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.
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
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
