Tuesday, 3 April 2012
My April Challenge - Day 3
I thought I should snap a daffodil today. They have been out a long time and most of them are past their best.
Monday, 2 April 2012
My April Challenge - Day 2
I am struggling with this challenge already and very dissatisfied with today's shot. Hopefully I will do better tomorrow....
Sunday, 1 April 2012
My April Challenge - Day 1
As I mentioned yesterday, in an effort to improve my photography, I have set myself a challenge for the whole of April.
I plan to photograph a different flower each day for the whole month. The weather could, of course, upset my plans, so I am allowing myself to take multiple photos on a single day to use on those days when I either don't have time or the weather defeats me.
Today was a beautiful day. Here is my effort...
I plan to photograph a different flower each day for the whole month. The weather could, of course, upset my plans, so I am allowing myself to take multiple photos on a single day to use on those days when I either don't have time or the weather defeats me.
Today was a beautiful day. Here is my effort...
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Another Record-breaking Month
Another month of surprises - one of the warmest Marches on record. The temperature reached 23C here last week. And virtually no rain! Everything is topsy turvy. The bluebells started to flower in the middle of March, at least a month early. There are lots of flowers in bloom but the lack of rain seems to have delayed the leaves on the trees. Strange indeed.
There has been frantic activity in the garden this month. The birds are in furious nest-building mode. The long-tailed tits are building their nest in one of the ornamental firs next to the driveway. They have been fluttering around my office window collecting spiders webs that accumulate around my window.
A pair of great tits have started building in the new nest box on the pergola. This is usually blue tit territory.
Last week I was watching a Red Kite collecting twigs for a nest which I think is in our garden. I am not completely sure where but it is very exciting if such magnificent birds of prey are nesting here.
The hares are out in force. There were five of them in the garden last week, but no opportunity for photos. They are one of my favourite animals.
There is also a new baby muntjac. I spotted it last week with its mother just as it was getting dark, so no decent photo.
The warm weather has also brought out the butterflies. I have seen brimstone, holly blue, large white, orange tip and the comma below which was sun-bathing with a blowfly on my Cherry Laurel last week!
I will finish off with a photo of a pair of wood anemones. There are lots of them among the primroses, wood sorrel and violets, all of which are flowering really early.
I have set myself a challenge for April. I plan to photograph a flower each day for the whole month, hoping that I can manage 30 different ones. I hope the weather does not deteriorate too much. Photographing flowers is impossible in wind and rain. Fingers crossed.
There has been frantic activity in the garden this month. The birds are in furious nest-building mode. The long-tailed tits are building their nest in one of the ornamental firs next to the driveway. They have been fluttering around my office window collecting spiders webs that accumulate around my window.
A pair of great tits have started building in the new nest box on the pergola. This is usually blue tit territory.
Last week I was watching a Red Kite collecting twigs for a nest which I think is in our garden. I am not completely sure where but it is very exciting if such magnificent birds of prey are nesting here.
The hares are out in force. There were five of them in the garden last week, but no opportunity for photos. They are one of my favourite animals.
There is also a new baby muntjac. I spotted it last week with its mother just as it was getting dark, so no decent photo.
The warm weather has also brought out the butterflies. I have seen brimstone, holly blue, large white, orange tip and the comma below which was sun-bathing with a blowfly on my Cherry Laurel last week!
I will finish off with a photo of a pair of wood anemones. There are lots of them among the primroses, wood sorrel and violets, all of which are flowering really early.
I have set myself a challenge for April. I plan to photograph a flower each day for the whole month, hoping that I can manage 30 different ones. I hope the weather does not deteriorate too much. Photographing flowers is impossible in wind and rain. Fingers crossed.
Monday, 27 February 2012
Winter came . . . and went!
February is proving to be a very odd month this year. There has been very little precipitation in this area, either rain or snow. Reservoirs are very low and the water companies are talking about a hosepipe ban very soon.
There was very little sign of winter until a couple of weeks ago when we got a covering of snow - only about 2 cms. Enough to look pretty for a while.
The temperatures went down to -12C for a couple of nights. The following week the temperatures were up again to +12C during the daytime. Last week they reached a balmy high of 16C - very unusual for February.
These extremes are having an interesting effect on the wildlife. Two hares have been cavorting round the garden in "Mad March Hare" style, or should it be "Mad February Hare" style? Mr Pheasant has been harassing the Mrs, showing off his beautiful colours and chasing her around the lawn. There were badgers out and about on the roads last night when I was driving home, sadly one of them had been hit by a car :(
I have never understood why, but in February we seem to get larger numbers of roe deer in the garden. A few weeks ago, I counted six of them. It's a pity that I could only capture three of them in this photo.
