Puncture

Picked up my 2nd puncture in almost 4 and a half years the other day with this gate latch embedded in the tyre - Nasty!

New Pond Visitors

Southern Hawker

Common Darter (female)

Chiffchaff

The pond's only 3 weeks old and already it's attracting wildlife. A Grey Wagtail visited briefly before being chased off by the cats and was seen to fly over the garden later in the day. This was a new bird for the garden and hopefully will return.

On both Saturday and Sunday, in the warm sunshine, a Southern Hawker spent 15 minutes or so hunting over the pond and a managed to get some flight shots as it seemed reluctant to use the pearches I had provided. Also a Common Darter put in a brief appearance. I'm hoping these dragonflies will eventually breed in the pond when there is more plant cover.

In the pond itself we saw our first Ramshorn Snail, probably introduced through the addition of plants.

Elsewhere in the garden, I put up 5 bird feeders with nuts and seeds and birds seen were Coal Tit, 10+ Long-tailed Tits, Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Robin and Wren although none were actually using the feeders yet.

Also Timmy the Fox had a wander around in broad daylight whilst we were actually in the garden - he seems to be getting bolder by the day.

Berry Munchers

Woodpigeon eyeing up some more berries

The elderberries are systematically being stripped by Woodpigeons at the moment, whilst the squirrels have had most of the hazel nuts. If one year we do Elderflower wine or hazel nut flan, we're going to have to harvest promptly before the creatures get their fill.

Garden Spider

There are some really impressive Garden Orb Spiders about at the moment, some are large and beautifully marked. Have a look at this individual that Josh found.

Garden Spider

Froglet and Holly Blue

Froglet
Holly Blue

There's still a few butterflies seen in the garden on the warm days, mainly Large and Small Whites although this Holly Blue was seen in the vegetable patch. Also the occassional froglet is found in the long grass around the pond - we haven't found any frogs that have put themselves in the pond yet, but I'm sure they will have moved in by next spring.

Fox at Moth Trap

A good catch of mainly yellow underwing species

The confident juvenile Fox we call "Timmy" has taken to loitering around the moth trap and springing on any he finds in the grass. Here you can see him looking directly at me because he can hear the camera firing.

Weekend Wildlife

Timmy the Fox wandered around the patio as bold as brass the other day even though he could see us at the window. Also I've added a Coal Tit picture taken last week.

"Timmy" Fox

Coal Tit

The pond is started to take shape with more plants being added. The 2 joists on the left are for some decking. Wildlife seen this weekend were: Two sizes of diving beetle, back-swimmer Whirly-gig Beetle (again just the one) and brief visits from dragonflies - most likely Common Darter and Southern Hawker. Also a male frog was rescued from the cats and put in the pond.

Bird visitors were Chiffchaff (sang briefly), Coal Tits, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit & Blue Tit and a flyover Swallow.