Wildlife in July

The proliferation of naturally available food seemed to take it's toll this month, with absence from one or two favourite regulars. No Nuthatch (who as I type this on 4th Aug, has now returned), our Red Poll have all disappeared, as have my beloved little Tree Sparrows towards the latter half of the month. Hopefully, they will all be back soon.

We have had a few successes too though. An amazing aray of fledglings, who are still being fed by their parents all around the garden. We saw the male Bullfinch 7 out of 8 days in a row. That is certainly a record here so far. And we have had a couple of visits from a new visitor.

This delicate little Willow Warbler has turned up a couple of times. The second time, he brought his wife with him too.

I have also now included other visitors to the garden. The Bank voles who have always been here, we can see their nest holes, but never see them. The bats who currently swoop each evening infront of the house - we now believe they are Long eared Bats - but we are waiting confirmation when our friends with the Bat Detector come to visit (You know who you are BD!). We also have a wasps nest, and a bumble bees nest.

Buzzing Around

We had a new neighbour today. A juvenile Buzzard (of which there are many in the woods locally), decided that the field behind us was a good place to practice it's hunting hunting skills.



He spent much of the day either sitting silently watching for voles, or, as seen above, swooping to catch them in his claws.



It's no wonder it takes us all day to do the most simple of tasks with distractions like this.

Caldbeck Common

Driving over Caldbeck common to visit a friend (and return her mega carpet cleaner), I had a sudden urge to explore the area a bit more. We have walked around here many times on our hols, and since moving, have spent much time on the eastern side of the common. An idea for a walk was whizzing round my head.
This morning, we drove and parked at Fellside and headed up Dale Beck toward Roughton Gill.

These commons were once big mineral mining areas, evidence of the workings are all around. This is Roughton Gill mine which was abandoned in 1894. More info is available here

At the head of the valley we cross Roughton gill and walk back down the other side, back to Fellside.

Wide open spaces. Wheatear and Curlew flying around, a small snake-like thing (probably a slow worm, but not my speciality and only saw part of it) and plenty of sheep. Other than that we didn't see a soul.
That is why we are here.

A Splash of colour

Don't believe everything the RSPB tell you. We thought we had a lot of House Sparrows in Lincolnshire. That was nothing to what we have now, and they are supposed to be under threat.

You will have to look closely - they are well camouflaged. This is below just one of four feeding stations. A neighbour recently counted over sixty of the little blighters roosting in the clematis on our shed, and they all spend an awful lot of their day in our garden.
No wonder then that we got excited at lunchtime yesterday when we had a visit from our frequent juvenile woodpecker, this time accompanied by his Mum AND THEN, his Dad joined them too. We have become used to any of them popping in and out throughout the day - but never before have we seen them all at once.
Even better than that, was opening the curtains to find this lovely splash of colour on the ground under the feeder.................


He paid us many visits yesterday during the day and evening, and has called back quite a few times today too. I guess that will be the last we see of him for a while, he never seems to visit for more than a couple of days at a time.

Wild Food

Not only do we have an abundance of wildflowers in the area, it seems we have more than our fair share of Wild Fruit as well. Wild gooseberries grow happily in the hedges along one of the village lanes, and whilst walking Her Ladyship in our neighbours woods today, we came across acres of wild raspberries.

Lunch on the hoof!

Harvest Time

No cereals, OSR or Beet for us this year, but we thought it was high time to see how the carrots are doing...............







And while we are at it, today seems like a good day to lift a few tates too.


I think those will go very nicely with the joint of local lamb we are having for supper.

Now We Know Why

Since we first found this part of Cumbria, we have been aware that the verges through the village are classed as 'County Wildlife Sites'. We assumed this is connected to wildflowers. We were right!

Along with all the usual grasses, Keck, buttercups, nettles, docks etc that we are all familiar with, there are plenty of other interesting specimens;
Sweet Cicely - with it's pungent aniseed scent, honesty, birdsfoot trefoil, zigzag clover, selfheal, tufted vetch..........

But I guess one of the main reasons for the classification is the orchids, which are all over the verges for a number of miles.