A large flock of redwings also passed through. There must have been at least two dozen of them. On the same day, I spotted some Lapwings in the field at the front. They did not come into the garden but it is the first time I have seen them around here. Too far away for a good photo, unfortunately.
Finally, I have been working very hard on my new web site. My English Country Garden web site (www.english-country-garden.com) is looking a bit old fashioned and in need of a refresh. I have been rebuilding the site with a new design including some new photo galleries. It is proving to be a big job. The web site has more than 500 pages and it is a lot of work to transfer all of them to the new design. It will not be completed for some weeks yet but watch this space for the relaunch!
There was very little sign of winter until a couple of weeks ago when we got a covering of snow - only about 2 cms. Enough to look pretty for a while.
The temperatures went down to -12C for a couple of nights. The following week the temperatures were up again to +12C during the daytime. Last week they reached a balmy high of 16C - very unusual for February.
These extremes are having an interesting effect on the wildlife. Two hares have been cavorting round the garden in "Mad March Hare" style, or should it be "Mad February Hare" style? Mr Pheasant has been harassing the Mrs, showing off his beautiful colours and chasing her around the lawn. There were badgers out and about on the roads last night when I was driving home, sadly one of them had been hit by a car :(
I have never understood why, but in February we seem to get larger numbers of roe deer in the garden. A few weeks ago, I counted six of them. It's a pity that I could only capture three of them in this photo.
A large flock of redwings also passed through. There must have been at least two dozen of them. On the same day, I spotted some Lapwings in the field at the front. They did not come into the garden but it is the first time I have seen them around here. Too far away for a good photo, unfortunately.
Finally, I have been working very hard on my new web site. My English Country Garden web site (www.english-country-garden.com) is looking a bit old fashioned and in need of a refresh. I have been rebuilding the site with a new design including some new photo galleries. It is proving to be a big job. The web site has more than 500 pages and it is a lot of work to transfer all of them to the new design. It will not be completed for some weeks yet but watch this space for the relaunch!
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Pesky Woodpeckers
This has been one of the warmest Januaries on record in this part of the UK. Although we have had a few hard frosts, it has generally been remarkably warm. Great news from the point of view of heating bills.
Earlier in the month we had a lot of high winds, so bad that a tree was brought down in the garden.
On closer inspection, the tree was full of holes obviously made by woodpeckers. I don't know whether the tree was rotten inside when the woodpeckers decided to nest there, or whether the woodpecker holes caused the tree to rot?
A fallen tree is always a useful source of fuel for our wood burning stove and it was not a very pretty tree, anyway. Luckily it did not fall on anything.
Just outside our kitchen window we have a two storey luxury bird box. The great tits had been showing great interest in it until an incident last week. I had been out all day and when I arrived home was shocked to see that a woodpecker had completely wrecked the box! It had obviously been busy all day enlarging the holes. They are now so big that you could fit a tennis ball through the holes. Completely ruined for nesting great tits :(
I cannot understand why the woodpecker would do this. At this time of year there was obviously nothing nesting yet (I don't think so, anyway). I am wondering if the woodpeckers themselves are planning to move into the box. That would be interesting.
The sparrowhawk is still making life difficult for the little birds around the feeders. As I have mentioned before, it is a little stupid sitting on the garden chair waiting for the little birds to appear. The little ones have more sense than that.
It appears to be getting more desparate, however, and we have seen it on several occasions try to chase the little ones into the bushes. Of course, it's size does not allow it to get in among the branches, so it usually leaves empty-beaked.
Today, I managed to grab a photo. It is not a good one because it was late afternoon and the light was fading. But, at least you can see it is a male with a grey back and reddish stripes on the chest.
It is February tomorrow and the forecast is cold with possible snow on the way. We have not had any snow yet this year. It has been a strange winter. There are daffodils, snowdrops and primroses flowering and some of the bluebells are even several inches high.
Earlier in the month we had a lot of high winds, so bad that a tree was brought down in the garden.
On closer inspection, the tree was full of holes obviously made by woodpeckers. I don't know whether the tree was rotten inside when the woodpeckers decided to nest there, or whether the woodpecker holes caused the tree to rot?
