July 2023

It’s lovely to see lots of butterflies fluttering through the meadows at Three Corners. There are thousands of grasshoppers and crickets too. James invited members of Wild About Loddiswell to visit and gave them a guided tour. He also took part in the Devon Wildlife Trust Bat Survey - results to follow!

May 2023

Spring in the meadows at Three Corners

April 2023

The blackthorn blossom has been stunning this year - this photo was taken at Three Corners looking across the Avon Valley.

At Woolston we found a violet oil beetle for the first time on our land.

February 2023

At last - photographic evidence of the resident barn owl, captured on the trail camera. Also an appearance from a tawny owl.

Sarah found this hedgehog (Catkin) in our garden late one evening, he was very cold, thin and with a heavy tick infestation. I took him with me to Prickles in a Pickle hedgehog hospital the next day. His ticks were removed and he was treated for internal parasites and ring worm. On admission his weight was 445g, the second photo shows him just a week later looking much better and weighing in at 616g - an impressive weight gain! I’m pleased to report that after a few weeks he was fully recovered and I was able to bring him home.

December 2022

Barn Owl Update! No footage yet, but James has seen a barn owl go into the box!

Snow is a rare phenomenon for us these days - I managed to take these photos at sunrise at Blackdown Rings before it all disappeared.

November 2022

Sunrise and Autumn mists from Blackdown Rings.

November 2022

The meadows at Three Corners on a glorious November day,

September 2022

An exciting find at Three corners! James spotted this harvest mouse nest, the second one we’ve found, he has logged it with the Devon Harvest Mouse Project.

August 2022

Something for us to aspire to! These stunning wildflower meadows are not far from us in the Avon valley.

August 2022

When James and Malcolm installed the barn owl box in February there had been no barn owl sightings on the land at Three Corners, so we did not have high expectations. Imagine our excitement when we saw this one gliding silently in front of us late one afternoon, hunting along the hedgerow. We’re keeping everything crossed that it finds and likes the barn owl box!

May 2022

While at work the other day, Malcolm noticed a pied wagtail who was obviously feeding chicks. He managed to track her back to her nest - in a dumpy bag of rubble! The builders have been informed and have promised not to touch it until the babies have fledged!

May 2022

Spring is springing on our patch too! Also very encouraging to see quite a bit of yellow rattle growing in the latest area set aside for wildflowers. Once it has weakened the vigorous grasses the flowers will have a fighting chance.

May 2022

James has started work on the groundworks for the barn in the bottom corner of the land at Three Corners.

May 2022

Spring at Three Corners: a pastoral view across a verdant Avon Valley. The grass in the fields has shot up after recent rains and is nearly waist high! Beautiful May blossom in the woods across the valley.

March 2022

The highlight for me on Mother’s Day (as well as a lovely breakfast on the beach!) was seeing a male hen harrier flying over Slapton Ley. Probably stopping over on his migration north. They are one of our most endangered birds of prey, what a privilege to see one! I couldn’t photograph it as we were travelling in the car at the time.

March 2022

Tom and Vera, a pair of wild mallard ducks, started visiting us during the first lockdown in April 2020. Last year they were joined by six drakes. This year we have observed a second pair of ducks and seven drakes! The drakes were on the pond this morning, resplendent in their breeding plumage. They took off before I could take photo, though I did catch one in mid flight!

March 2022

A short walk from South Milton to Hope Cove. A cold day, but the sun was warm and the air was crystal clear.

February 2022

Fabulous views across Start Bay and Slapton Ley in the February sunshine. Torcross in the calm before the storm.

January 2022

We were privileged to become the unexpected voyeurs of these two beautiful foxes sharing an intimate moment. We watched them quietly for quite some time. We found ourselves sharing this magical spectacle with five buzzards circling silently in the blue skies above us.

January 2022

The cold weather has killed off the fluorescent green algae that had taken over the pond and the water is now crystal clear. The first frogspawn and toad spawn has been found in it!

January 2022

A glorious January day.

Looking at these pictures you could be forgiven for thinking it’s summer! Walking from Little Dartmouth the air was fresh, still and the sea calm, just perfect. To the west Start Bay was bathed in winter sunshine and to the east there were glorious views across the azure blue water to Inner Froward point and the Daymark Tower.

