A new roof

The thatching is going really well and has been an amazing experience.  I am so glad that the birds had all finished breeding - there are a lot of sparrows that nest in the eaves.  The thatching material is water reed, from Hungary.  It would have been wheat straw years ago, and I wonder if cottages here were ever thatched with common rush which grows so well - we have lots of it in various damp spots.  The ridge of the roof will be perfectly plain, following the typical old Devon style.

A moth with a hook on its back

This little moth settled on our door - we could not tell whether the pronounced hook that curved up was an appendage, or the moth's own tail, curled over its back.  Googling didn't help either!  Maybe someone will recognise it.

Living together

This jackdaw will have to look elsewhere for a new home now that our gable end is repaired.  There is new bargeboard and the 'wiggly tin' has all been sorted out and red oxide painted, as is traditional here.  The roof that the jackdaw is standing on will soon be newly thatched.  There are plenty of other places available for these birds, who have finished breeding for this year, and there is a limit to what we are prepared to put up with in the name of wildlife preservation.

Summer's come....and it's all go

What a change in the weather from last week - it's been really hot and it looks as if the fine weather may coincide with our thatching which is just about to start.  The scaffolding's up, which meant Paul could finish a couple of jobs on part of the roof, adding new bargeboard.  I took the opportunity of the temporary hole to throw this huge collection of twigs out of our roofspace.  It's jackdaws that have done this - we have seen it before when they are trying to build a nest.  They find a small hole that they think is suitable but don't understand the necessity for some sort of ledge, immediately inside, for the twigs to land on.  They simply keep on posting sticks through the hole which drop to the floor below (or, as in the case of a chimney, down to our register plate) and they never manage to make their nest.  If there was a ledge, they would stop when there were just s few sticks laid and get on with the egg-laying.

Rain, Ringlets and Rabbits

We had an impromptu barbecue on which the sun shone and the rain fell in equal measures.

The blackbirds that nest in the workshop complained about the activity/not being able to to get in under the door, and we had to decamp to further over in the yard.  It seems a good time was had by all, and we went for a nice ramble during which Darren took this great photograph of a Ringlet butterfly.  There are very many, fluttering out of the grasses as we walk.

  He also got a lovely shot of one of our wild bunnies who are always out on our back lawn.  They've had a scary couple of days with a visiting dog whose sole aim in life seemed to be to eat one of them. Our old dog doesn't bother about them at all.

Roses

We've had a very warm day and all the grass has been cut including the field path, which was very difficult with long sappy growth after all the rain.
This rose on our 9' wall is always spectacular.  It is "Bobbie James", a huge rambler which we have two of, the other one is climbing a couple of small trees at the bottom of the yard.   It has huge trusses of flower; one stem this year with 100 buds on it.  The bright pink rose is a suckering Rugosa which pops up all along just there and even on the other side of the wall.  There is honeysuckle all mixed up with it so the evening scent is lovely.

Jackdaws, Wood Pigeons and Spotted Flycatchers (and a moth)

The pair of jackdaws are still going in and out of the hole in our eaves and I managed to get a photo of one just coming out, you can see the silhouette against the cream colour, and its wings are pinned back within the hole.  Its mate watches from the end of the roof.  The youngsters have finally fledged after days of encouragement from the parents - lots of cawing and demonstrations of how to do it, and a baby's head would appear at the hole, as if to say "You've got to be joking...jump out of here? No way!" but they did it in the end.

Three days ago I spotted a large Poop in the middle of our yard.  Closer inspection could not identify the culprit - it was big enough to have been done by our dog but entirely the wrong colour and anyway he always discreetly backs into the flower beds.  It was black and white with a squiggle at the end and a blob underneath (yes how sad am I) and looked more poultry-like than anything, not fox, we thought pheasant maybe.  Paul cleared it up, but we were very surprised to see another in the same place, almost identical, yesterday morning.  A trawl of the Internet suggested Wood Pigeon - somebody else describing a similar scat, deposited in roughly the same place over several days, and they had actually witnessed the crime!  Very odd, and today there is ANOTHER ONE!  Not quite so big this time!
(Monday update - no poop today).

