Floral Favourites Nov 2016

The month began with the sighting of a Red Admiral butterfly at Caerlaverock - not our garden I know but worth a mention!

The gardening month began dry with many leaves still on the trees in all their glorious colours - the rich red of the acer, reds and golds on azalea bushes, green and yellow on fruit trees and dark reds and oranges on the berberis hedge. Those that have fallen are crisp and dry as they pile-up against gates, fences and other plants making colourful "litter"

 

 

Some plants have still been flowering - we have picked scented roses as they open and brought them indoors to have a spectacular late show! Wild orange poppies and calendulas have been abundant in the mild weather bringing a lovely burst of colour in the garden.

 

 

Himalayan honeysuckle and sedum have been looking spectacular and even the heads of the hydrangea are pretty as they fade.

 

 

Despite looking good at the beginning of the month we then had our first frosts at the end of the first week - and plants and flowers suddenly looked dead and dying. The days were still, however, beautifully sunny. Love days like that when the air is crisp and fresh. The conservatory roof looked spectacular on one particular morning - remember the days before central heating when the windows were frosted in the mornings? Well our glass roof in the conservatory looked like that on the outside! Lovely feathery fronds of frost.

 

Then on the 8th we had the first snow too! The rain turned to snow in the evening leaving a good covering everywhere - but by the morning there was hardly any left.

More severe frosts followed during the rest of the month but a combination of frosts, high winds and late sunshine made for an interesting mixture of weather for November and the opportunity for some "frosty" photos.

 

 

November

 

November crept in and then showed its might,

Frost turned everything white overnight.

Crisp, fallen leaves all over the ground,

Berries and seeds for when the birds come around.

The wind is chilly - No! - Freezing cold,

The snow fluttering down was a sight to behold!

Winter's arrived, no ifs, no buts,

Gardening now? You'd have to be nuts!!

 



November Wildlife Sightings from a garden in Annan

We continue to see plenty of birds in the garden - breakfast and a cup of tea in the afternoon seem to take longer and longer as we sit and record the number of birds we see each day! Very welcome visitors this month were a brambling, a bird we have never seen before, and long-tailed tits, which are a favourite for me.

 

Photos from NE Wildlife

 

 

Our monthly max for Nov is therefore as follows:-

Blackbird - 1 male, 3 female

Blue tit - 4

Brambling - 1

Carrion crow - 1

Chaffinch - 5 male, 4 female

Coal tit - 2

Collared dove - 3

Dunnock - 4

Goldfinch - 20

Goose - 500+ flying over

Great tit - 3

House sparrow - 28 male, 20 female

Jackdaw - 4

Long-tailed tit - 3

Pied wagtail - 1

Robin - 1

Starling - 40

Woodpigeon - 3

Wren - 2

Our last sighting of a butterfly was in November too! Although we saw it fly across the garden, we couldn't see which species it was!

 

We did manage to see DGERC species of the month for Nov too - admittedly not in our garden - but it is nice to find examples of Mark's highlighted species. Last month he wanted records of Candlesnuff fungus which we found at Dyke Farm Wildlife Club Reserve at Moffat. Some members may remember visiting this reserve with Mark last year?

 

 

DGERC species of the month to look for next month are a small, but easily identified fern and a yellow-green lichen. They can both be found all year round.

 

Maidenhair Spleenwort  (Asplenium trichomanes)

Maidenhair Spleenwort can often be found on old walls. It has fronds that can be up to 20cm long - made up of leaflets in opposite pairs on either side of a black stalk. The leaflets get smaller towards the end of the stalk.

There are two similar species it could be confused with - Green Spleenwort and Rustyback - both of which have a green central rib to each frond.

 

Map Lichen (Rhizocarpon geographicum)

Map Lichen is a yellow-green crust-forming lichen growing on many common rock types across D&G. Lichens are not a single organism, but a stable symbiotic relationship between a fungi and an algae. Map Lichen can reach up to 15cm in size and the black cracks in the lichen body form regular patterns which give it its common name. Sometimes flat, black, disc-shaped structures are present on the surface of the lichen. It is worth looking closely at these to see the patterns and structure.

 

 

This species is common in D&G but there are very few local recorders so all records are especially welcome. Please accompany all records with a photo to help with verification.

Information and photos via DGERC, who welcome all records from the region.

