Another week…

The thing with animals is that they don’t stay the same…

Claire’s brood

need to be on the move

Integrated ducks are almost friends

Bees

need an eye kept

We have a new guest room

busy bird feeders

and

To he who waits…

Six weeks ago we were excited to report the arrival of the first real dragonfly at our new pond.

We learned how Libellula depressa “returns to a favoured perch in the sun”

and eventually “when a female enters a male’s territory the male will fly up and grab the female. Mating occurs on the wing and the pair are in tandem for only a brief period, often less than a minute”

So we excited to be there two days ago for that minute. So excited we didn’t manage to take a picture until the female danced over the water, depositing eggs on the floating foliage

Like the rest of the UK, we are acutely aware of butterfly decline. Memories of the past when every buddleia was clouded in a haze of Tortoiseshells, Red Admirals and Peacocks.

We have had one Red Admiral mooching around for a couple of months and then, yesterday, five newly hatched individuals on the buddleia

Little Hog, Big Hog

This stumbled across our doorstep a few nights ago.

A group of youngsters had been roaming around a couple of weeks ago but this one, at 125g, was obviously failing to thrive. Taken into protective custody it is now up to 168g – on the way to being a big hog.

Meanwhile this hog

should be full of babies (if we got the AI right)
We will find out in a week’s time…

Harvest Moon

If it was a proper hay harvest it would be a full moon but these couple of sunny days are the cue to cut down the grass

and rush out the machinery

to scrape it into plastic bags as quickly as possible.

The Kite looks on hopefully

We inspect the bees

Honey production is in full swing

so we give them dedicated space

and leave them to it

Damselflies enjoy the sun

and we add touches to make our imminent new arrivals feel at home

Preparing for new arrivals

As the sun goes down tonight

We have the bedroom

We have the defences

Soon we will be ready

The July sunshine brings out the silage contractors

and encourages Claire to carry on teaching dust-bathing

This one has the moves but lacks the dust

Very expensive wine

“Country” wines are all very well but if one had to cost in the time spent on them they might not be cheap. Constantly sterilising and rinsing everything involved takes half the time. At least at this time of year it can all take place outside, with judicial use of garden hose and pressure washer.

The thing is, one has to go round over a year before finding out if anything is any good. Right now we are bottling Plum, Damson, and Crabapple from last year. Also Rowan, which a quick taste shows to have promise

Also a mixture including our own grapes, and cider from the apple trees

Elderflower Champagne made this year – we don’t have to wait as long to drink this

We had not started wine making this time last year so these are our first attempts at Blackcurrant

and Redcurrant

We are surrounded by juvenile birds. The Dunnocks have just appeared

They do have to share their feeder

The Middle Ducks have to have a bath upgrade so they still have room to share

also today

Dust baths and Flatpack

Claire takes her family for a walk

shows them what is good to eat

teaches them how to have a dustbath

and at the end of they day beds them down for the night

as the Cock Pheasant saunters up into the wood

looking for his night time spot

Preparations for other feathered things continue with a flatpack bedroom

preparing foundations leads to flat on back

We continue to enjoy the broadbeans

and down in the polytunnel

there are the first signs of ripening tomatoes

plus

Down at the Lake



some of our bees pause to drink

on their way home

Nearby the Veined Whites are in full activity

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

Inspection

Today we inspect the bees

and the bees inspect us

We are pleased to find The Queen in residence

Elsewhere, things are stacking up

Claire is continuing with her maternal duties

and things are swelling

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

Lazy Days

It is not yet halfway through July but, maybe due to the recent dryness, in some ways it is starting to feel like those late summer days when all is done.

The swallow in the woodshed, along with all other birds busy with their second brood, would not agree as they try to squeeze maximum life from the season.

After kaleidoscopic changes the meadow is starting to look dry

But new shapes still appear

[Please tell us what this is – we know you can]

and the Ringlets are joined by a burst of Veined Whites

We feel a bit as if golden sunflakes are covering the ground,
as if we are basking in the sunshine of a by gone afternoon

as we watch the bees leave the hive

to sip at the Lake

where the Diving Beetle lazies

and

even the buzzard appears lazy as it glides through

For Bert lazy is the norm

We use lazy days to prepare for dark days

Kiss me and see

Beneath the flowering water lilies today

This frog seems to issue a challenge

Later, another frog seems more happy to remain amphibian

Earlier, Claire took her brood for a walk

and showed them interesting things

as the sun went down

we brought in a new shed

always exciting. This one is partly to house bee keeping impedimenta

And later these young hedgehogs, spotted on their first foray last night, will doubtless be on the prowl