Garden Party

Harvest Mouse

I knew someone was living in the greenhouse when I found an opening to a small tunnel under the floor.  The cat snoozes in there so I decided this must be a very brave or a very stupid creature.  Well, she introduced herself today.  I was busy resting on the spade when I noticed her foraging amongst the Forget-me-nots.  I thought she would spot me and run away but she didn't.  Perhaps she is a little blind creature ... she stayed in open view for ages.  I was able to get within inches of her as she scurried round searching for food.  We store the bird food in the greenhouse so she couldn't have been that hungry. Harvest Mice only live about eighteen months but they breed three times a year and can have up to seven young each time.  At that rate my greenhouse will be over-run with Harvest Mice ... good job the cat does snooze in there!

A few other new creatures turned up today.  There are at least seventeen frogs croaking away in the pond and piles of frogspawn keep appearing.  I am amazed at the numbers ... I counted two in there yesterday morning; seven yesterday evening but seventeen today must be a record.  It's only a small pond.  It can't sustain seventeen adults and all those taddies once they hatch.  I'm imagining a writhing jelly bath as all the water is displaced.  Do frogs return to their birth pool to breed?  I think we need a bigger cat! In fact, I think we will GET a bigger cat!

There were eight female Pheasants in the field this morning and two Red-legged Partridges yesterday (a new species for the house list this year) and Andy heard a Blackcap singing today.

Coltsfoot

The country lanes are full of Coltsfoot at the moment.  I think it is a beautiful flower.  I would leave it to bloom if it grew in my garden but take care to dispose of the flower before it went to seed.  It is a very invasive plant and difficult to control.  One plant produces 1,500 to 3,500 seeds and they can disperse up to four kilometres away.  That is why it is classed as a weed.

Common Field Speedwell

Another pretty plant is covering the field across the lane. Common Field Speedwell (Veronica persica).  This is the commonest Speedwell in England yet it only arrived here in 1825.  It doesn't rely on seeds alone to propagate,  just one small piece of stem can grow into a full plant.  Strangely, its petals drop off within minutes of the flower being picked. 







Made good headway on the new path today.  Still lots of work to do but it is enjoyable when you can see it coming together. 

Night.

Spring Forward

Mute Swan

What a difference four weeks makes ... the snow has melted and sunshine has warmed the soil since my last visit.  Today the sky was filled with Black-headed Gulls and the water was teaming with Wigeon; Tufties and Coots but best of all was the Great-crested Grebes dancing together.  I am always amazed and delighted to see their choreographed ritual.

Great Crested Grebe

A Little Egret was fishing near the bank.  It made a beautiful composition against the dark green reeds with a perfect reflection on the water.  I must have taken twenty shots with my new camera ... all blurred!  Perhaps I should have left it on Automatic instead of trying to conquer the F-stop!

We were treated to a Sparrowhawk fly-by and we had brilliant views of Lapwings ... such a beautiful bird. 

The walk began and ended with a Kestrel.  We saw it in flight as we arrived.  Three hours later it was perched on a hedge, beautifully ginger in the sun.  

All together we saw fifty-five species - a record for this walk. 

Wigeon

The high-lights for the day has to be the butterflies (FIVE bright yellow Brimstones; a Comma; a Peacock and a Red Admiral) and hearing a Woodpecker drumming while watching two Goldcrests and a Goldfinch in the trees.

I spent a couple of hours in the garden before tea.  Happiness found for free in life's simple pleasures.









The Bird List:
Mute Swan; Canada Goose; Wigeaon; Mallard; Tufted Duck; Goosander; Little Grebe; Comorant; Grey Heron; Buzzard; Moorhen; Oystercatcher; Curlew; Common Gull; Great-Black-backed Gull; Woodpigeon; Great Spotted Woodpecker; Pied Wagtail; Dunnock; Blackbird; Redwing; Goldcrest; BlueTit; Marsh Tit; Rook; House Sparrow; Goldfinch; Reed Bunting; Greylag Goose; Shelduck; Teal; Pochard; Goldeneye; Pheasant; Great Crested Grebe; Little Egret; Sparrowhawk; Kestrel; Coot; Lapwing; Black-headed Gull; Herring Gull; Feral Pigeon; Green Woodpecker; Skylark; Wren; Robin; Fieldfare; Mistle Thrush; Long-tailed Tit; Great Tit; Magpie; Carrion Crow; Chaffinch; Yellowhammer.

"I dreamed a thousand new paths ... I woke and walked my old one."

Spent the day digging soil and lugging stones around until my back demanded a rest.  Laid about half the path edging so should only take me a couple of days to complete and the weather forecast is fine for the weekend.  Going shopping tomorrow for the stones and plants.  I have bought two cherry trees already and I want a couple of flowering shrubs to add height.  I have planned two trellis screens to obscure parts of the garden along the path and hopefully make it interesting so I will need climbing plants too.  The ground cover is taken care of already ... I have pots of Aquilegia, Aubrieta, Foxgloves, Fushia, Bearded Iris, Lupins, Marigold, Oriental Poppies and Red-hot Pokers.  Not looking much at the moment but give it a couple of years ....  Really looking forward to getting it finished!  So is my back!

"Good plans make elusive dreams come true ..."

The sun came out this week so I grabbed the garden fork and dug up the path and part of the lawn.

I have made a real mess!

I used garden canes to decide where the new path should go then changed my mind.  I made a number of sketches and threw them away again.  I measured the ground; I stared at the ground; I wandered round the ground.  It grew dark and I hadn't got very far so I spent the evening looking through books and websites for inspiration.



Gresgarth Hall          Vegetable garden

 This is Gresgarth Hall, home to Arabella Lennox-Boyd, a renowned landscape designer.  She opens her garden to the public once a month (next open day is 24th March).  Is this what I want ,,, a path with plants?  Or do I want something like this?

