September part 3

8th Squirrel in garden.
At the river the kingfisher zips past us at 7:30.
12th Various tits , sparrows, magpies and collared doves visiting garden. A mouse scampers around.
24th Lightening lights up the sky.
25th Another walk along the river bank ( I'm obsessed with that blue bird). Did see a dragonfly, heron and a buzzard overhead. A swan and her cygnets floated along by the park.

Mute Swan ( cygnus olor) Identified by the orange bill. Legend says Richard th Lion Heart brought the swans back from the crusades. Unmarked swans on the Thames are owned by the Queen. Both sexes are alike. They feed on water vegetation and lay 5-7 eggs.
26th Conkers are falling from the trees and it is cold autumn is around the corner.
27th 2 squirrels fighting in garden. 2 wrens flitting back and forth by the river and a grey wagtail stands on a rock in te middle of the river.
30th September ends with a day of sun after a day of rain.

September part 2

6th We go back to the river but no sign of the kingfisher. We did see rats and herons. At home the hedgehog is also absent as are the blackbirds. However we are still seeing sparrows, robins, pigeons,collared doves, magpies and blue and great tits.
7th spent some of the day watching a variety of tits perching in the blossom tree before coming to the bird table. Then they all dive for cover!  A sparrowhawk lands in the garden.

 Sparrow Hawk (Accipter nisus)
Usually seen in forests and woods. the female is larger than the male. They can kill birds a sbig as pigeons but normally eat finches , tits, sparrows, mice, voles, and young rabbits. They lay 4-6 eggs.

September part 1

"September blows soft till the fruits in the loft."
1st starts sunny and warm. both the old and young robin have been today along with the sparrows and the collared doves and lots of brown and white butterflies.

 Speckled wood (Pararge aegeria)
In flight from March. The caterpillar is darkgreen and yellow stripped. In Europe the spots are orange here they are creamy white.

2nd Went for a walk along the river after tea, saw some mallard ducks, a heron, which flew over us before landing in the river to fish. Best of all however we had 3 sightings of a kingfisher. The flash of blue and red was unmistakeable. To fast for a picture sadly. We also saw a lardge red dragonlfy catch food on the wing.

August Part 4

14th The blackberry is bearing fruit and the pryracantha berries are starting to turn orange. Still a couple of day's to go but St Swithan semms to have got it right with subshine and showers for 40 days.
22nd ate blackberry and apple pie. yum.
"If the 24th of august be fair and clear, then hope for a properous autumn that year."
24th wasnt fair and clear so not a properous autumn unless you are wildlife as all the hedges seem filled with berries .
26th Squirrel in garden. It is very wet.
27th Young robin seems to be visiting the garden with the sparrows.
28th Adult robin in garden looking ready for his christmas card photo's. 3 great tits also looking very smart.
31st Sunny end to August.

August part 3

7th Two young robins are in the garden eating meal worms. The peace does'nt last long before one chases off the other.
8th One of the robins is back sitting on the fence bobbing up and down as if the garden is now his. The two collared doves have had a good feed from the table. A young pigeon has arrived-  it doesn't have the white patches on it's neck like mum and dad.
We have put a hedgehog box out with food inside. Only a cats nose pokes in at the entrrance.
Picked the last of my raspberries and cut the old canes down, the new canes already look strong so i hope next year's crop will be good.
12th Baby frogs jumping around in garden and resting in the undergrowth. Butterflies are feeding on the buddleia.
A dragonfly came into the conservatory.

Goldenringed Dragonfly
100mm a hawk will hover over small streams from May- Sept.

August part 2

3rd Spent the day chasing butterflies with my camera with some success.

Peacock (Inachisio)
56-68mm Mainly seen from July. Over winters as an adult. Loves buddleia (as above) and knapweed. The caterpillar feeds on nettles and is black with white spots with black spines.

Red Admiral (vanessa atalanta)
56-68mm Common in meadows, gardens, hedgerows and orchards. over winters as an adult. The caterpillar is black with brown and yellow spines and feeds on nettles.

 Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus)
20-32mm Common in gardens and hedgrows as it rests and feeds on holly and ivy. The caterpillar is green with markings of light and dark green.

August part one

"Fairest of months! Ripe Summers Queen.
The hey-day of the year with robes that gleam with sunny sheen,
sweet August doth appear. ...R. Combe Miller.

1st An overcast start to the new month.
Mouse feeding on feeder in the blossom tree.

Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)
Probably the most widespread and abundant British mammal. Breeding starts in March and the female may bear four litters each of 5 babies in one year. Their lifespan is only 2 years. They eat manily seeds, nuts, shoots and buds ,but will also eats a variety of insects.