Blossom, Butterflies and Tulips at Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens

I spent a wonderful few hours at lunchtime today wandering around Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens. Although I have only been visiting on a regular basis over the last 16months, I have been going to the Gardens occasionally ever since they first opened to the public and every year they just get better and better and more beautiful.

Lady Bridgeman's Garden











One of the stone "pineapples" in the Melon Ground







A few photos of some of the many varieties of tulips which are at their best at the moment.







The fruit trees in the North Orchard are coming into blossom and the daffodils have been replaced by a lovely display of cowslips









Looking towards the Green House



Espaliers (looking towards the North West Pier)



I went a walk around the "Extra Grounds" just outside the more formal walled garden. Bluebells are flowering in the Nut Ground



The North Pond where I disturbed a drake mallard



More cowslips



Despite the fact that, although it was sunny, it was colder and windier today there were a lot of butterflies about - speckled wood, small tortoiseshell, orange tip, peacock and I saw my first holly blues of the year.

The area of habitat shown in the photo below was ideal for butterflies, holly (for the pair of holly blues I saw there) and a large patch of nettles. A few plants of honesty were proving very attractive to a male and female orange tip.



Orange Tip (male)





Orange Tip female - the females lack the orange tips to the wings but share the beautiful lichen-like camouflage pattern on the hind wings



Speckled Wood



The beautiful snakeshead fritillaries around the West Pond are now in full bloom









The fruit trees are also beginning to blossom in the New Orchard



Back in the Walled Garden



The Lower Wilderness





In the Upper Wilderness the lilacs are just starting to flower





and there are great displays of tulips and more blossom







Castle Bromwich Hall being nicely renovated by the new owner - no idea though when the new hotel will be opening













There were quite a few birds around the garden today - the highlight being a jay (a new species for my Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens birdlist). I'll list the species I have seen there on the blog when I manage to select a few less photos on a future visit!

I have now seen 7 species of butterfly this year and the garden list for 2011 now stands at 5 after seeing my first speckled wood of the year last Sunday in the garden.

Stop press news re: garden blue tits - we checked the nestbox camera today for the first time since the weekend and nest material is beginning to be taken in and one of the birds (I assume the female) is roosting in the box tonight. They have started nest building a bit earlier than last year when it was the 18th April. I will try and persuade my husband to put some video from the nestbox camera on to a disc and try and upload some footage to my blog at the weekend.

Common Newts and Moth Update

I managed to take a few photos this morning of a newt that was lurking in the shallower water at the pond edge.

Common/Smooth Newt



And a cropped version of the above photo



There was lots of newt activity again last night - we counted 14 individuals. Plenty of courtship behaviour with the males moving their tails from side to side to try and attract a female.


Moth Update

Despite a minimum temperature of 6.6 degrees centigrade (with the temperature ranging between 15.2 and 6.6 degrees centigrade) there were only 3 moths in the trap this morning.

I did manage to trap a wasp - in 18 months of moth trapping this is the first wasp I have caught! Luckily it was very dozy so I risked getting up close for a photo before it eventually warmed up and flew off.



There was also a Black Sexton beetle (Nicrophorus humator) (a burying beetle) hidden away in the crevices of an egg box. I catch loads of these.



Summary of Moth Trapping Session Friday, 8th April, 2011

8.00 p.m. until dawn

15w Actinic Skinner Trap

1 x Hebrew Character
1 x Early Grey
1 x Common Quaker

Number of species seen in the garden in 2011 remains at 9 - I don't think I shall be breaking any records this year!

Spring in the Garden

Spring has really taken off in the garden this week with the gloriously hot, sunny weather we are experiencing.




There are a lot of signs of nesting activity with blue tits regularly going in and out of the nest box, starlings and house sparrows collecting nest material, the wren collecting moss from the lawn and taking it into ivy on a wall at the side of the patio. The blackbird eggs hatched a few days ago and the adults are busy feeding young.

The blackbird nest can just be seen in the bamboo in the centre of the photo below (I was very careful when I took the photo to make sure the adults were foraging for food for the young in a different part of the garden).




I have seen several more orange tip butterflies in the garden today plus buff-tailed bumble bees and my first red-tailed bumble of the year.