 

Ashness Bridge 4th November 2016

Decided to take a trip back to somewhere we had visited many years ago - Ashness Bridge just outside Keswick. It is known as probably the most photographed packhorse bridge in the Lake District and when you get there it is easy to see why, but even before we got there the autumn colours were beautiful.

 

 

 

 We saved the bridge till later ... and went further up the road first to the Surprise View!

 

Certainly well-named!

 

Travelling farther on the hillsides were very colourful in their autumn attire.

 

 

We had a little companion at one point ...

 

 

 

 But back down the hill towards the bridge....

 

 

 

 Past the Bark House Mountain Base ...

 

 

 

... and then suddenly there it is!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy to see why many people want to photograph it - even on a wet day!

Floral Favourites Oct 2016

October has been calm and sunny. The first half of the month was very dry and often very still, with no wind! We have not had any frost yet but the evenings are definitely feeling cooler. The showers we have had don't seem to have caused much damage to trees or flowers - the autumn colours are still appearing in more and more intensity as the month goes on.

 

 

Our blueberry bush - after giving us yummy blueberries, is now giving us spectacular colour!

The Azaleas and Witch Hazel too are turning lovely colours.

 

 

 

 

The crab apple tree has finally shed its load  - the ground underneath the tree is covered in red confetti.

 

There is a selection of other berries around the garden - of various colours...

 

 

 

 

 

The orange berries of the rowan and the blue of the berberis are however long gone - to the birds!

However there are still some flowers to be seen in the garden ...

 

 

 

 

What a treat to still find so many flowers at the end of October!

 

October

 

Chilly mornings, watery windows, autumn's in the air,

Calmly, quietly, it crept upon us as if there was no-one there.

The leaves turn shades of orange and yellow, others red and gold,

Against the misty, murky backdrop, what a sight they are to behold!

But then the wind gathers up its strength and blows with all its might,

Until the ground is littered with another seasonal sight.

October Wildlife Sightings from a garden in Annan

Very busy with birds in the garden this month. Monthly max as follows:-

Blackbird - 3 male, 1 female, 3 young

Blue tit - 4

Chaffinch - 2 male, 2 female

Coal tit - 2

Collared dove - 2

Dunnock - 4

Goldfinch - 15, 1 young

Goose - 200+ (flying over)

Great tit - 2

Greenfinch - 1

Heron - 1 (flying over)

House Martin - 6  (Last seen 1/10/16)

House sparrow - 30

Jackdaw - 4

Pied wagtail - 1

Robin - 1

Rook - 2

Song thrush - 1

Starling - 30

Willow warbler - 1

Woodpigeon - 2

Wren - 2

The goldfinches have been very regular visitors this month - more than we have ever had before, 15 at one time! They are here morning and evening for sunflower hearts and niger seed  - and in between if the feeders get refilled during the day! They are very pretty birds though.

The coal tits have been very busy too - we sit and watch them take seeds and then bury them in various places around the garden.

3 surprise visitors this month - a greenfinch, a song thrush and a willow warbler. We have had all three of them in the garden before but not for quite a while, so to see them was great.

 

Greenfinch

Willow warbler

One sad report, however, was that we found a dead robin outside the conservatory door. We think he/she had flown into the window. Only a few days before a goldfinch had done the same thing but after sitting on the ground for a while, flew off. We had bird shapes stuck on the windows during the breeding season to help the young birds - but perhaps they need to go back.

It is lovely to hear - and then, see - hundreds of geese flying over. Wish we could identify which geese they are, but they are often too high or too far away.

Because the weather has been so warm this autumn, we have seen red admirals at regular intervals during this month. The last sighting was on the 20th.

 

Red Admiral  (Photo NE Wildlife)

 

DGERC species to look out for in November:-

 

Candlesnuff fungus   Xylaria hypoxylon

 

 

 

Candlesnuff fungus is small, only 3-5cm tall. It is dark grey/black in colour with a pale top. It looks

like the snuffed out wick of a candle and can be found on rotting wood. It is widespread throughout the UK.

 

 

Beechmast Candlesnuff   Xylaria carpophila

 

A close relative of the Candlesnuff fungus, the Beechmast Candlesnuff is found on decomposing seed cases from Beech trees. You need to look deep in the leaf litter for old mast. It is small and thin but is the same colour as Candlesnuff fungus.

Photos & information from DGERC