Sunday 31 May 2015

A rare visit back to the old patch

The Safari was able to have an hour out late on this arvo and we took the opportunity to have a mooch around Patch 1 for the first time in yonks, Frank can't walk anywhere near that far now never mind chase a ball round it for an hour or more.
This morning we weren't inclined to go out anywhere as it was seriously cold wet n windy but the Tree Bees by the kitchen door kept coming and going.
We've joined the 30 Days Wild project and had a little idea for tomorrows first day being wild so just in case we don;t get a chance to do it tomorrow we cheated and did it today on the way to Patch 1 but we'll not tell you what it is until tomorrow. 
At Patch 1 we had nice variety of stuff and we were relieved to see that there hadn't been any money business done to the Golden Triangle although a couple of nearby gardens have lost almost all their trees.
Nice patch of Birds Foot Trefoil ready for Common Blue butterflies
A Sycamore full of character with a guest Magpie
The first Common Catsear flowers we've seen this year
Love those velvety 'ears'
An Elm munching caterpillar but sadly not the wanted White Letter Hairstreak caterpillar
The only butterfly we saw all visit and one we don't see settled very often - Holly Blue
Orange Hawkweed aka Fox & Cubs
Sweet Vernal Grass
Cowslip - not sure if we've seen one here before
Also noted were a few birds with a Chiffchaff the only summer migrant we heard. Others were lots of Greenfinches and Blackbirds singing, Woodpigeons, lots of Magpies, a party of Long Tailed Tits one with a beakful of tiny insects and a pair of Robins.
The pond was covered with Duckweed and full of litter but had a reasonable number of Toad tapoles and Pond Skaters whizzing around in one corner.
There's a good crop of young Elms just itching for the White Letter Hairstreaks and using our boot we bravely waded into a patch of Nettles and Brambles to make a bit of space for some Creeping Thistles for them to nectar on in a few weeks time. Our shins and calves are feeling those stings and thorns now but hopefully it'll have been worth it when you get to see the butterfly close pics. Think we need to get a band of enthusiastic volunteers together and go trouble shooting habitat managing around town once a month...









1 comment:

Ian Doyle said...

Nice photos. Shame about the pond litter but at least there are toad tadpoles. There are loads of bloggers doing the 30 Days Wild project (myself included) and it will be great to read about what others get up to during each day in June.