December 2021 - The “Before” pictures!

This may look like a wanton act of vandalism and normally we’re about planting trees, not felling them, but these conifers were in desperate need of thinning out. Many were dying anyway, they were very closely planted and nothing would grow beneath them. We have left quite a few still standing to provide places for bats to roost and for birds to nest. We will see what springs up in their place and will plant any ensuing gaps with native trees. Hopefully the bluebells and violets from the adjoining small wooded area will spread. The open area will become another wildflower meadow. I look forward to posting more photos to show its evolution.

December 2021

Oo errr…….this was an unexpected piece of wildlife to find! This prickly stick insect (Acanthoxyla prasina) crawled into a bag in our greenhouse. It originates from New Zealand, but apparently some have been introduced into Devon and Cornwall. It’s about six inches long, gave me quite a fright!

November 2021

Tasks on James and Rhi’s land (Three Corners) have included topping and hedge planting. Planting hedges to create smaller fields will be very beneficial to wildlife, creating more habitats for birds and other creatures as well as providing cover, food and wildlife corridors.

The pond James dug on his neighbour’s land (Four Ways) is filling well and holding water nicely.

October 2021

We tend to hide away over the summer, avoiding the busy beaches and coast paths. I ventured out with my camera last week, tempted by the weather, which was glorious - warm October sunshine shrouded with a little autumn mist and a gentle stillness. Salcombe, Hope Cove and South Milton Sands all looked stunning, and so peaceful now the summer crowds have departed.

October 2021

Fields of gold......these photos were taken in September and October, I love the golden hue the grasses take on in the autumn sunlight.

James and Rhi had hoped to cut the fields for hay, leaving it as late as possible to allow the grasses and wildflowers to seed and for any resident wildlife to rear their young. Unfortunately nobody was available to cut it who had a small baler, so we decided to buy a topper for our small tractor, so at least it can be topped this year. The steepest and smallest field (where the pond is situated) will be left uncut. The grass here will become tussocky and provide an ideal habitat for field voles and other small mammals, which, in turn, should make it a good hunting ground for barn owls. James plans to place a barn owl box in a suitable tree. The grass is becoming quite tussocky already and we have seen voles scuttling away as we walk through it, so the signs are looking good already. Fingers crossed for barn owls!

September 2021

Back on our original patch we seem to have spent most of our time recently dealing with invasive species. I've been chopping down the sycamore saplings that have started encroach the clearings in our wooded area. We are trying to maintain the clearings which, in amongst the ivy, are carpeted with common dog violets - these are the food plant for silver washed fritillary butterfly caterpillars. As luck would have it, while I was chopping, a butterfly obligingly posed for a photo - usually this species flies very fast and rarely settles so that it's almost impossible to photograph them. The butterflies actually lay their eggs in the bark of nearby trees, the caterpillars, once hatched, find their way down to the violets.

Another problem, which has needed our intervention, is that of fairy moss and parrot's feather taking over the pond at the bottom of the field. We have spent a couple of weekends wading in it and scooping out the weed with rakes and fishing nets. So far it has worked well, though we will need to repeat the exercise again to keep on top of it. We're hoping for enough cold weather over the winter to kill it off. The pond at the top of the field has a similar problem with fairy moss and water pennywort, so that is the next project. It's too deep to wade in, so we've bought an inflatable dinghy - I've already managed to fall out of it, so maybe a wetsuit might be in order!

The algae in the pond has really taken a hold now, but is all part of its natural evolution. It is teeming with all sorts of pond life and the air above it is busy with dragonflies and damselflies frenetically flitting to and fro.

August 2021

Despite a wet morning and a dubious afternoon forecast, we decided to brave it and head for Dartmoor. We hoped we would escape the crowds there, with the South Hams and coastal areas heaving with tourists at the moment.

The roads and car parks on the moor were very busy, but turning off onto a quiet “no through” road paid dividends. We found a pefect picnic spot, just room for one car, and with amazing views. The icing on the cake was that the sun then came out!