This is the nest of a pair of Spotted Flycatchers in the ivy on our old wall.  The parents are very actively zooming around the garden in a distinctive fashion, often returning to the same perch, collecting flies.  They are quite plain little birds with pale fronts and a few freckles . We have had them there before; I found a nestling once that I thought had fallen out - I picked it up with a leaf (so as not to put my smell on it) and returned it to the nest, and watched, and the parent came and threw it out again.  It didn't survive.  Sometimes it's OK to interfere; sometimes not.  Some people say you should never interfere.  Well, I do.  Sometimes.  There was a little moth motionless in the dog's water this morning.  I scooped it out - it was still alive and quickly walked around, drying, and I left it on a leaf outside.  The flycatcher probably got it.

Solomon's Seal sawfly 'caterpillars'

These little grey larvae are on this plant every year, but after the flowering period. I spotted a few and took a picture, and then turned over the leaf which broke as I did so; there were many more on the underside.  I left it like that and in an hour the exposed ones had gone, whether to hide underneath or been eaten by birds I don't know.

A British summer and a Fundi

Oh dear, it has been raining for days.  The garden has exploded with growth and plants are falling over everywhere, what with gale force winds and the water building up on flower heads.  I got soaked walking round the grassy path because the now-tall grasses either side have bowed down with the rain.

  I think I took the picture below last weekend - a few warm and sunny hours which enabled a lawn-mowing.

The plants in front of the wall are all self seeded.  I used to weed everything out; it looked much tidier, but not nearly so pretty.  In the foreground is a bronze fennel (that will have to come out, but I have it other places), then there is white Feverfew and that little orange flower that I call Hawkweed, they look lovely together.  The delphiniums (which I am very proud of, having grown them from seed collected from my sister's garden) are in tubs and are protected from slug damage by copper tape which works very well.  I am certain now, having experimented, that delphiniums will grow unprotected in the open garden if only the basal clumps are big enough when they are first planted out.  So I am growing these bigger, and then they will withstand the early slug attacks and outgrow them.  I already have two plants that are coping in this way.

Two days ago we had a gale force gust of wind which threw our outside table, complete with the garden umbrella, against the wall, breaking two spokes and damaging the fabric cover.  It was new last year so I was very sorry about it.  Anyway Paul took it off to the workshop and removed the spokes which he wood glued and cramped up overnight.  He found some metal channel, perfect size, which he has screwed alongside the breaks to strengthen them. I got the old Singer sewing machine
out and patched the cover, and all is now good again.  We have always tried to 'make do and mend'; it's very satisfying!  A friend of ours who has lived in Africa calls Paul a 'fundi' - someone who can repair anything!

Predators and pretty weeds

I was standing out in the garden just after 7am a couple of days ago when I heard a desperate screeching 'chak';  a jackdaw flying very fast with a buzzard in hot pursuit.  I had never seen a buzzard so low over the garden.  I clapped and shouted - the buzzard wheeled off.  Jackdaw lived to see another day.  I'm sure the screech was a cry for help.  I know they all have to eat - the buzzard probably has young ones to feed.
Today, we have just followed a sparrowhawk down the lane for about a quarter of a mile.  They quite regularly appear suddenly at hedge level or below, flying very fast.  This one was practically skimming the tarmac.  It turned towards a field gate, alighting on it, and having to fly off again as our car passed by.  There are a lot of them; I think they do mostly get sparrows - there are a lot of those here too.

I took the picture of the border (which is MUCH better in real life) - the hardy geraniums, pink and blue, are lovely and will give another show later if I tidy them up after the first flush.  The small white flower clusters are Ground Elder flowers (shock horror) - I will break them off before they seed, but they are pretty and I sometimes let them do this.  And the big green architectural leaves are Hogweed - the plants are so sturdy that they hold up the clumps of weaker perennials.   I cut off the flowering heads so that only the lower strong stalks and leaves are left.  At the far end is a cardoon, a monster that is already 7 feet tall and still growing.  I like it better when it is just a great silver grey clump in April, before it starts to send up the flower spikes.

A lucky escape for the cuckoo wasp

I saw a brightly colured insect a week or so ago; and then again yesterday (well, probably not the same one!). Got a better look yesterday and saw that it looked like a fly, about half an inch long, front end vivid electric green and the back end bright red.   As I was committing this to memory in order to look it up, it suddenly flew into a cobweb.  No spider came, but the 'fly' just became more entangled as it struggled to free itself.  I pulled it out, web and all, with a little twig and then, by gaining a purchase on the wood the fly was able to drag itself clear and flew off.
It was Chrysis ignita - a ruby-tailed cuckoo wasp; it doesn't sting, and is so nicknamed because they are a parasite of Mason bees, they add their own eggs to the nest, as the birds do.