There have been a lot of tawny mining bees (Andrena fulva) in the garden in the last week or so - I love these bees they have such pretty colouring and are entirely harmless.





These bees are solitary and build individual nests by digging holes in the ground to provide a safe haven for laying eggs and rearing young. Their nests shown above look like miniature volcanoes and I counted over 30 individual nests on just one of the smaller lawns.

I found it impossible to get a photo of the mining bee in the garden as they never seem to keep still!!! So here is a poor record shot of one I caught in the kitchen just before I released it which at least gives an idea of their colours.




We are still counting newts in the evening in the garden pond and have seen a total of 15 at the same time now!! No wonder I can't see any frog tadpoles!

The garden has lots of spring flowers

Violas





Pansy



Daffodils are still flowering



Spiraea arguta or "Bridal Wreath"





I can never remember the name of this shrub which is full of yellow crysanthemum type flowers



Camelia



Primula



Cowslip



There are lots of violets in various nooks and crannies






and Bluebells are starting to flower

First Swallow, Orange Tip, Peacock and a "Fairy" Door

It felt like summer today it was so hot and walking round the garden this morning, I saw my first orange tip (a male) and peacock butterflies of the year. The orange tip didn't linger but the peacock was nectaring on blossom although it had disappeared by the time I had fetched my camera!

We've been looking at the pond after dark by torchlight and there are at least 7 common newts in there indulging in courtship/territorial behaviour. I haven't yet seen any frog tadpoles not sure if that is due to the cold frosty spell we had just after the spawn was laid or whether the newts have been busy eating them.

Went for a drive through local lanes at lunchtime today accompanied by my daughter. We saw loads of pheasants and quite a few red-legged partridges plus a pair of buzzards. Its lovely to see the blackthorn coming into flower. Stopped off for lunch at The Plough, Shustoke, to celebrate a promotion my daughter has just got at work. I resisted the temptation of a steakwich and onion bagette with cheesy chips and just had the chips whereas daughter decided on cheese and bacon burger plus the chips. Spotted my first swallow of the year flying around the village.

I just love the quirky features you can sometimes see in the British countryside. Last week whilst driving with my daughter she suddenly announced you've just gone past a "fairy door" in a tree. I drive along this particular road about 6 times a week and have certainly never seen a door in a tree. I took my camera the next day to check it out and sure enough, straight from an Enid Blyton tale, there was a "door to fairyland" at the base of a tree. In fact, you can tell how addicted I was to Enid Blyton when I was little because when my daughter (who is 20 by the way and someone else who has read most of the Blyton books!) asked "Did the door open?" I replied immediately "No, it was locked". Yes, I did try it!!

I'm not sure who put it there but its a lovely idea.







Garden Butterfly Species 2011 = 4

Garden moths and birds update

Moths

Friday night was very mild with a temperature range between 12.9 and 11.6 degrees centigrade resulting in a few more moths in the trap. Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)is a new species for the year and I caught my first pug - well worn, as usual!. Not sure about the identity of the pug although I think it may be a Double-striped pug.

Early Grey



Possible Double-striped pug (wingspan of moth was around 16 mm) Poor photo of a worn specimen!



Summary of Moth Trapping Session - Friday, 1st April

Minimum Temperature 11.6 degrees centigrade

7.45 p.m. until dawn

15w Actinic Skinner Moth Trap

1 x Clouded Drab
1 x Emmelina Monodactyla
1 x Hebrew Character
3 x Common Quaker
1 x Early Grey (NFY)
1 x unidentified pug - possibly Double-striped Edit - Many thanks again to Dean for coming to the rescue. I will go with Double-striped pug which is a new species for the garden.

Garden Update

There is plenty of nesting activity in the garden. Blue tits are still making constant visits to nestbox, female blackbird still sitting on eggs, wren taking nest material into ivy and a pair of house sparrows yesterday were taking nesting material under the eaves.

Spotted a male sparrowhawk this morning - only the second garden sighting this year -plucking a small bird on the lawn - inspecting the feathers after the sparrowhawk had flown off I suspect the prey caught was a house sparrow. A pair of chaffinches are still coming for food but the female mallard hasn't returned to the pond.

There are still at least two common newts in the pond.

Wood anemone or wind flower is just starting to come into flower