The heather and gorse are in flower now and look stunning, gorgeous pinks, purples and yellow. It made me think of my Mum, she loved the moor when they were in flower.

We had a lovely walk with fabulous views everywhere we looked and in glorious sunshine. We didn’t see a soul either - reassuring to know that, even at busy times, you can escape the crowds.

July/August 2021

It’s lovely to be greeted by these cheerful poppies at the entrance to James and Rhi’s land. Bees and other pollinators are appreciating the abundance of wildflowers that border the track now.

As we strolled through the fields, (or should I say, waded through them, the grass is so long now!) a positive army of crickets and grasshoppers were springing out all around us, there must be hundreds of thousands of them in the meadows.

It is amazing how quickly the pond is evolving, the vegetation around the banks and on the island is really thickening up now. The island looks especially pretty with its blue cornflowers and pink mallows.

In my last post I mentioned the gammarus and asellus that had appeared in the pond - these are now present in large numbers along with daphnia (water fleas) and other tiny organisms. Dragonflies and damsel flies are still tirelessly flitting about, briefly pausing to pop eggs into the water with their long ovipositors and their nymphs are already hatching. Water boatmen have also found the pond (they are actually beetles which fly), and can be seen busily “rowing” through the water. They are so aptly named - they really do look like tiny rowing boats with oars!

Particularly stunning are the beautiful demoiselle damselflies. “Beautiful” is actually part of their name, and, again very apt! The males have a dark metallic blue body and wings, the females have a metallic green-bronze body and pale brown wings. The other species of demoiselle: the banded demoiselle can be distinguished from the beautiful demoiselle by the darker band they sport on their wings. Both species are the only damselfies in the UK to have coloured wings.

July 2021 Strete Gate, Start Bay and Start Point

I did a couple of lovely walks the other day, one from Strete Gate (at the end of Slapton Sands) and the other around Start Point. The weather was glorious and the flowers stunning. These are some of the photos I took, I will be adding them to the card range and they will also be available as wall canvases etc. too

The Big Butterfly Count 16/07/21 to 08/08/21

It’s that time again! Hopefully this lovely summer weather will bring out the butterflies. All you have to do is to pick a spot in your garden, in the local park, on your favourite walk, in fact anywhere at all and count how many butterflies you see in 15 minutes. For more information and to download a list of butterflies to look out for, also an app if required, please click on the link below.

July 2021

It’s lovely to see these wildflowers bordering the track to James and Rhi’s land, just a few months ago this area was a muddy quagmire!

The grass in the meadows is growing ever longer, it will be cut for hay later (it will be left for as long as possible for the wildlife). An indicator that it is unimproved grassland is the abundance of marbled white and small skipper butterflies. As we waded through the grass, disturbing them from their hiding places, they were fluttering all around us, such a lovely sight.

It was good to see lots of common birds-foot-trefoil in amongst the grass. It is the foodplant for the caterpillars of the common blue butterfly, so we hope to see lots of those later.

Also lurking in the grass were these beautiful great green bush crickets. At up to 7cm in length, it is the UK’s largest cricket.

The pond is full again now, with lots of dragonfly activity. The island has greened up nicely and some of the wildflowers sown have survived - the cornflowers and mallow look very pretty and the weeping willow is establishing well. There are already small creatures colonising the pond - if you scrutinise the water you can see gammarus and asellus flitting about. The dragonflies are laying eggs, so there will soon be nymphs. It is fascinating to watch the ecosystem develop.

The potentially overpowering bracken is encroaching the field margins. As well as being very invasive, smothering all in its path, it is also poisonous to grazing livestock. James and Rhi are working hard to clear it. Where they have cut it back, they have been rewarded with seeing the wildflowers they sowed earlier in the year.

June 2021

We like to incorporate wildflowers (some which might normally be classed as weeds) into our garden. These are photos of buttercups and red campions near our pond, and red campions in our flower beds.

June 2021

A slow worm and female broad bodied chaser, found on our original patch.

June 2021

Photos of wildlife on James and Rhi’s land captured by the trail camera and ourselves.