Here's a similar tale from my pre-blog diary of May 2015 -
I noticed a Daddy-Long-Legs trying in vain to detach itself from a bit of cobweb on one of the porch shelves.  I used to be so scared of them (DLLs not shelves!) but not so now, and I enclosed it in my hand, first so that I could get at the bit of web and then holding DLL's stuck leg in one hand and gently pulling at the strand of web in the other; the web came off and he flew away.  There didn't seem to be a spider in the vicinity but DLL couldn't free himself unaided.

A swarm of bees !!!

We have had a lot of rain over the past few days; the garden has exploded with growth and I shook the delphiniums and lupin spikes (gently) so that the weight of the water wouldn't bend them over and break them.
Today we witnessed something that I have only ever seen twice before in my life - a bee swarm.  We were outside working when I heard the noise, and there, coming across the yard about 20 feet up was a dark cloud of thousands of bees, in a sort of circling, moving mass.  It was an astonishing sight.  Our old dog, oblivious, was flat out asleep in the sun.  I ran through the house to call him indoors, lest they should descend upon him.  He came to the whistle - I quickly grabbed my camera and cautiously went back out.  The swarm was moving across our garden and I watched as it descended onto the building roof.   The whole mass seemed to contract as they settled on the woodwork and in a few minutes all had gone quiet.
I did a bit of research about them.  They are probably on a 'stopover' while the scouts are sent out looking for a permanent home.

Jackdaws

The young jackdaws have fledged and there is such a cawing and noisy, 'chacking' flapping going on in the trees near the nests, one of which is in the eaves of our house.  It's easy to tell a young jackdaw in flight; they flap furiously but don't get along so smoothly or as fast as the adults.  The commotion in the trees seems to be as they beg for food from their parents.  There has only been one down the chimney this year and it went back up on its own, but in previous years we have had to open the access hole in the register plate above the woodburner and wait until the youngster was brave enough to come out into the room.   With a window wide open and the curtain drawn over closed panes, the bird would then fly straight to the light and be free again; occasionally one would leave a feathery and sooty wing-strike mark on the wallpaper before flying out.
I wrote this on 22nd. June last year, before I was doing this blog.
"....the bird was too scared to come down the hole - I went with the torch to have a look and it was just sitting right on the edge so I made a grab for its legs and got it, lots of screeching and flapping but I smoothed it down to be quiet and took it to the open window, where it took off across the yard."
I know a lot of people don't like them and they are a bit of a nuisance, but they seem full of character with a very strong social bond.  And I like their blue eyes.
10th. June  Later - I just went down to fetch the post and this youngster was in the corner by the stable - I moved closer to get a picture  - it was rather worried and flapped up to this bit of wood.  The parent started loud cawing from nearby.  It all went quiet as I moved away.

Lupin, Clematis and Welsh Poppies

This pink lupin must be about 18 years old  so it's doing really well.  I counted 20 primary flower spikes on it.  It comes up very reliably in spite of growing between rocks which hide colonies of slugs and snails.  Maybe they don't like the mint, which also grows there.  The pink in the shrubs behind is Weigela.

Another pink flower, but in a lovely soft old fashioned shade, is the semi double clematis called Broughton Star, which is climbing and tumbling all over the wall - one of the few plants I have ever bought from a nursery.

The yellow Welsh poppies have seeded all over the garden in semi shade, they are so pretty and there are a few in a soft orange colour.  I have been looking up whether I can eat the seeds - I've been buying poppy seeds to put into a loaf I make, and these flowers will produce millions!

Rhododendron ponticum

The "wild" rhododendrons seem particularly lovely this year; we always had one at my childhood home so I have a sentimental attachment, but in parts of the UK it is considered a pest.  The flowers are very prettily freckled in the throat.

Dame Dandelion

Lots of dandelion 'clocks' at the moment and it's lovely to see the goldfinches coming for the seeds.  I found this poem (below), so thought I would share it. (Not one of mine).

