Wildlife on Our Doorstep

I have always been in awe of nature, appreciative of all the blessings along with the trials it sometimes brings. The mesmerising waves crashing on the shore, the changing of the leaves from rich greens to a patchwork of oranges and reds, watching and listening to a thunderstorm or breathing in that evocative smell of the first drops of rain after a dry spell. However, since moving to our smallholding I have become so much more aware of the variety of wildlife around us who allow us to share the land and weather. Taking a moment to look up and down not only rests our tired muscles but gives us the chance to observe the beauty of wildlife and learn more about the world around us.

This beautiful Damselfly was having a little rest in the polytunnel; thankfully I don't think it tends to eat the brassicas quite as much as the caterpillars so we were happy to take a photo and let him be. (I did have to do some reasearch to confirm it is a Damselfly and not a Dragonfly.)

While we were moving some old coal sacks we can across this little nest of chicks. There was a Robin nearby so we assumed it belonged to her, covered it up again and left. Unfortunately when we went back a few weeks later they had all died. Although we had found it by accident and tried our best not to disturb it, we may have upset the parents and sadly they abandoned it.

This is our Midden, it's a large pond like area which historically collected and filtered any animal waste and rain water from the byre. It still fills up with rainwater and provides a home for many insects and animals. Unfortunately it does suffer a little from blanket weed and algae when there is reduced rainfall but generally it seems pretty healthy. The frogs returned this year and produced a lot of frogspawn which we watched become tadpoles and then teeny tiny frogs - lots of tiny frogs.

There was an really interesting piece on Countryfile about the cleansing abilities of mussels and oysters so after some further investigation we thought we'd give it a go. Above you can see our 6 native mussels which will hopefully help to keep our midden cleaner.

M decided to put them in a bucket of water from the midden overnight just to make sure they were still alive. The water was murky when they went in and almost clear by the morning. In fact we were then able to see this little newt who had also got scooped up.

M got in his canoe to put the mussels in the midden, placing them gently into the water and returning the newt safely back home.

While he was in his canoe M went to check on the duck house but it was completely empty. However, about 2 feet away was this little nest. We later saw Mrs. Duck snuggled in here among the reeds, she is really well hidden and camouflaged and (keeping our distance) we can only see her with binoculars. She has been doing a great job and this week she was out on the water with 8 gorgeous little ducklings swimming behind her. Now we just need to hope that the foxes and heron leave them in peace. We're trying to keep really quiet and only watch from a distance so may be able to get some pictures soon.

There is a little alleyway between the byre and the barn and this gap in the barn wall has become home to a nest of 3 chicks.

We think these are the chicks from the wall, they flew the nest, only making it as far as the chicken yard where they stayed for a few days. 

Although we haven't seen any deer for a while we have been aware of their presence in the woods and this week we saw this chap in the next field. It was hard to get a photo of him before he lay down in the long grass to hide so this is the best I could do.

We had an abundance of House Martins last year and they made a real mess of mud and poo under the porch at the back of the house. This year we have managed to deter them from nesting in the exactly the same place but thankfully they have found new homes. It looks like they are nearly finished and ready for occupation. The House Martins also seem to love the midden, diving down to the surface and flying around the for hours. Sadly they are really fast and any photos I've taken have always come out fuzzy so I'll just have to enjoy watching them without recording it.

It's lovely to have a distraction from all the work sometimes and to watch the beautiful colours of the Gold Finches, the numerous Robins, little Wrens, Buzzards, Kestrels and what we think may be Willow Warblers to mention a few. Along with the evening Bats and Owls we have plenty to keep us busy when the day's work is done.

The rain we hoped for arrived; the veg, fruit and flowers are all growing well but more of that next time. We were also able to make the most of the wet days to tackle another room in the house; after the kitchen makeover last year it has taken some time for us to summon up the enthusiasm and now it's time for the living room revamp. M has been extremely busy but as it is presently in a state of evolution I thought I'd leave you with this beautiful picture of a bumble bee in a pumpkin flower. Hope you are all enjoying the long sunny summer days and the nature we share it with.