June 2021

Lynne from the Devon Wildlife Trust Avon Valley Project visited James and Rhi’s land a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful evening and we had a lovely walk with her around the fields. She was pleased to see that there was already a wide diversity of grasses and wildflowers and that the land has not been intensively farmed. Her advice for this year was to “wait and see what comes up”. Once we know what is already there, with Lynne’s help James and Rhi can plan best how to manage the land for wildlife.

It is very encouraging to see that the meadows are already teeming with insects. On our walk there this weekend we saw lots of meadow brown butterflies, small copper, common blue, small white and a solitary red admiral. Also clouds of small beetles - we’re not sure what they are, but they were everywhere, particularly on the bracken.

A couple of weeks ago we were thrilled to see a red kite fly over both our land and James and Rhi’s. There have been several sightings in the area recently, hopefully they’re starting to establish down here.

April 29th 2021

Article about the proposed Primrose Trail written by Sam Acourt (South Devon News/SouthHams.com).

This is a well written, well informed and balanced article: Local opposition to trail scheme builds with environmental and feasibility concerns - South Devon News | SouthHams.com

 April 2021: Favourite Walks

The weather this month has been glorious, a little chilly perhaps, but we have been blessed with almost continuous sunshine. With the easing of lockdown we have ventured a little further afield and reacquainted ourselves with a couple favourite walks. One from Aveton Gifford to Bantham and the other from East Soar to Sharp Tor, via Bolt Head and Starehole Bay (returning via East Soar Farm for some of their delicious cakes!). The views on both walks are stunning, as are the wildflowers. The hedges are adorned with frothy white blackthorn blossom, woods and meadows are carpeted with yellow lesser celandines, dog violets and the much maligned but very vibrant yellow dandelions. Wild garlic and bluebells are about to burst into flower and the primroses are still looking resplendent, lighting up the hedgebanks with their splashes of delicate yellow. All these were somewhat eclipsed by the gorse however, which looked fabulous. In full flower now, the clifftops are positively aglow with its bright golden flowers and the breeze was laden with its delicious scent, best described, we decided, as a mix of apricots and coconut.

Bat Survey results, Three Corners

Brown long eared 4 (96%), Greater horseshoe 9 (98%), Lesser horseshoe 1 (99%), Common pipistrelle 34 (99%), Noctule 16 (99%), Myotis whiskered 1 (93%), Natterer’s 2 (93%), Leisler’s 5 (75%), Daubenton’s 5 (92%), Brandt’s 2 (90%), Grey long eared 3 (low confidence), Soprano pipistrelle 6 (low confidence), Nathusius’s pipistrelle 14 (low confidence), Bechstein’s 1 (low confidence).

June 2023

In our field at Woolston we took part in the Devon Wildlife Trust bat survey. We were loaned a sophisticated bat detector which was set up and left for three nights. Our results were as follows, (the percentage numbers represent the degree of certainty of identification):

Barbastelle 7 84%, Serotine 3 99%, Brandt’s 21 90%, Leislers 1 97%, Noctule 15 99%, Common pipistrelle 115 99%, Brown long eared 12 96%, Greater horseshoe 1 98%, Natterer’s 2 87%, Bechstein’s 1 90%, Grey long eared 1 (low confidence)

June 2023

The small area that James sowed with cornfield flowers looked glorious and was busy with butterflies and other pollinators. The hot, dry weather meant that they were soon over though. The pond continues to evolve and the banks are now a jungle of vegetation with an increasing diversity of wildflowers. We were pleased to see the moorhens back this year and raising a family. James spotted a grass snake on the land for the first time. Roe deer still visit regularly and hares too.

May 2023

On our patch at Woolston we had a nesting pair of greater spotted woodpeckers and found a beautiful demoiselle for the first time in our field. We also saw our first slow worm and juvenile grass snake of the year.

The bluebells and wild garlic looked very pretty in our little wood and it was good to see them starting to spread into the areas where we have thinned the conifers.

January 2023

We found this fascinating Collared Earthstar in our field. According to the Woodland Trust: “The Native American Blackfoot Confederacy called collared earthstars ka-ka-toos – meaning 'fallen stars' – and believed them to be indicators of supernatural events.”

Some of the best photos are taken in winter - sunset at South Milton Sands, snow at Blackdown Rings and sunrise at Start Point Lighthouse.