That reminded us. The last time we

did one of our 'from home' walks, we made a note to go back and look for orchids. We had spotted a few leaves http://cumbrianretreat.blogspot.com/2010/06/ouch.html

We had no trouble at all finding them

I believe they are Common Spotted Orchid

and it would be no exaggeration to say that the area was absolutely carpeted in them. Neither of us have ever seen so many orchids in one place.

All this, on the doorstep. We still can't believe our luck.

Back to Beet

Don't panic, neither of us are hankering after our careers back. But having spent more than half our combined lives advising other people how to manage their crops, we thought it was time to start managing ours.
Our beet was drilled fairly thinly so that the only thinning necessary was now that the roots are beginning to swell.
The first few thinnings tasted divine!



On a different note, we have had a Hosepipe ban for the past week here. If ever you want it to rain, you know what to do. Since the ban was imposed, we have had about an inch and a half of rain, taking July's total to date to about 2 inches. Now that's more like Cumbria. I guess it will be a little while before Haweswater and Thirlmere are back to normal, but it has been very welcome rain.

A Garden Full of Fledglings

What a lovely sight to have a family of Goldfinches with Youngsters being fed on the fence. We generally get at least a dozen Goldfinches, but these babies have made the numbers soar.


Not all fledglings are that welcome though. This juvenile Sparrow Hawk made repeat visits this evening. The green bush is known as the Dunnock bush, because our resident dunnocks like to dart into it for safety. This Sparrow hawk is pretty sharp though, and clearly knew there was supper in there. What a shame we disturbed it before it had chance to eat!

This is What We Need

The forecast was for over an inch of rain overnight and this morning. By lunchtime, all we had was blustery drizzle. Then briefly it poured down for a few minutes........


This is Real Lake District Rain. We just need it all afternoon and most of the night too.

Not much to do on a day like today if you are an old dog.

Oranges and Lemons

Yesterday morning I had a trip across the Uldale Fells to visit a friend near Cockermouth. After a very pleasant coffee and chat (and bringing home a monster carpet cleaner), I had the afternoon free to finish off some marmalade that I had started the afternoon before. This is my own 'Secret' recipe, never tried before, so I will await judgement eagerly! In the midst of all those oranges and lemons, there was time to make another batch of Mum's recipe 'Fruit Squash' which now gets made here frequently.
All that home made produce and today it's time to filter the first batch of elderflower cordial. At this stage it looks like something the horse passed. Let's hope it doesn't taste like it too!



Having freed up the bucket, another load of elderflowers have been picked and are now busy steeping into their liquid in the garage.
All that and time to clean half the sitting room carpet too (Thanks Bilbo. 'Red Betty' is brilliant!).

Wildlife In June

New visitors in the garden this month are the Jay, a brief visit from a Garden Warbler and unfortunately a family of Magpies - that'll teach us to go away for a few days. We are busy doing our best to deter them.
Something that has not yet appeared on my records but should be there, are bats which fly around the front of the house in the evening. When (if) I manage to find out what type they are, I'll include them. We also have bank voles living in the front garden, but as I haven't actually seen them, it is a bit unfair to put them down. Much like the Red Squirrels which allegedly visit the front, but not when we are looking!

Other notable sights this month were a Peregrine Falcon flying overhead as we walked down the road in the village - only a hundred yards or so from home and a fly over one evening by a lone Goosander. Now that one needed looking up!

The Promise Of Things To Come

Since my first days as an agronomist, I have enjoyed this time of year with all the crops are at their best. Sadly I also know only too well, that a good looking crop does not necessarily mean a good yielding crop.
We have high hopes for the veggies - let's hope we are not going to be disappointed!
We were late planting our tates, so they are not quite ready for harvesting. The flower buds are there, but still tightly shut.
Lettuce, rocket and spinach have been feeding us for weeks; Red Beet is not far off giving us the first few baby roots; carrots and parsnips doing well; Broad Beans are just beginning to pod, leeks and cabbages are romping away. The first of the runners are just about at the top of the poles with the first flowers just beginning to show red buds. The first Courgettes are now about an inch long.
I guess to many this all sounds late, but up here in the hills, ours are as far ahead as most in the village.

Waiting for Mother Nature

Before...........



And After........



