My Wild-life Garden Chapter 10: July 25th

I began this blog when the swifts arrived back and nested in their usual place in our eaves. Now they sometimes whish low over the garden in groups of half a dozen, screaming as they go. Occasionally I see one peel off and shoot into the nest-crack. They are the most exciting bird in the garden just now, and very welcome because the small birds seem to have disappeared. This presumably means that they are either fledglings, vulnerable and shy, or adults recovering from the ardours of breeding, and also undergoing their annual moult. During this stage they tend to keep out of sight and shelter in hedgerows. There is an adventurous hunting cat, too, which I would douse in icy water if I could.

Orchid and bumble-bee

So the swifts are very welcome. The other common bird in the garden just now is wood pigeons. Yesterday I saw six at once, foraging on the freshly cut lawn. Overhead, and very noisy, are sea gulls. We seem to get common gulls, herring gulls and black-headed gulls in the area. They nest on the roofs (I have said this is a city centre) to the irritation of many and the pleasure of some. In fact in our street the odd numbers have taken steps against them, whereas we even numbers have learned to co-exist. The hostile steps of last year don’t seem to have made any difference this summer. A few years ago I was irritated when a gull on a chimney stack shouted at me, so I shouted back. The bird swooped at me, fast, and all but touched my hair. That was my closest shave, though they do sometimes do a warning swoop when I am in the garden and there are chicks on the roof.

The pond-edge this morning

This morning we really did have sun and heat for a few hours (there was a torrential shower later) and I did some mowing of the second half of my long grass meadow. I was careful to avoid the orchids – we have three this year. As a result of the weather we had a sudden burst of insects. There were bees enjoying the meadowsweet and the fox-gloves. There were hover-flies over the pond. One of them was really big, an amazing sight hanging still in the air. Possibly it was Volucellia zonaria , which is described as “easily recognised by its size and colour”; but it is also described as “local distribution: southern”, which causes doubts. There was a froghopper; I think Aphrophora alni for its size, though it may have been Philaenus spumarius, Common froghopper.  There was also, at last, another butterfly, presumably Artogeia rapae, Small white.

I have already apologised for being rotten at identification. I take comfort from a story told by the great Richard Feynman. A boy, leading a dog, met a motherly lady. “What’s that nice dog’s name?” asked the lady. The boy thought for a while. “I don’t know,” he said, “but we call him Fido.”

Birdsfoot Trefoil

In my last chapter I praised “A Buzz in the Meadow” by Dave Goulson. On page 138 we read: “Flowers that are aiming to attract bees are often yellow and purple.” That certainly fits with two flowers that have come out since I last wrote. One is Lotus pendunculatus, Greater birdsfoot trefoil. The other is Eupatorium cannabinum, Hemp agrimony. They both began in that packet of seeds called “Pond-edge Mixture” which I sowed over twenty years ago. The Hemp agrimony is remarkable. Every year I cut it back to ground level in winter and every summer it flowers at nearly two metres.

Hemp agrimony

One feature of the design of the garden that has worked is the path. It is deliberately not straight (though it is really no more than the quickest way to the compost heap). And it is kept mown so that it looks good, and walking up it is always a pleasure. At this time of year one is walking between tall, buzzing vegetation. 

Apart from snails (it is a big exception) pests and predators seem to keep in balance. A week ago the stems of the teasel were thick with greenfly. Today there were none

Ladybird pupa on teasel support-cane

Just one fat lady-bird pupa.