Search found 19 matches

by Paul O
Wed Nov 22, 2023 11:58 am
Forum: News and Events
Topic: How to Create a Nature Reserve on an Acre (or less)
Replies: 3
Views: 3042

Re: How to Create a Nature Reserve on an Acre (or less)

I was disappointed to have missed this one: in recent months I haven't been receiving a weekly email of new posts, and an email from DWT about the talk arrived just before the start time and I didn't read the email until later. Maybe someone can post a summary of Ed's talk for any of us who would li...
by Paul O
Thu Aug 10, 2023 5:10 pm
Forum: Other Habitat Management
Topic: Free native tree packs
Replies: 1
Views: 3577

Re: Free native tree packs

Last year a young oak tree near our small pond dropped so many acorns that even the jays and grey squirrels must have got fed-up with them, and now all around that area are dozens of little oak trees. I hate the idea of just mowing them all, and was thinking of using a bulb planter to pull out each ...
by Paul O
Thu Aug 10, 2023 4:48 pm
Forum: Life in the Meadow
Topic: Best-laid plans: swallows, hornets, bats and bush crickets
Replies: 0
Views: 11988

Best-laid plans: swallows, hornets, bats and bush crickets

Well, the swallows didn't use our shed where we made a special entry-hole for them even though the sparrowhawk stopped visiting it. A few days ago I was fiddling around in the shed, not noticing what might have been flying nearby and working above my head. Then yesterday we noticed hornets flying in...
by Paul O
Thu Jul 20, 2023 3:25 pm
Forum: Life in the Meadow
Topic: The Joy of Thistles
Replies: 1
Views: 1712

The Joy of Thistles

In our meadow by the brook at 9.30 this morning the pollinators were already busy in a sunlit patch of thistles. If I leave the thistles to set seed they will probably be visited by goldfinches in a little while.
Peacock Butterfly on thistle
Peacock Butterfly on thistle
by Paul O
Tue Jul 18, 2023 9:37 pm
Forum: Life in the Meadow
Topic: Bramble Butterflies and Glow-worms
Replies: 1
Views: 1864

Bramble Butterflies and Glow-worms

Looking for butterflies on a deep, wide bramble patch in our meadow by the brook I saw the usual numbers of meadow brown, comma and red admiral, along with more gatekeepers than I have ever seen before - gatekeepers are also in the roadside verges, the garden and sometimes in the house. I wonder if ...
by Paul O
Thu Jun 22, 2023 12:55 pm
Forum: Life in the Meadow
Topic: The meadows are springing
Replies: 8
Views: 3251

Re: The meadows are springing

We did get some useful rain a few nights ago, but not torrential enough to wash anything away. Our field on the hill drains quickly, but the wildflowers are doing quite well, though we haven't been up there much recently as it slopes down to the south-west and gets extremely hot at this time of year...
by Paul O
Wed Jun 14, 2023 3:33 pm
Forum: Life in the Meadow
Topic: The meadows are springing
Replies: 8
Views: 3251

Re: The meadows are springing

Hi Jane No takers in our shed yet, but we haven't seen many swallows around so far this year. The bats are doing better though - when I manage to stay awake after 10pm my bat detector is overloaded with calls, mostly of pipistrelles, which zoom up and down the lane at twighlight. It would be nice to...
by Paul O
Sun Jun 11, 2023 4:03 pm
Forum: Identify This
Topic: June Fungi
Replies: 1
Views: 1436

Re: June Fungi

Maybe an earthball? Apparently sometimes mistaken for puffballs and eaten with dire effects. There are some details at https://www.wildfooduk.com/mushroom-gui ... arth-ball/.
by Paul O
Thu Jun 01, 2023 8:33 pm
Forum: Meadow Gallery
Topic: Unexpected orchid
Replies: 1
Views: 3464

Unexpected orchid

Five days ago I noticed something large and purple sticking-up in a small mixed wildflower patch in our field by the brook:- porchid3.jpg It looks like a pyramidal orchid, which I've not seen anywhere around here before. porchid2.jpg This field, a meadow in the making, was used for cow grazing/silag...
by Paul O
Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:44 pm
Forum: Life in the Meadow
Topic: The meadows are springing
Replies: 8
Views: 3251

Re: The meadows are springing

Thanks for the advice, Robbie. The caller has been off for a while now, so I'll try using it for a couple of hours each morning and see what happens. There are swallows in the area but not that many - I think they spend more time around the nearby farmyards.