November 2022

Another exciting find - a barn owl pellet beneath the barn owl box! We’re really hoping it’s a pair and that they nest. James is going to train a trail camera on it in the hope we can capture some footage of them.

August 2022

James’s pond is looking beautiful, it’s hard to believe it’s only been here for a couple of years. Below the surface it is teeming with life, frogs and toads are breeding, it hosts a family of moorhen and a nesting Canada goose and the air is busy with dragon and damsel flies darting to and fro. Magical.

August 2022

Insect life in the meadows at Three corners.

July 2022

Our more established wildflower area near the pond is looking verdant and buzzing with insects, this young frog was a welcome visitor too. A stunning hummingbird hawkmoth brought a touch of the exotic to our garden as it flitted and hovered around the flowers.

June 2022

The yellow rattle has quite a bit to do to weaken the dominant grasses in our newly designated wildflower area but it’s good to see some common knapweed starting to establish, meadow buttercups provide a splash of colour too along with the purple thistles. Earlier in the spring we found cuckoo flowers here and there and cowslips peeping through too.

May 2022

Our first glimpse of a grass snake in the field this year!

May 2022

We found this beauty on some bracken at Three Corners, we think it’s a drinker moth caterpillar.

May 2022

The pond at Three Corners is looking much more established now and has both a Canada goose and a moorhen nesting on the island! We kept our distance so as not to disturb them

April 2022

We were privileged to be visited by this beautiful hare in our garden for three evenings. Quite magical!

March 2022

Lovely walk from Aveton Woods to Avon Mill today. I just love wild daffodils! There are still some snowdrops hanging on, wood anemones and dog violets. We came across some bees burrowing into the mud - tawny mining bee? We also saw a grey wagtail on rocks in the river and a kingfisher flashed past - too quick for a photo!

March 2022

This was a lovely surprise - the first time ever that we’ve had Bramblings in our garden!

February 2022

Only 27th February but it felt like spring today with the warm sunshine. We had breakfast on the beach at Strete Gate, then a walk from Torcross to Beesands. For such a calm and sunny day, the sea was surprisingly rough, with breakers crashing dramatically on to the sands. In the hedgerows we spied primroses in flower along with lesser celandines, speedwell, red campions, dandelions and even some wild strawberries! There was a lone black swan on Widdicombe Ley. The Canada geese were in abundance and were vociferously taking flight, heading to nearby fields to feed.. We also spotted a couple of great crested grebe, hiding in the reeds.

February 2022

To me…….to you……James and Malcolm struggled to get this extremely heavy barn owl box up into the oak tree carefully chosen for the purpose. The magnificent box was made by Alan (of Prickles in a Pickle Hedgehog hospital) and was our Christmas present to James.. Hopefully it will prove to be a desirable residence for barn owls. It is not far from the pond and the fields surrounding it have plenty of tussocky grass, housing voles and other small mammals making it an ideal hunting ground for barn owls. A trail camera has been set up to observe it. We’re keeping everything crossed! In the last photo, if you look closely you can see a fox in the backfground!

January 2022

Inspired by a feature on Winterwatch we had a search through the long tussocky grass in the pond field and were thrilled to find this harvest mouse nest! We have reported the find to the Devon Harvest mouse project. They have confirmed that it is a harvest mouse nest and it has been logged with their survey.

29th January The Big Garden Birdwatch

The results of the birdwatch in our garden this year were:

Nuthatch x 2 Chaffinch x 12 Wood Pigeon x 1 Blue Tit x 6 Wren x 1

Siskins x 4 Mallard Ducks x 2 Blackbird x 4 Great Tit x 2 Dunnock x 1

Sparrows x 5 Crow x 2 Robin x 2 Coal Tit x 1 Jay x 1

Goldfinch x9 Collared Dove x 3 Magpie x 2 Pheasant x 2 Greenfinch x1

Song Thrush x 1

Other birds seen in our garden but not recorded on the day:

Yellowhammers Sparrowhawk Stock Dove

Greater Spotted Woodpecker Buzzard Green Woodpecker

January 2022

A chilly but sunny day, perfect for a bracing walk along the coast path. Ayrmer Cove was looking as beautiful as ever and there were stunning views across to Burgh Island. We had a lovely aerial view of a kestrel hunting below us on the cliffs. We saw our first primroses peeping through the leaf litter in the woods heading back to Ringmore.

