For a few weeks, I've been enjoying watching bumble bees on our brambles, our saved for insects thistle patch and on the purple geranium, looks to be three sorts (must get them identified).
Monday was spider day - we have lots of different sorts of webs on our gorse bushes, keep meaning to identify. On Monday, walking on a path through long grass - as in regularly trodden on long grass - there were spiders running away to hide in the longer grass half a dozen or more at a time. Mostly tiny black ones, plus a slightly larger one with black legs and a tiny droplet of a body in cream or yellow.
Been rather short on butterflies, mainly seeing small white, speckled woodland and red admiral. But yesterday I saw a peacock being really beautiful on the thistles.
Then I was out in the dusk and a large white bird flew up low about fifty feet away and landed on a plank railing and looked at me - a barn owl. Tried getting a photo but light conditions too low. The owl sat there for a good thirty seconds watching me calmly, then I looked up from the camera settings and it was gone. I see one a couple of times a year at most, and that is the closest ever and not seen them perched before, just flying over, all busy.
I carried on to our outbuilding in the field and stuck my nose in - and there were lots of swallows roosting so the two pairs that had nests have been successful in raising most of their chicks (I found the remains of at least one swallow on the ground during daylight earlier that day, could be two, lots of wing feathers and other bits so was a bit concerned). Some of the swallows took off and were flying round in the roof in the dusk so I backed out fast to kneel in the doorway, and provided some very low level lighting with the phone light half hidden and they all found their ways back to a safe roost. (Need to set up a wildlife camera in there before the season starts next year, so they get used to it.) One year one pair built their nest by a regularly used door in a shed near the house and threatened us every time we used the door. We know they had four chicks that fledged - we saw them multiple times a day from about three feet away.
Then as I was walking back along the semi-path in the long grass, using a torch for better footing, a young frog leapt out of my way and went to hide in the long wet grass. A few years back, in a wet summer, there were frogs everywhere; first one I've seen this year, but it's been overcast and dry a lot of the time.
Monday was spider day - we have lots of different sorts of webs on our gorse bushes, keep meaning to identify. On Monday, walking on a path through long grass - as in regularly trodden on long grass - there were spiders running away to hide in the longer grass half a dozen or more at a time. Mostly tiny black ones, plus a slightly larger one with black legs and a tiny droplet of a body in cream or yellow.
Been rather short on butterflies, mainly seeing small white, speckled woodland and red admiral. But yesterday I saw a peacock being really beautiful on the thistles.
Then I was out in the dusk and a large white bird flew up low about fifty feet away and landed on a plank railing and looked at me - a barn owl. Tried getting a photo but light conditions too low. The owl sat there for a good thirty seconds watching me calmly, then I looked up from the camera settings and it was gone. I see one a couple of times a year at most, and that is the closest ever and not seen them perched before, just flying over, all busy.
I carried on to our outbuilding in the field and stuck my nose in - and there were lots of swallows roosting so the two pairs that had nests have been successful in raising most of their chicks (I found the remains of at least one swallow on the ground during daylight earlier that day, could be two, lots of wing feathers and other bits so was a bit concerned). Some of the swallows took off and were flying round in the roof in the dusk so I backed out fast to kneel in the doorway, and provided some very low level lighting with the phone light half hidden and they all found their ways back to a safe roost. (Need to set up a wildlife camera in there before the season starts next year, so they get used to it.) One year one pair built their nest by a regularly used door in a shed near the house and threatened us every time we used the door. We know they had four chicks that fledged - we saw them multiple times a day from about three feet away.
Then as I was walking back along the semi-path in the long grass, using a torch for better footing, a young frog leapt out of my way and went to hide in the long wet grass. A few years back, in a wet summer, there were frogs everywhere; first one I've seen this year, but it's been overcast and dry a lot of the time.
I love walking barefoot on a very well maintained, velvety lawn - as an occasional treat. But for every day, hay meadow all the way. (I was raised by a lawn fanatic who levelled the land, rolled, seeded, and devotedly maintained the lawn he grew from scratch, then for years there was hand weeding and edge trimming - and critique of other people's inferior lawns. I was expected to help with edging and weeding. Hhm. Gardening for food, yup, but lawns.....)
