my girls run free. My wife says that need to change. What’s a little poop in the patio now and again?
Richie Love the photo of the hoopoe. Was this in the UK? I saw an article on South Today last night about Gilbert White's house. I read "A natural history of Selbourne" about 15 years ago and he had Hoopoes on his lawn too,
I was brought up 2 miles from Selbourne. Lots of school days out there to look at Gilbert White’s house and work.
“I have” a lilac tree in my back garden. It’s stunning but only flowers briefly. When I say “I Have” I mean there is one randomly in the field behind my house but the tree is right up against the fence. So right that it looks like it’s mine. I’m claiming it.
Talking of peacocks. There's a group of then wandering around the campus of the Universidad de Baleares. Last summer they demolished the grapes that oñe of the chefs, who works next door at the Escuela de Hostelería, had been carefully cultivating prior to the summer break and expecting a bountiful harvest on returning in September!!
Many years ago, I head a scratching above my study room. On further investigation, I discovered a big hole close to the guttering. So I hired a roofer to seal the hole. Imaginé his surprise when a squirrel shot out of this hibernation. He nearly fell off his ladder. As for the squirrel, he was furious that his confortable home had been sealed off.
This may be of interest to the bird watchers, the Goshawk web cam. https://www.forestryengland.uk/blog/live-web-cam-goshawks-the-new-forest Edit Just realised it's last year's
I meant peacock butterflies , They can be very destructive, you had an escape I'd say. They can play havoc with electrical and other cabling in a roof space
One of the biggest threats to wildlife are fences. People are so anxious to fence off their property that they are fragmenting populations. Foxes manage but for hedgehogs, frogs, toads and snakes it's a disaster.
I have toads visit me every yeast and spawn in my pond. Two years ago I caught a grass snake trapped on my pond netting and then that week saw two babies. The one thing I’ve not seen is a hedgehog but think one may use the side of my garden as a thoroughfare. I have several piles of branches, grass cuttings, broken fence panels, remains of an old garden planting trough, holes in fences and no gate on one side and no gate on the drive anymore..... it doesn’t impress the wife but I know it helps the wildlife. I have to have a picket fence panel on the side to keep the hens in, but even then the neighbours have found them wondering down the road.
Tidiness is the enemy of wildlife Manicured gardens provide no habitat We have wood piles, unkempt edges and a compost bin teeming with life. The mower is set on the highest setting and I leave patches of grass, daisies etc New addition this year is a wildlife pond and we saw Common diving beetles in there yesterday. Hopefully indicating the pond food chain is getting more visible Getting a lot of bees and some of those bee flies as in your photo And two hedgehogs and one looks big so might be pregnant
Tidiness you say.. I know your eyes in the morning sun I feel you touch me in the pouring rain And the moment that you wander far from me I wanna feel you in my arms again And you come to me on a summer breeze Keep me warm in your love then you softly leave And it's me you need to show.... ....sorry, this lockdown is having an affect. I was just trying to ask you How Deep is Your Pond?