Wednesday 24 June 2015

Day 24 Spend an Evening in the Garden

Today after tea, I spent the whole evening in the garden.  First I mowed the lawn, then I gave the border a little tidy up and then I watered the plants.  With those jobs out of the way  I put on an 80s music CD and relaxed in the chair at the top of the garden.

From the chair I was able to watch the birds flying to and from the feeders hanging in the Japanese Acer tree and my cat chasing flies around the lawn.  After a while he got bored and so decided to plonk himself down on my lap were he then remained for a good hour whilst I gently stroked his head.

Sitting there I could hear the birds in the nearby trees settling down for the night and the resident Blackbird singing as the light began to fade.  I then spent a good half hour watching a bat flying around, dodging between the trees and the houses.  I tried to get some video footage but fading light and the sheer speed of the little thing meant it was never going to work out.

As darkness fell I paid a visit to the ponds at the bottom of the garden with my torch to look for the resident frogs and the newts.  In the bigger pond (project #2)  there didn't seem to be any sign of either frogs or newts but the tadpoles were in abundance.  I then checked the tiny pond (project #1) and saw one of the frogs in the water probably feasting on the mosquito larvae.

A final check back on the bigger pond and I managed to get a quick glimpse of a newt before it hid away under the hairgrass plant but a look in another part of the pond I discovered the other frog hiding amongst the grass.  I managed to get a photo but it wasn't that clear given that it was now pitch black in the garden.

A video of  the garden from my chair

Pond Project #2

Pond Project #1 and the Bug Hotel

Closer view of Pond Project #1

The Bug Hotel

Pond Project #1

Pond Project #2

Bug Hotel accomodation

Leaves and cut grass kept in a bucket
for use in the bug hotel

A frog in Pond Project #1

Slugs in the borders

Something in the grass in Pond Project #2

It's the other frog hidding

If you're interested,
you can see how I built my Bug Hotel and Ponds
by visiting my main blog at the following URL:

http://my-wildlife-pond-project.blogspot.co.uk

12 comments:

  1. Sounds like a lovely evening to me. You've packed a lot into your garden. The ponds and bug hotel are looking great.

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  2. Your garden is very wildlife friendly and looks lovely to relax in - it was a lovely day for sitting in the garden wasn't it?:)

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    1. Thanks Rosie. Yes it was a lovely day yesterday but I was in work for most of it.

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  3. lovely looking ponds and a great bug hotel

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  4. Still looking all rather nice, have got my first living things in the pond....They are ether midge or mozzy larvae, or both! well it's a start of the food chain...
    Amanda xx

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    1. Thanks Amanda. I look forward to seeing more photos of your pond. Problem with small ponds is the can become stagnant so make sure you have oxygenating plants in it.

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  5. This is a wonderful garden!!! How lovely to have made a bug hotel and have such vibrant foliage! X

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  6. What a lovely wildlife area you've created! I haven't sat in the garden in the evening for ages - I love the late evening wildlife and sounds! Great wild activity and photos.

    (I will catch up with your other posts at the weekend - I'm so tired this week and so busy - I'm well behind!)

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