What's it all about?

Maybe I should explain why I bothered to start this blog in the first place. I've always loved spending time in my garden looking for insects, gardening, tracking in the snow, anything really, but with time at a premium with a young family I've found it difficult to enjoy quality time away from the hustle and bustle, somewhere quiet and peaceful, surrounded by nature.

I think every human being needs to spend regular quality time out and about, amongst nature, but it's easier said than done.

However, now the girls are growing up and my little one is going to PROPER school in a few months time :(, I reckon I might be able to snatch a little more time here and there.

I've never recorded the species I've seen, apart from in my head, but that's not a lot of use to anyone and I'd like to make "Nature" more of a hobby, so I've just started my first book of records and it's really exciting!! 

My Bit of Peace and Quiet

I've always fed the birds in my garden and at the moment I'm trying to cater for every species I can think of and probably spending far too much money on it. 

Today, I compiled my first proper list of all the birds species that have honoured me with visits to our garden over the last 11 years (well those that I've seen anyway). 

Along with the usual Blue Tits, Sparrows and Blackbirds, I've also seen a Kingfisher diving for small fry in our pond, a Green Woodpecker pecking up insects from amongst the grass and this year, after much persistence with Niger Seed, we've finally seen Goldfinches!

My garden is approx 60ft length by 30ft wide and it has a little "rill"; a little stretch of water a couple of metres long by about a foot or two wide. It was added as a replacement for a 5ft deep pond which was filled in when I realised that having little ones running around, finding their feet did not really sit well with a 5ft deep pond.

I loved that pond and was sad to see it go. When we emptied it we found 72 frogs and countless invertebrates and waterlife. Really sad, but at the end of the day, the children's safety has to come first. I'm hoping to build another pond in a few years time.

Anyway, the rill is brilliant. It sits just waist height from the ground behind a pile of sleepers and is perfect for the kids. It's only 20-30cm deep and they stick their hands in to fish out frogs and snails and dragonfly larvae. I grab pieces of pondweed and pull it apart carefully to find any living things and put them back in the water. Last year we had 8 newts; 5 male and 3 female, and later in the year we found Newtlets which was such a thrill. They're back again this year!

I've managed to keep the garden a suitable place for wildlife (i.e. unkempt and planted with bug and butterfly temptations) due to having a gardener husband whose idea of a relaxing weekend is NOT doing the garden! I have a lovely pile of rotting wood and leaves, rocks in the borders, insect houses, grass areas and dense (weedy) areas, stinging nettle patches and a messy garden shed.

I'm growing Rudbeckia and Echinacea from seed this year to try to attract more flying beauties to my garden. I'll let you know how that goes!