A fallen tree is always a useful source of fuel for our wood burning stove and it was not a very pretty tree, anyway. Luckily it did not fall on anything.
Just outside our kitchen window we have a two storey luxury bird box. The great tits had been showing great interest in it until an incident last week. I had been out all day and when I arrived home was shocked to see that a woodpecker had completely wrecked the box! It had obviously been busy all day enlarging the holes. They are now so big that you could fit a tennis ball through the holes. Completely ruined for nesting great tits :(
I cannot understand why the woodpecker would do this. At this time of year there was obviously nothing nesting yet (I don't think so, anyway). I am wondering if the woodpeckers themselves are planning to move into the box. That would be interesting.
The sparrowhawk is still making life difficult for the little birds around the feeders. As I have mentioned before, it is a little stupid sitting on the garden chair waiting for the little birds to appear. The little ones have more sense than that.
It appears to be getting more desparate, however, and we have seen it on several occasions try to chase the little ones into the bushes. Of course, it's size does not allow it to get in among the branches, so it usually leaves empty-beaked.
Today, I managed to grab a photo. It is not a good one because it was late afternoon and the light was fading. But, at least you can see it is a male with a grey back and reddish stripes on the chest.
It is February tomorrow and the forecast is cold with possible snow on the way. We have not had any snow yet this year. It has been a strange winter. There are daffodils, snowdrops and primroses flowering and some of the bluebells are even several inches high.
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Merry Christmas!
I have been seriously lax in keeping up to date with this blog in recent weeks. I hope to remedy that in 2012. We were away for a couple of weeks in November - a wildlife holiday of course. So, I would like to start with one of my holiday snaps. This was definitely NOT taken in my garden!
This harrassed mother had 3 cubs, just a few weeks old. The runt of the litter could not keep up with the others so Mum kept giving it a helping hand, or should I say mouth.
Well, back in the UK, life in the garden has been busy as usual. The weather has been very changeable but not particularly cold. November was apparently one of the warmest on record around these parts. It is causing confusion with the plants, of course. We had primroses flowering in November and some daffodils are in bud at the moment.
There has been plenty of fungi around but not as many as last year. Unusually, there have been huge numbers of Trooping Funnels (Clitocybe geotropa), not only in the garden but all around the village.
Trooping funnels are large mushrooms with a cap that can be up to about 8 inches (20 cms) diameter. As the name suggests they grow in large rings or "troops". They are apparently edible but I don't advise eating any fungus without first checking with an expert.
2011 has been a good year for squirrels. There are dozens of them, all very hyperactive, running up and down trees and along fences. Luckily there are plenty of acorns to keep them away from the bird feeders.
Talking of bird feeders, in the last couple of weeks we have had a regular (unwelcome) visitor - a sparrowhawk. It sits on top of the bird feeder, which is a bit stupid because, of course, all the little birds fly off and hide.
The deer have been a bit elusive recently, although we have seen the Roe Deer twins, those born this year, in the field in front of our house. A couple of muntjacs have also been foraging in the garden - a female with a youngster.
Sadly it is not going to be a white Christmas this year, but I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2012.
This harrassed mother had 3 cubs, just a few weeks old. The runt of the litter could not keep up with the others so Mum kept giving it a helping hand, or should I say mouth.
Well, back in the UK, life in the garden has been busy as usual. The weather has been very changeable but not particularly cold. November was apparently one of the warmest on record around these parts. It is causing confusion with the plants, of course. We had primroses flowering in November and some daffodils are in bud at the moment.
There has been plenty of fungi around but not as many as last year. Unusually, there have been huge numbers of Trooping Funnels (Clitocybe geotropa), not only in the garden but all around the village.
Trooping funnels are large mushrooms with a cap that can be up to about 8 inches (20 cms) diameter. As the name suggests they grow in large rings or "troops". They are apparently edible but I don't advise eating any fungus without first checking with an expert.
2011 has been a good year for squirrels. There are dozens of them, all very hyperactive, running up and down trees and along fences. Luckily there are plenty of acorns to keep them away from the bird feeders.
Talking of bird feeders, in the last couple of weeks we have had a regular (unwelcome) visitor - a sparrowhawk. It sits on top of the bird feeder, which is a bit stupid because, of course, all the little birds fly off and hide.
The deer have been a bit elusive recently, although we have seen the Roe Deer twins, those born this year, in the field in front of our house. A couple of muntjacs have also been foraging in the garden - a female with a youngster.
Sadly it is not going to be a white Christmas this year, but I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2012.
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