Big Butterfly Count and Garden Wildlife and Vegetables

 

Since 2010 Butterfly Conservation has organised a yearly nationwide survey where people can spend 15 minutes counting the number of butterflies they see in their garden or other location.  Butterflies are excellent biodiversity indicators and they react rapidly to environmental changes. Therefore declines in butterfly species can provide an early warning of potential losses in other species too.  Big Butterfly Count helps identify trends in species allowing plans to be made to protect those in decline and also to allow scientists to understand the effects of climate change.

I am sure some of you also take part and it is to be hoped that the results from this year's counts are a marked improvement on the awful year butterflies and other pollinators had last year.

D and I did our first butterfly count on the 21st July at Castle Bromwich Historic Parklands and saw the following butterflies:

Small White x 4

Speckled Wood x 5

Large White x 2

Holly Blue x 4

Gatekeeper x 6

plus an unidentified skipper (it was too far away to be sure)!

On 25th July we did a count in the garden at home and saw the following:

Large White x 4

Peacock x 1

Comma x 1

*D

Holly Blue x 1  (here nectaring on water mint flowers by the pond)

*D

Gatekeeper x 1

*D

*D

Speckled Wood x 3

*D

Meadow Brown x 1

*D

Not seen during the count itself here is a photo of a Red Admiral we saw a bit later.

*D

D did a further garden count earlier this week and managed to spot a Red Admiral during the 15 minutes this time.

Red Admiral x 1

Comma x 1

Speckled Wood x 1

Gatekeeper x 2

Large White x 1

Other Garden Insects

Banded Demoiselle - I was really chuffed this was spotted as I am fairly sure it is a new garden "tick"

*D

Grasshopper

Mint Moth - you guessed it seen on mint! Pretty as these tiny moths are last year the caterpillars decimated all our mint!

*D

Sunflower with a Marmalade Hoverfly

*D

Garden Vegetables and Baking

These days D grows all the garden vegetables.

Here are the first red chilli peppers.

*D

We are picking courgettes galore

*D

Ripening pumpkin

*D

The first crop of beetroot has been harvested.

*D

Apple and Blackberry Crumble made with foraged blackberries from the garden.

*D

D made these Feta, Thyme and Courgette Scones with courgettes and thyme from the garden. Lovely served with onion chutney :)

*D

All photos taken by D with the Canon SX50 HS bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of my son's or mine I would be grateful for an email first - thanks)

Mid July Visit to Herefordshire - Hatfield

In mid July we returned to the caravan for 3 nights with E who was on holiday from work.

There was no change in the Herefordshire Trees from the week before as you can see!

Herefordshire Oak 

Octopus Tree

Constable Tree(s)

D's sunflowers have two flowers.

I am really pleased with the rose in a pot that we bought last autumn - it is just full of flowers.

D's chilli pepper plant has chillis forming (at least 3).

D spotted this local "Dragon Tree" plant in a local Morrisons store at home. I know it is not a "Dragon Tree" although it is similar to a Dragon Tree house plant D has but I can't remember the actual name.  D wanted to buy it for the caravan but both of us had forgotten our debit cards!  Fortunately when we were at Morrisons in Leominster they were selling them too. It has been planted in a pot that contained a bay tree that had sadly died over the winter.

Hollyhocks still flowering and blackberries are starting to ripen.

 

Timothy back on his shelf feeling rather relieved I had left Spotty Dotty man in my bag :)

We found a Great Spotted Woodpecker's feather lying on the grass near the feeders where they regularly come for food. I've put it in the "Finds" Box which you can see next to Timothy in the photo above.

Apart from the click and collect as usual at Morrisons Leominster we didn't leave the caravan site. Partly because it was hot but mainly because E was suffering from an ear infection and was in a lot of pain. Before we went away her GP had given her an antibiotic spray which sadly didn't work so now she is on oral antibiotics.

I think sadly it will be a few weeks before we can return as we have a car service and mot arranged plus a home gas boiler service and B has some medical appointments. Plus we need to buy a new cooker and will have to be at home for the delivery and fitting.  I will have to try not to worry about the plants if there is no rain unless we squeeze in a quick visit just to water the garden and stay for a night or two.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

Old Arley - St Wilfrid's Church and NGS Open Gardens

 

First a small posy of the first sweet peas from the garden. I ordered the seeds from Higgledy Garden along with a few other packets of flower seeds and I am really pleased with the results.

The Sunday before last D wanted to drive to the nurseries at Hoar Park Craft Centre and I was keen to visit ngs open gardens at Old Arley. The two places are fairly close together so we were able to combine a visit to the two.  First the nurseries where we bought some ceramic pots - luckily they were half price and I also bought a new lavender plant. You can never have too much lavender!

Then we drove to Old Arley. By then it was becoming horribly hot and humid but when we arrived I noticed St Wilfrid's church was actually open. When I last visited Old Arley it was closed! So first visit was to the church which was a little cooler than the outside temperatures!

St Wilfrid's,  Old Arley

War Memorial

The north nave wall of the church is partly Norman. The rest of the church is in the Decorated style for example the West Tower and the chancel with ogee headed priest's door and side windows with Kentish tracery.

There was (shudders) a Victorian restoration by Bodley and Garner 1872/3.

Red sandstone octagonal font.

Tower West Window by James Powell & Sons 1930

Nave window (I think also by James Powell?) entitled The Good Shepherd.

Mosaics

List of Rectors

Gothic Organ case in tower arch 1938

Looking towards the chancel - chancel screen by Bodley and Garner 1873. Sorry some of the photos are dark - light poor in church and I couldn't find the light switches!

A partly obscured monument of  a recumbent priest with 2 angels at his pillow c 1350.

Kneelers and tiles

East window by Burlison and Grylls as are the side chancel windows.

The best feature of the church was this window containing medieval glass fragments.

We then had a look around the two closest ngs gardens - some were much further away and it was so hot and humid that after wandering around two I couldn't face any more.

I was really impressed with the first garden we visited and it had made such good use of a relatively small space.  They had raised vegetable plots, pots, herbaceous borders, bee hotels, a wildflower meadow in the front garden and many pollinator friendly plants.

The second garden was what I would call a more "modern" garden with plenty of places to sit and entertain interspersed with flowers.

I loved this dragonfly and carved wooden owl.

A foliate head on a house wall - I loved this!

Bench spotted on the way back to the car.

Reference:

"Buildings of England Warwickshire" Pevsner.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my sons I would be grateful for an email first - thanks)