What paths are for …
We mow narrow paths in the no-mow lawn (the "mead") so that the outdoor staff can easily get around in their constant search for a snack ... Download a FREE book 1001Species: A Natural History of a Small Town
Never-Mow Update … 25 May
No-mow May has taken off it seems judging by the dandelions seen on lawns as we walk around town - there have even been areas of parks that so far have remained longer than tradition dictates and at the council meeting earlier this year two councillors extolled the virtues of not mowing [...]
Today’s Visitors
Having established (see the previous post to this journal - LINK) overnight that the new trailcam records nighttime visitors in the dark, I set it up by the waterfall for a few hours during the day - here are some video highlights of the birds that dropped by the waterfall in the [...]
Creatures of the Night
New ventures in neighbour-watching ... four footed, furry neighbours. A member of an on-line naturalist group from Ontario recently posted some splendid trail-cam images of deer and other wildlife at a vernal pool. Inspiration was sparked. A few years ago, ten perhaps, we had purchased a trail-cam to watch birds visiting our garden [...]
After Two Years – “The Book” has Launched
I am an inveterate keeper of lists of just about everything other than train numbers (you need to have grown up in England in the fifties to understand that) - but mostly lists of birds and plants that we have seen and enjoyed. After over 20 years of wildlifing around the western end [...]
Spring on the Forest Floor
We spent this sunny morning wandering in the arboretum. The leaves have barely started to appear until the last day or two and so the forest floor is covered with ephemeral species flowers and simply glorious. It will only be like this for a week or so now and the weather forecast [...]
Mining Bees – first of the year
Temperatures a bit above 10C in the past couple of days and some warm sunshine produced the emergence of a number of tiny bees busily investigating leaf litter and Sanguinaria and crocus flowers near the garden waterfall this afternoon ... the camera and I went outside to meet them. These bees are a [...]
Hydro-“engineering” the Pond
20+ years ago when we were new here, I would come home from work each day in late summer and spend an hour digging a hole for a pond in the garden and heaping up the excavated spoil into a hill for the eventual creation of a waterfall. I had not realised [...]
1001 Species – Some Ducks and Friends
It’s been quite cool so far this April and today was no exception. A reasonable air temperatures but quite a cold wind … perfect weather to go and enjoy ducks we decided. Just across the river, and within the 8km self-imposed circle (that’s 5 miles for American friends) there is some often good [...]
First shoots of Sanguinaria –
The first shoots of Sanguinaria (Bloodroot) have appeared in the last 24 hours. Very soon the flowers will open and after that the Cigar" will unfurl to reveal the leaves.