Rambling Russells

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. ...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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 ...