Can you spot the hoverfly? |
Mind you, it might be a wasp as I am not sure I know the difference between the two. But that’s what happened. One
moment wittering on about the decline in hoverfly population and, the next,
photographing one
Compare the two shots |
With older hands in mind, I might add that it is no longer necessary to wake with the lark to hear a Farming Today broadcast. You simply go to BBC Sounds – the iPlayer of the radio world. You can listen to the pertinent episode by clicking here and see the associated website is here. Anyway, it all goes to show that we can each do something to help encourage wildlife in the garden. I know that I now make a conscious effort to grow flowers that attract pollinators. I hope that is reflected in the plants we supply to other - remember to check out the list by clicking on Plants for You at the top right-hand of this page
A butterfly, too!
And – another strange thing – just
as we were bemoaning the demise of butterflies, we saw a Brimstone Yellow in the
garden. It was feeding on the buddleia - often called the butterfly bush. I tried hard to get a shot but was too slow, so the photograph is
courtesy of Wiki. That source tells me that the Brimstone relies on the
buckthorn as a host so whoever planted up the nearby walkway knew what they
were doing as I am pretty sure there are alder buckthorn growing there
There is another photograph that I
would love to get – a heron like the one that visits our pond. I am beginning to wonder if
Codger has developed an instinct for this. Sometimes, I wake quite suddenly
around dawn and go to the window. There she is (might be a ‘he’, of course) – immaculately
immobile on the edge of the pond, waiting for the moment to strike. Somehow, it is able
to observe the fish and itssurroundings simultaneously. Whether it hears me,
or sees me, I know not. But those strong wings will scoop up the air and, suddenly, it lifts and is aloft and away over the school field
An attraction to the heron, no doubt |
Something I have noticed recently is how often I need to clean the filter. It is a fairly easy operation which is just as well as it is has become a daily operation. This is, I suppose, because of the number of fish in the pond. I had not expected them to reproduce in the way that they have
And the plants?
Well, we have not said much about plants today - I shall try to put that right on Friday. Plenty has been going on in the background that I hope to tell you about then
Demand for plants has eased off in the last couple of weeks. At last, I have managed to spend time improving my labelling - a definite weakness in the past. In case it is of interest, here is a shot of the wooden labels I am trying out in preference to the more usual plastic versions. They come with a very fine roller ballpoint pen. Some Amazon reviewers call it scratchy. I found it suits my hand very well. The test will be longevity, so we shall see (literally!)
No doubt, we all found the weather dull, wet and somewhat dismal yesterday. I am glad that I thought ahead and brightened up the patio, that helps - see below. And, the pears are doing well - also see below. The rain was needed but, some more sunshine will be welcome - my tomatoes seem permanently green at the moment
... all for now from the Garden Codger
Keeping the patio bright |
Pears coming on well |
Outdoor tomatoes need more sunshine |
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