New Species - Three-nerved Sandwort

Finding a new flower species is an increasingly uncommon occurrence so it is good to report the Three-nerved Sandwort (Moehringia trinervia) in a shady area by an overgrown hedge. It fooled me for quite a while as I was trying to work out which Chickweed it was and only when I had eliminated all the Chickweeds did I stumble across the Sandwort group on the next page of the flower book.

Corvid mayhem

I was woken up by extreme crow noise and staggering to the window I could see five crows all giving it some, right below me. The noise turned into a fight between two of the the crows (the males?) whilst the the other three were close spectators. At one point two of the 'spectators' turned and swooped on some rabbits who made a hasty exit into the undergrowth. The fight looked really vicious with wings spread and beaks in action and I feared a fatality but after a little while it ended and all five birds flew off. A little while later the resident pair of crows were visible doing exactly what they normally do hopping around in the the field and in the garden picking out nice things to eat. I can only assume that this was a territorial challenge which was seen off but that is guesswork really. I certainly see our crows defending against buzzards and other birds of prey so I think this was more of the same. The photo shows the crows an hour or so after the fight.

Wildlife gardening

I don't disapprove of the usual wildlife gardening suggestions which typically focus on leaving some areas wild or planting of species that are useful to native insects and birds. My approach is different though. On the small areas that we have that might be considered garden such as some grass between the back door and a retaining wall I just make sure that I tweak things in favour of any wildflowers that may find a home there. What surprises me is how little of a tweak is required. The photo shows a brilliant patch of Bugle (Ajuga reptans) enjoying a shady spot by the wall that is at the moment a hive of insect activity. All that was required was to leave uncut a couple of spikes of Bugle for a couple of years and hey presto! For me better than anything at Chelsea.

Spring Sedge with added insects

I finally found one of my little patches of Spring Sedge (Carex caryophyllea)and took my camera out to take a few photos of this delicate little plant. I found a couple of tiny tiny insects interacting on one of the spikes. I have no idea what they are.

Feeding frenzy

The bird feeders are a hive of activity with a constant stream of visitor including some birds I haven't seen on the feeders before. For the first time we have three separate feeders which helps capacity and species wise but it surprises me to see Blackcaps for example as regular visitors. I have just totted up the species seen in the last week and it comes to fifteen, namely - Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Marsh Tit, Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Siskin and Blackcap. Pictured above is the agile Siskin enjoying some Sunflower Hearts.

Wood Forget-me-not close up

I am sometimes unsure of the extent to which some of the wildflowers I record on site are either deliberately planted in the past or are garden escapes. Perhaps it doesn't matter. One of those species is the Wood Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica). Whatever it is easy to characterize the Forget-me-nots, particularly the tiny-flowered ones as 'small blue flowers' but up close they are surprisingly colourful.

Fallow Deer

This is the first deer I have seen this year at The Beeches and she has been around for a couple of days - hopefully leaving the apple trees alone! Various other deer species are seen in the Wye Valley but nothing other than Fallow Deer so far here.