And another one bites the dust!

Yet another new species - the fourth for July - finally, a Peregrine flew over this afternoon. And no less than a life Orthoptera tick - Roesel's Bush-cricket (at last!) in the long grass in the field.

Also a couple more recent snaps:

Yet another Reynard special - this one down to eight feet on the patio.

Swallow Prominent - new for The Willows

More newbies - 102 up and mammal photos

Two new bird species this week - both waders. Julia had a pair of Oystercatchers flying over, and today a Greenshank flew high overhead, calling.

But the photo action has been mammalian and nocturnal - Badgers! And Foxes! Just fantastic to enjoy these two flagship mammals up close and regular, right in front of the patio door. Some decent moth traps of late have also turned up some good 'uns, the best of which was probably the very scarce and local Cloaked Carpet.

Buff Arches

Cloaked Carpet

True Lovers' Knot

The Miller

Small Phoenix

And a bonus Frog Orchid, photographed at Martin Down....

...plus a Dark Green Fritillary, also at Martin Down

More remote camera success - and some!

Last night we set the camera trap up for video rather than stills - and got a massive surprise when we checked the files this morning! BADGERS! Not just one, but five of them snuffling about by the feeders - and in one video sequence, there's a Fox in the frame as well! A garden tick - but more than that - just fabulous.

Ton up! 100 birds completed - plus Foxes and more

Success! On Julia's birthday, you have to say rather unexpectedly, came bird species no. 100 - a Stock Dove flew over and joined two others with Wood Pigeons in the horse field. Yippee! Still no Peregrine, however....

Foxes have been regular for some weeks now, feeding on cheap catfood we've been putting out, but Julia's birthday present camera trap proved for the first time the presence of not one but TWO at the same time!





Baby birds and families have been a big feature too - notably Jays (up to four at a time on the bird table) and Great Spotted Woodpecker. At least two broods of Blue Tits were reared successfully, and there's an occupied House Martin nest under the eaves as we write.



Moths have been good too - lots of hawk moths, plus various local or scarce species, such as Lilac Beauty, Bordered Beauty, Lobster Moth and Minor Shoulder-knot. There was even a day-nectaring Hummingbird Hawk-moth on our new Verbena bonariensis!

Lilac Beauty

Beautiful Hook-tip

Blood Vein

Hummingbird Hawk-moth

Long time no blog - part 2: wildlife

The garden bird count has inched ever closer to the magic century - we're on 99! 98 was an unseen Reed Warbler singing towards Linbrook Lake, and 99 was a flyover Mediterranean Gull, picked up on call.

But more of a feature has been the explosion of baby birds - we managed at least one and probably two broods of Blue Tits from our boxes/soffit boards, and our feeders are being thronged by Blue and Great Tit families, Nuthatch juniors, Great Spotted Woodpecker squeakers and even House Sparrow neonates - plus more besides. Mallard are regular on and near the pond, and we even had a pair of Gadwall drop in there one evening. On the reserve, it's been all about breeding action too - Common Terns are doing well (and regularly overfly the garden) and the Sand Martins are as abundant as they've ever been. On the downside, we've had just one Hobby sighting this spring.

Great Crested Grebe - the male from the breeding pair on Ivy Lake

Sand Martins doing what they do!

Insects have been well-represented - the dragonfly list has boomed, with Four-spotted Chaser, Broad-bodied Chaser, Red-eyed, Blue-tailed and Common Blue Damselflies on the pond, plus a superb Downy Emerald on the Reserve, and Hairy Dragonfly.

Downy Emerald at 1/1500th of a second

Four-spotted Chaser

Moth trapping has been fair - a full season's report will follow later! For now:

Pebble Hook-tip

Apart from the inevitable Rabbit population boom (not too much damage so far, touch wood!), the mammal highlights have been several Moles (all but one dead, alas, and the live one seen by Julia only - Simon still needs Mole as a lifer!) and undoubtedly two regular Foxes, one a chunky dog, the other a very slim young vixen, we think, who has been coming to feed right by the patio under floodlight. Fantastic stuff.

Baby Bunny

I'm ready for my close-up now!

Long time no blog - part 1: the garden

We've slipped badly into a habit of not doing our blog - or maybe the excuse is having had so much to do and enjoy? In no particular order, then....

New garden hardware additions have been legion: a lovely seating arbour by the pond (now largely planted up and surrounded by burgeoning plant life), a 10m trellis down the old fence line to giove a bit of height and shelter, and an SKW designed patent pallet compost bin system!

The veg bed is now fully rabbit-fenced, windbroken (?) and growing new potatoes (ate the first ones yesterday - superb!), onions, shallots, garlic, French beans, tomatoes, sweetcorn, courgettes, salad, broccoli and lots of willow whips!

Before planting - but note the ace fencing!

After - late May
And the Sweet Williams have been amazing

And here's a pond shot from some weeks ago, for comparison with a late summer photo to follow....

Spring pond - pre-tellis and pre-arbour! Note the apple trees blooming away happily....

While the spring has been marked by an absolutely absurd lack of rain (although as I write this, it is at last TEEMING down outside), and we've been watering new plants and trees like mad, we have seen so much growth and development - more encouraging and less daunting than just a few weeks ago!

96 and counting....

Two new birds in recent days - a migrant Sedge Warbler in song (but unseen) and a Garden Warbler audible over the bottom fence today. Also our first Broad-bodied Chaser, prospecting the pond!

Easter holidays begin

Lots more achieved in the last week - both pond beds are now done (and mucked, courtesy of three trips - count them! - to Lady Muck's horse paddock) and planted up with all kinds of goodies. Even more impressively, the veg bed is fenced (although not yet quite finished), and everything is burgeoning.

Pond looking great....

...and house looking great in the pond!

Dungtastic

Veg bed ready to go - almost!

More recent moth trapping has turned up Early Tooth-striped and Twin-spot Quaker plus lots of commoner early spring species. Comma, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Hummingbird Hawk-moth (!) have all put in daytime appearances.

Spring - new arrivals!

The most exciting news of the lot this weekend was the unexpected arrival (and not only to us but to the owner, Chris!) of a beautiful foal in the field. She must have been born on Friday night or Saturday morning, and she's now gambolling about happily, well looked after by her experienced mother. She already has a name (not given by us!) - Spice. So welcome to the world, adorable creature.

Awwww!

Spring is well and truly sprung now - Chiffchaffs are singing everywhere, trees are bursting forth (not the birches or oaks, mind you!), the hedge is growing happily, Brimstones, Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells are on the wing and there were even Pipistrelle and Noctule Bats hunting this evening, the first day of BST.

New species for the garden have come thick and fast too - a long-overdue singing Goldcrest last week, and an unseen calling Redshank today - we're now on a scarcely believable 95 species. Moth-wise, a good trap in mild conditions produced several lifers among garden ticks - see some photos below, plus Clouded Drab, Brindled Pug and Diurnea fagella, a micro, of which interestingly Portland had only their second ever record today as well.

Pine Beauty

Oak Beauty

Engrailed

Early Grey

Fionnbharr has also been keenly helping - in this case hunting moles.....