November 2021

A beautiful, crisp, sunny day. This time of year the rain washed air is so clean and clear which makes it one of the best times to take photos. A visit to Bigbury on Sea did not disappoint, fabulous views of Burgh Island and Bantham.

November 2021

Lamby is one of our Soay rams. He is nearly five years old and was hand reared, so is very tame and follows me around like a dog. He is a gentle soul and much loved, so I was very upset to find him with an obvious serious injury to his leg one morning last week. After a visit from the vet and a trip in our car(fortunately he’s small enough!) to the surgery to have an X-Ray he was found to have a dislocated hip. The vet couldn’t pop it back in, so he is currently on painkillers and being pampered in one of our tunnels. It may be possible that the hip will put itself back, but not terribly likely. It seems most likely that he will have to have an operation. He seems to be in good spirits and runs down the tunnel (on three legs) to greet me in the mornings. We’re keeping everything crossed for him.

October 2021

We made the most of what was probably the last day of our beautiful Indian summer by walking along the coast path from Thurlestone to Bantham. The views were fabulous and we also enjoyed watching a couple of kestrels hunting below us along the cliffs.

October 2021

James has been busy on a digger again. This time digging a pond for his neighbour. It is just the other side of the hedge from his own pond and will be fed by the same stream - though he did hit the aquafer in the course of digging, so the pond is already filling from below, it's a bit of a race against time to finish the digging before it fills up too much!

September 2021

We have badgers again! Up until about ten years ago badgers were regular visitors to our land - they had a latrine area under our beech trees and their diggings could frequently be seen around the place. Their worst transgression was to break into one of our hen houses and to kill some of our chickens. We were sad though when they stopped coming, almost certainly due to the cull. However, some good did come of this, in that we started to see hedgehogs on our land. They have bred and we now have a thriving population. We were deemed a safe site to release hedgehogs by the hedgehog hospital (Prickles in a Pickle at Stoke Fleming) and as a result our hedgehog numbers have been boosted by the occasional release of a recovered hedgehog (with no home to return to).

So....it was with somewhat mixed feelings that we viewed the footage recorded by the trail cameras in our garden and wooded area showing a young badger visiting both. We love badgers, but we also love hedgehogs and with their numbers declining drastically we want to do our best to preserve them. The question is will the badgers be a threat to them? Badgers predate hedgehogs, their spines are no match for the badgers, so this is a very real possibility. However, a visit by Lynne from the Devon Wildlife Trust and Judy and Alan from Prickles in a Pickle have provided us with some hope. They have both observed that there is so much cover for the hedgehogs and a plentiful source of food for both (they both compete for the same food) that it is possible that they could co-exist without too much threat to the hedgehogs. We won't be releasing anymore hogs, to be on the safe side. But there is cause for optimism, especially as we have found no hedgehog remains that would indicate an attack.

The badger is clearly intrigued by the camera!

Sometimes it's better to leave nature to take its course. A few years ago our field was full of docks - we left it alone and the dock beetle has taken care of the problem for us and the docks are now far less dominant. Now we have an issue with creeping thistle - last year I tried digging it out and cutting it, but to no avail, this year it was back with a vengeance. However we noticed that it has failed to flower this year and on closer examination it appears that a moth caterpillar has been eating the flower buds. We're hoping we might see it decline next year. A similar thing, though on a grander scale, happened at the * Knepp estate in Sussex- they had a terrible problem with creeping thistle, then, just when they were wondering what on earth they should do, they had an invasion of painted lady butterflies from across the channel - the caterpillars set about devouring the thistles and soon eradicated the problem for them. (* Ref: Isabella Tree: "Wilding")

August/September 2021

James’ trail camera has recorded some interesting visitors to the pond: several roe deer, a fox, badger, several mallard ducks and perhaps most exciting of all - a buzzard taking a bath!

