Redwings reprise

Two years ago I saw a dozen Redwings here for the first time and last year there were about 30 who paid a visit. Today they returned briefly to forage in the East Fieldand this time there were about 50. As last time there were some Chaffinches foraging with them. The Redwing is a very handsome bird.

Sparrow Terrace

With roof work taking place this summer I have been trying to provide the local Sparrows with nesting places that don't involve some areas of the roof. To that end a further six nest spaces have been provided to add to the four sparrow nests on the back of the house and the four Martin nests on the side of the house that have been commandeered by Sparrows. Fourteen nests should give them plenty of choice. It's so nice to have a noisy troupe of Sparrows around which has been the case for the last few years.

Frog spawn - after a couple of barren years

A nice sign was the appearance of some frogspawn in the older pond which has some water retention issues but enough water to attact a spawning frog. None in the newer pond which has some clay issues as in it is still settling down. Given that the spawn disappeared last time (2021) I am wondering whether I should take a little and rear the tadpoles elsewhere to improve the chances of tadpoles followed by adult frogs. I think I will.

Rooks

The Rook population is declining in Wales. I was surprised to see about 50 of them in our Oak trees this morning and I was hoping they might set up a Rookery here. But they had a look around, decided it wasn't a suitable location and cleared off.

Lots of Jelly Ear

This fungus favours dead or dying Elder wood and I have a lot of that. I just found a motherlode of this fungus whilst clearing some fallen Elder.

Hedge Planting

Our project to plant 100 + metres of hedging reached fruition this week. It achieves several objectives - connecting hedges in the village with Manor Woods below our fields, hedging the boundaries on the South Field and helping to recover overgrown areas of the field. Native hedging of course; Hawthorn, Field Maple, Goat Willow, Dog Rose, Blackthorn and Hazel with a few Wild Cherry trees as well. Should be looking good in five years or so.