From Fine Gardening Magazine

This is Contance Hansen's garden in Oregon as featured in 'Great Gardens'.  I have a mature Japanese Cherry Tree (Prunus yedoensis) near the back gate together with a white and a purple lilac (Syringa) and a Rowan tree (sorbus aucuparia) so the top cover is in place .... its everything else that's missing!!

Here's what it looked like last summer:

Strange how your ideas change.  I was happy with it last summer!  Now I see two very short paths and too much lawn.  Well, the grass has gone so whatever plan I eventually decide on,  it won't look like this next summer!


It has been raining quite heavily today but the garden was still alive with bird song.  No-one has moved into any of the bird boxes yet and the hedgehog house remained empty all winter (was it cold enough to make them hibernate this year?).  Early days yet though.

Friendly Robin

We have two pairs of Robins fighting over their territories: one set in the back hedge and the other in the front Holly Tree.  They really are 'neighbours-from-hell'!  We have this cute perception of them from Christmas cards but a male robin seeing another male robin in his teritory really does "see red"!



There will be blood!  A robins protecting their territory.

 They have been known to fight to the death!  The collective noun for three or more crows is 'A Murder of Crows' that title should go to Robins (I think it is 'A Worm of Robins' but someone might be having me on!).

A friend shared this .... caused quite a bit of confusion and lots of requests for an explanation!




This Mortal Soil

There were four female Pheasants feeding this morning and one lone male later in the day.  They tend to come in small groups but one day recently thirteen turned up: five beautiful males and eight females.  Unfortunately we were not the only people to be watching.  Whilst we were away last week two men came down the lane with dogs and guns.  I hope more than five birds survived.

The young hare has disappeared too.  People have to eat I suppose.

Dipping & Diving

Blandford Forum is a market town on the River Stour in Dorset. Last Monday I spent a few minutes standing on the new bridge over the river and could not believe the wealth of wildlife. I was within walking distance of a Morrison's and a busy carpark yet a kingfisher was sitting in a tree watching us whilst we were watching the otters.

 It is a well known urban site for otters ... even more so now it has been featured on 'Winter Watch'.  We were only there a few minutes when we spotted this one feeding near the bank.  It posed for a few shots then teased us by pretending it was swimming closer but dived every time my camera was focussed.  Suddenly a Black Headed Gull swooped in and screamed for re-enforcements and the otter had to swim for cover. 

A few minutes later we were watching a male swan lovingly mimic his mates movements until her tail went up and he was able to show the world how much he cared!
 

We were in Hampshire to see the Dark-eyed Junco -



Dark-eyed Junco



only the thirty-eighth recorded sighting for Britain so

quite a rare bird.  We made our way to the Hawkhill

Enclosure in the New Forest and joined a small group

of birders.  There were plenty of Chaffinches and

Reed Buntings and Common Crossbills ... but no

Junco ... until  we arrived!  If only it was always that

easy!  He is a first winter male who should be in an

American forest right now but somehow endured

the long flight and has been drawing the crowd since Christmas.

Then it was off to see the Spanish Sparrow.

Spanish Sparrow

  
I saw a number of these last October on Fuerteventura ... a long way from Calshot.  This one was in the middle of a housing estate.  A young woman had been feeding the birds and noticed a strange sparrow.  It is a stunning bird.  He looks magnificent in his breeding plummage .  Such a shame.
 

Before heading home on Wednesday we took a two hour detour to see a Common Yellowthroat. The rain began as we crossed the toll bridge into Wales.  We found the field and joined thirteen birders prepared to brave the elements for a view of this little North American warbler.  We waited two and a half hours in the wind and horizontal rain.  We had dipped out so we headed home.  It was a disappointed man who drove me back.  He is even more disappointed now because I found this blog from a man who saw the bird just thirty minutes after we left!  


DALE FARM GUEST HOUSE

Dale Farm Guest House, Dibden

  

We stayed in this cosy 18th century farm house at Applemore Hill near Southampton.  Surrounded by beautiful gardens and woodland it is a lovely, peaceful place to stay if you are planning a trip to the New Forest.



Old bridge at Blandford Forum





Common Buzzard



River Stour Blandford

 


Robin in the New Forest



Photographs copyright Andy Mason

Back in Business

My finger nails are grubby and I'm slightly stiff .... but I'm back in the garden.

Trays of Snapdragons; Sweetpeas; Delphiniums; Lupins; Marigolds and Coreopsis are in the greenhouse and I have a pot of Hostas on the kitchen windowsill. 
Raking dead leaves uncovered loads of tulip and daffodil shoots.  Inspecting the over-wintering pots was like meeting up with old friends! New buds are appearing and it is time to get back out there, tidy up and plan the next show.

A great deal of time and effort went into the garden last year and I was happy with the result.  It was a tidy, colourful but very average garden.  This year I want to dig it up and redesign the place.  At the moment we have lawns and borders.  I would like a winding path and masses of plants instead!  Tons of work, loads of planting ....exciting!! 

THE LANE

Woodlouse House is on an unadopted lane.  It is a mud track that gets rutted and puddled  in Winter so every Spring we have to patch it up. Water drains off it naturally as it borders a farmer's field.  Each year he comes down and trims the Hawthorn hedge and mows the grass verge but the rest of the year it is left to grow wild.  


 For the last few years I have been planting a few bulbs each Autumn and throwing a few seeds at the ground each Spring.  We now have daffodils and tulips; aquilega and poppies followed by hellebores and sedum but I know we can do better!  I have 30 lupin plants over wintering ready to make an appearance together with red and pink oriental poppies and a few foxgloves.  Hopefully they will look splendid and the bees and insects will approve.