It was uplifting too to see so many butterflies - not so many marbled whites and small skippers now, but still lots of meadow browns and gatekeepers along with the occasional small copper, common blue, red admiral, peacock and ringlet. The gatekeepers seem to love the brambles, most of the flowers were adorned with these pretty little creatures, a real joy to behold.

The pretty white umbel flowers of the cow parsley were dotted with striking red beetles, most of them in the act of procreation - one assumes this is how they acquired the name: “hogweed bonking beetle”?! They are more commonly known as the common red soldier beetle. They have also been the victims of an undeserved reputation, due to their ruddy colour and do NOT suck blood - as I, and so many others, were solemnly informed by our compatriots in our childhood!

A view we never tire of is this one across the Avon Valley.

June 2021

We thought our lawn looked so pretty after “no mow May”, we’re only giving it slight trim every few weeks, this allows the daisies and buttercups to flourish, there are also tiny geraniums and prunella starting to show. This regular visiting mallard obviously likes it!

May/June 2021

James was lucky enough to spot and photograph this mallard duck and ducklings when they dropped in for a pit stop at the new pond the other day.

April 2021: Cowslip Survey

It’s lovely to see a healthy population of Cowslips in our field, a little unusual for this area as they prefer dry, chalky soil, not acidic and waterlogged (which is a little more typical for Devon). Cowslips have declined sharply in recent years and are now quite scarce. This is due to rapid habitat loss. They thrive in ancient meadows grazed by cattle. The clue is in the name, derived from “cow slop” aka “cow pat”. You can help potentially halt their decline by taking part in a cowslip survey - please visit the Plantlife website for more details: https://www.bing.com/search?q=plantlife+cowslip+survey&form=ANNTH1&refig=cf00ba0826394c99bb26583ab2caef56#

 It’s the Little Things….

 Sometimes we need to take time to notice the little things. When out for a walk, it's easy to be swept away by the beauty of the scenery or to have your attention drawn to the more obvious, easier to spot wildlife around you – often failing to notice those plants or creatures which may at first look insignificant or even dull, but each has its own story, beauty and important place in the ecosystem.

However big or small your patch is, you can make a difference. You don't have to have a piece of land or large garden to attract wildlife. A small pond can make a massive difference. It doesn't have to be big – even something the size of a sink will do – a plastic storage box for instance, sunk into the ground will attract a surprising amount of wildlife. Birds will drink from and bathe in it, it will be a valuable source of water for hedgehogs and other creatures, not to mention frogs, toads etc.

Don't cut your lawn so often – we've left one part completely unmown, the other we mow once a fortnight. The unmown lawn with its seeding grasses and wild flowers is great for birds, butterflies, bees and other insects. It also provides cover for grass snakes, voles and other creatures too. It rewards us by looking pretty with yellow Buttercups and even a patch of Oxeye Daisies.

The lawn mown once a fortnight is covered in low growing bright yellow buttercups interspersed with white daisies and pretty tiny blue Geraniums, there is Prunella in there too which will shortly be in flower with their striking purple spikes - much prettier than a neatly mown and manicured, but rather dull lawn.

You could even turn your garden into a mini wildflower meadow, which would be very pretty and would attract many bees and butterflies. It also has the added bonus of not needing to be mown! If it looks too unkempt for your taste, you could mow around the edges and shape it so that you have “islands” of wildflowers that look as if they're “meant to be” and a little less wild.

If you do have a corner where you can allow nettles to grow, please do, they are a valuable food plant for many species of butterflies and moths. It's all very well providing food plants for the adults, but if you want them to multiply you need to provide them with somewhere to lay their eggs and food for their caterpillars too.

Make a simple feeding station for hedgehogs and leave out a shallow dish of water and some hedgehog food (available from most pet shops).

Like I said, it's the little things - by providing a habitat for insects to thrive, such as your wild lawn, it will in turn provide food for larger creatures, such as birds. A small pond will provide a source of drinking water to the land dwellers and a habitat for amphibians and aquatic species, again attracting interesting predators such as grass snakes and other creatures. Take time to study the insects you see out and about, many will surprise you with their vivid colours. Like us, you might find tiny flowers in your lawn you never realised were there until you allowed them to flower.

Whatever little thing you do, nature will reward you.

 February 2021