Dame Dandelion was young and fair
Bright and golden was her hair
Then what a change took place one night!
Her golden hair turned silver white

And Oh! then, what a sight to see!
No hair at all where hair should be!
For the wind came up with a mighty puff -
And blew away all Dame Dandelion's fluff
And left her to stand on her One Green Leg
Alone in the grass, as bald as an egg.

Red deer

A red deer hind crossed the lane directly in front of our car at about 9.30 pm yesterday evening.   The lane is narrow and has 6' high, very wide hedgebanks there, and fields beyond on either side.  The deer appeared, descending, from the right, took maybe one stride and took off almost vertically to clear the left hand hedge.  A second earlier and we would have collided - it doesn't bear thinking about.  She sprang so effortlessly; she was very big; it was like seeing a 12 hand pony suddenly appearing in front of us.  The overgrowth of summer obscures our view and encourages the wildlife close; it's a dangerous time for the deer and for us.  We keep our speed down but must be vigilant - bikers beware - your louder engine might help.

Goat Willow fluff

It's the time of year for the great Willow Fluff drift.  For a couple of weeks now, the tiny white 'fairies' have been floating across the garden - usually lazily, but if the wind gets up it becomes a blizzard.  They stick to everything but are especially obvious around our windows and in the netting on the gate.  Of course each one hides a seed, and they will germinate anywhere and everywhere - in the top of pots and containers and in the paving cracks and wall joints.  The Goat Willow tree is one of the first to colonize untended ground here; it's an attractive tree, not very big but spreading out to a shapely sphere of soft green.  Prior to the flowers producing fluff they are those lovely silvery 'pussy willow' buds in the early spring, and it is then known as 'Palm' in the North.  The older outer branches drop or break off to the ground, and simply continue to grow in their horizontal position, sending up  more branches and rooting into whatever soil they happen to touch.

My blackbird's back

She came to the door this afternoon and hopped indoors.  I was grating cheese to make a savoury loaf, and I threw her a couple of gratings, which she loved.   She looked slightly scruffy so I wonder if she has finished breeding for this year and is starting to moult, but that would be unusual - she must be in between broods though I think, it is usually worms and insects only on the menu when they are feeding young ones.  Her husband is a scaredy cat, and doesn't come close to us.

This picture was taken last year when she suddenly appeared on the table right next to me.  Notice the dog, lower left corner, who is keeping an eye on her.  She has been coming since 2014; more so in the winter, when we always throw her a few biscuit crumbs.

A wasp on the Alliums

Rather dull today after our lovely weather. There has been a large wasp visiting these Alliums for a few days - today there were two wasps.  The other flowers in the photo are Alkanet and perennial Cornflower.   The wasp reminded Paul of buying penny ice lollies from the baker when he was a boy; there would sometimes be a wasp frozen into them.  He would eat all round the wasp, then take it back to the baker's to complain, and be given another ice lolly.

A grassy path and the Lady's Smock

Took this picture yesterday as I walked round the field - so much easier now we have this beautiful path cut.  Lots of Lady's Smock flowering; we didn't see it when we had the ponies, they must have liked it too.  The creamy Hawthorn (May) blossom is out too, you can see it on the tree in the background.

28th. May 2016 - Saturday

A fine calm morning, thick mist at 6 a.m. which soon cleared. The garden looks lovely and smells exquisite; mostly the two perfoliate honeysuckles but also lilac and wistaria.  I stood outside at 8 a.m. watching the swallows who were suddenly all circling the yard, maybe 40/50 of them, clearly something amiss.  I couldn't see a cat and they don't mind me or the dog.  There was constant twittering.  Also a blackbird with beak full of worms was perched high on the barn roof watching them and not continuing the journey back to her nestlings.  I watched to see if each swallow was continuing to circle - yes, and NOT swooping into the old stable as would be usual.  This last fact registered more strongly and I went to have a look in there, (somewhat apprehensively!) where there are many nests.  As I went in to the dark, a big crow flew out of the window.  Never seen that before. He was on a raid.  The circling stopped almost instantly, and normal flying and swooping in and out was resumed.  The blackbird then flew down with her worms and disappeared under the workshop door; she is probably using the same nest high in there that was made last year.

It is amazing what you discover if you start to read the signs of nature!