Since my last post the Centaurea
nigra, Common Knapweed, has bloomed abundantly. The purple theme
has been developed further near the pond by the appearance of a
little patch of Prunella vulgaris, Self-heal. Otherwise the
colour all comes from flowers I have already written about, and
probably photographed for you.
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| Self-heal |
We have had some properly hot and sunny
days, so all sorts of flying insects have been searching for nectar
and pollen. Amongst them I saw three large bumble-bees, possibly
Bombus lapidarius. They had that weak, struggling look, all
too common with bumble-bees, crawling on the ground, up a grass stem
and then falling off. I hope they managed to get some food and some
sun-light, and so gathered strength.
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| A large, weak bumble-bee |
I am still hoping for a brave show of
butterflies. So far this has been the worst year for a while. I did
see a solitary white the other day, and I think it was Artogeia
napi, the Green-veined White, rather than Artogeia rapae,
the Small White, but I am not certain.
The wild-life garden is great for
children. The other day my grandson said, as soon as he came in “Can
you get me a snail, please”. That was easy. He put it in a plastic
cup with some earth and a leaf. In no time it emerged from its shell,
and crawled around, giving a superb chance to inspect its eyes on
stalks, and its mouth-parts, and its slimy trail. After twenty
minutes we put it back under a plant in the shade.
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| A Garden Snail |
We like to see the small birds, too. A
pair of Parus ater, Coal Tit, have been at the feeders, and
there are sparrows around again. There is the high wheezing of
sea-gull chicks, and the shouting of sea-gull adults defending their
territories. The best sighting, though, was a brief but unmistakable
appearance by an Accipiter nisus, Sparrowhawk. It flew across
at about twenty feet, banked at a right-angle and disappeared into a
tree next door. I wonder if it is to blame for the half-dozen white,
downy feathers that have appeared on the lawn.
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| Over-grown pond |
I really ought to be doing more cutting
back. The pond is all but inaccessible and invisible. Maybe I'll get
on with it soon, but maybe I won't.
Never forget that gardens in the summer are partly for sitting still in.
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| Summer days |
Never forget that gardens in the summer are partly for sitting still in.
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