.... and as for the sparrows... their cheeps and tweets are a constant sound in the garden. There must be at least 50+ sparrows (adults and young) in the garden most days. We have also had a second brood of blackbirds in the garden too. This one was quite visible as it searched the chippings.
A calm, warm night encouraged us to put the moth traps out tonight too. When it is calm we often spend time outside catching moths coming to the traps as they arrive. Tonight was very busy - by midnight we had two shelves of pots in the fridge!
Day 9 obviously began with moths! Identifying and recording the contents of our fridge came first
and then we opened the traps.Got our first Large Yellow Underwing of the year today and a tiny beauty called Least Black Arches.Scale doesn't let you see that the wingspan of Least Black Arches is only 16-18mm while that of Large Yellow Underwing is 45-55mm.
We actually kept some of the specimens today as we are attending an event tomorrow and have kept some to show to members of the public. Keeping them in the fridge will do them no harm and they will be released tomorrow evening back into the garden.
As most moths do not start to appear until it starts to get dark there is no rush at this time of year to put the traps out - so about 8pm we set off to a local farm to set them. The farm is participating in Open Farm Sunday tomorrow and had asked if we would set traps and tell people about our catch.
We set four traps - 2 in an area where new trees have been planted, one in a small established wood and one in a grassy area on the way to a loch.
It was an ideal night for trapping and the sunset on the way home was beautiful.
Day 10 began - again - with moth traps. We had to collect the traps after carefully looking all round them in the grass for any moths that might not have actually gone in the traps. There were quite a number of moths like this so it took us quite a while to collect the traps together and go back to the barn to empty them. An hour and a half later we finished emptying the final trap! We had a great catch of moths including several Hawk-moth specimens - which would definitely be crowd pleasers later in the day. The moths were potted and kept in a cool box to keep them calm.
Open Farm Sunday is an annual event and the farm we were trapping on was being supported by the The Nature Friendly Farming Network. They aim to help the farming community to champion sustainable friendly farming. The farm we were visiting was offering guided walks, rides on a trailer, as well as information about moths,red squirrels and the NFFN. We had lovely weather which encouraged people to come and visit the farm and find out their methods and ideas. Our moths also proved very popular! A very busy day but a very rewarding one.
On Day 11 we decided to take it easy and just do a bee count in our garden. We had white-tailed, buff tailed, red tailed, carder and tree bumble bees buzzing round all day and then we managed to spot our first Wool Carder bee of the year.
They are spectacular little bees when you look closely and love to collect the hairy down off Lamb's Ears plants to use in their nests.
Day 12 saw us begin one of our regular summer rituals - making elderflower cordial. We gather about 25 flower heads and then put them in a bowl with oranges, lemons, sugar and tartaric acid for 48 hours.After straining the liquid through fine muslin it is ready to drink! We find it a very refreshing drink on a hot summer's day.
Day 13 dawned very windy and rather miserable with rain forecast this evening! The good weather was too good to last! Just a quick look at the wild flowers growing in our lawn and the parts we leave
without mowing. Among those we are used to seeing - white clover, daisy, buttercup, grasses, dandelion (good for bees early in the year), cuckoo flower and self heal - we found a tiny blue flower we didn't recognise. Research led us to believe it is Thyme-leaved Speedwell.
We did have some rain last night - just enough to dampen everywhere down. Don't know whether Day 14 would be called wild but it was a day in the kitchen. Strawberries (from the garden) are coming thick and fast so jam-making was in order. Some of last years blackcurrants were still in the freezer so they got "jammed" too. Lettuces were starting to bolt so they got made into lettuce soup for the winter and of course the elderflower needed straining. Enough for one day I think and a good end to Week 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment