will appear later. The appearance of the flowers before the leaves is why this plant  is also known as 'son before father', hinting at  the seemingly strange order of the plants emergence. Historically, the plant was used for its alleged medicinal properties, however in more recent times the plant was found to contain toxins potentially damaging to the liver so should not be consumed. Simply enjoy its cheery disposition on a cold March day.

Hit to Toad Jack...

 

Found this little chap nestling under a sheet of corrugated Onduline next to a pile of logs near the pond.

Sadly no toad or frogs sporn to be seen in the pond as yet. I will be keeping an eye out for newts returning to the pond as the weather warms (hopefully) over the coming weeks. We had newts appear and breed in the pond last year even though the pond had only recently been completed. Excited to see if we get our first ever frog and toad sporn arriving in 2022, although if it doesn't happen soon we are unlikely to get any this year. Watch this space.

Barn Owl Box

After a lot of pulling on ropes and checking levels, I managed to get the box up and secured. Rather annoyed with myself that I forgot to make the undercut on the branch that I had to cut back in order to provide a clear flight path to the box entrance. As you can see, even though I cut the branch away from the trunk, without the undercut it allowed the weight of the limb falling to rip into and damage the trunk! The tree is an Ash and is currently free of signs of Chalara [Ash dieback] disease.

 

Swift Nest Boxes

Just put up 4 x swift nesting boxes ready for summer and I  hope that I will be able to tempt some of our summer visitors to take up residence. These brilliant boxes were made by John Stimpson, a passionate Cambridgeshire resident that has rightfully earned high praise from Chris Packham for the staggering amount of nest boxes he has made to help in the conservation of the magnificent swift. You can find out more about John's bird box building here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-57444334

John has also made a barn owl box for me and I will post a picture as soon as I get it put up!

Get the Habit, habitat!

Hedgehog heaven!

Habitat stack 1

Habitat stack 2

Habitat stack 3

Habitat stack 4 by the pond

'Build it and they will come' 

Clint (Our East wood) was too overgrown and some diseased Ash trees needed to be removed. While I hate cutting down any tree (most trees), I thought I would put the wood to good use and make some wildlife friendly habitat log piles for insects, newts and hopefully provide some wood that will be useful for stag beetle larvae. We live in hope. I am taking the  build it and they will come approach to managing my 6 acres for wildlife. This stack is at the top of the pond and in a rough area of grass adjoining the wood.

 

Late season meadow cut

East view towards the bund

North view

So, the week before the clocks went back, I had the wildflower meadow cut and the grass put in compost heaps at the edge of the woodland. Hopefully the snakes will make use of the composted grass next year as a place to lay their eggs. While there were some bare earth patches still on display, I took the opportunity to sow some Yellow rattle seeds that will hopefully make an appearance in the spring and start to work their magic on the more rampant swathes of grass that are dotted about the meadow. 

 

Tortoiseshell & Red Admiral Butterfly

The meadow is still in full bloom and the butterflies and bees are taking full advantage. Red Admiral (bottom) feeding on cover and Tortoiseshell, feeding in a corn-cockle large white and small copper were all on the wing. 

 

Smooth Newts Arrive!

While keeping on top of the duckweed in our small garden pond, I accidentally scooped out two little efts (young newts). You can still see the gills at the back of the head and in front of the front legs.  I'm delighted and honored that these little fellas have chosen our pond to hold up in. That's two ponds and two breeding groups! These are common/ smooth newts.  Can only hope that we may at some time in the future, be blessed with a colony of great created newts to top the bill... Time will tell. Regardless of possible future events, any newt sighting is a real pleasure. The only downside to finding great crested newts is we won't be able to catch, disturb or handle them without a license! A small price to pay if we have made a habitat that GCN's can thrive in.

Common Blue - Polyommatus icarus.

At about 5pm in a sunny spot in the meadow, there were three or four common blue butterflies visiting the wild flowers. The main target flowers as shown in the picture were Birdsfoot Trefoil. 

 

Wildflower Meadow - Year 1

 

Well it's still only the first year and the cornfield annuals are putting on a show. Will be a few years yet until I can think of it as a wild flower meadow, but very pleased with this early result as a start. 

Emperor Dragonfly

This female Emperor dragonfly is laying her eggs just under the surface on this pontederia (pickerel) weed plant. Several males and females can be seen in dogfights over the water surface.

 

Grass snake on pond

 

Great to see this shy newcomer take up residence! - My wife however was less than thrilled!

Small Copper Butterfly on on Corn Marigold flower

 

First year of sowing cornfield annuals and pleased to see that they are supporting the butterflies which have been quite scarce thus far. Hope to see numbers improve over time  as I increase the diversity of flora and supporting habitat over the next few years.