Finished in time for a visit by an ex colleague and his wife, on their way to the coast for a few days visiting relatives. A really good nights rain would be just the thing to start off the all important weathering it needs now to break it down and get it ready for future plans. A decent shower has arrived this afternoon. Lets hope it is a promise of things to come.

The F Word

England are playing Germany today in the Footie. Husband doesn't normally watch Footie, but as his back isn't up to anything too physical.........
A good opportunity to get on with the (ex)rocket launcher.
This time the rubble turned out to be less than expected, so after walking up to check on Tom - our neighbours horse who we are looking after for a few days - I set to and had it all dug out by lunch time. Return loading FYM to dig into it later (all that time spent dealing with haulage wasn't wasted).
After lunch I set to, digging the most appropriately named 'Bastard Trenches'.


This area was once part of a medieval village, since then it will have been permanent pasture for pretty much all it's life up until about 10 years ago when it became part of this garden as a lawn until it was paved. In other words, this has not been dug over in the history of post medieval man.
Clay, and at best Clay Loam, which is incredibly compacted and as a result completely anaerobic. Considering we have had only around 50% of this areas normal rainfall this year, it is incredibly wet. The addition of the organic matter will no doubt help to improve the soil structure, but all told, this afternoon was a good testament to the name of the method in use - and it's not finished yet!

The good news? Germany 4 England 1.
In the words of a song:

Coming home, we're coming home. Football(er)s coming home....

Domestic Goddess or Destruction Diva?

Only 174 shopping days left till Christmas(No I really haven't a clue, I made it up). It is however time to start the Christmas preparations as the first of the Elderflowers are ready for picking.
This years Elderflower Cordial will be even better than normal. This time, they were picked from our own drive.

Due to the popularity of this particular Christmas Pressie, I am determined to (try) to make more than one batch. Only one snag. I have forgotten to save wine bottles. Oh dear. There may need to be some serious drinking done in the next week or two to free some bottles up.

With Husband still on Light Duties due to his back problem, I decided to do a bit more in the garden this afternoon. The Rocket Launcher is no more............


Still plenty of hardcore to dig out and barrow round next door (it's great having neighbours who want all your rubble!), but at least all the pavers are up now.

Finishing Off.

After a brilliant few days in Lincolnshire, visiting old friends and being extremely well entertained at a friends 50th Birthday weekend, we returned with Husband sporting an extremely Bad back. Can't stand up without help, let alone tie his shoe laces.

Yesterday's trip to the Osteopath has yielded a slight improvement today, so as I am no longer required for every little task - and there is a game of footie on the telly to be avoided at all costs, I decided to finish an unfinished job in the garden.

Remember the two Rocket Launchers we inherited? You may remember that we took the first one up just after Christmas. What you didn't know was that a few weeks ago, in true 'Recycle' mode we relaid eight of the slabs in the front lawn to make a path from the front gate to the door. Not having quite enough slabs, we left the gate end unfinished, needing about 3 or 4 more slabs, when we finally get round to taking the other patio up.
After some considerably hot work ( it was another scorching day here), consultation with Husband about which shapes to put where and much help from Her Ladyship, the path is now complete. Well that is apart from the grass growing over the edged to disguise the strange shapes. I must point out that most of this was already done by both of us, I can't take the credit for it all on my own!

Did I mention it was hard work?

There is still a long way to go with the patio removal, but it will be nice to see the back of it.

By the looks of that sky, here comes the rain that we so desperately need.

Barton Fell

It was one of those mornings. Plans to spend time in the garden and do some housework. But it was beautiful outside, and we had a map on the worktop, just waiting for the right opportunity. We can see Barton Fell from the house, so now it's time to see the house from Barton Fell.
Setting out, we will walk off left of this picture over Heughscar Hill, along Highstreet to Arthur's Pike and then back onto Barton Fell. Our return route will be along the edge of Barton Fell, seen here on the left of the picture. It is from here we should be able to see the house.
Zooming in on Barton Fell, which overlooks Ullswater as seen in the picture above.
Wild Fell Ponies as we start to climb.
Now you really would be doing well to spot it from this, but my camera only has a limited zoom capability. You will just have to take my word for it that, with the help of a pair of binoculars, we really could see our house from here. It's pretty much central in this picture!
Eight miles of walking. Two wind burnt faces and one very tired dog later and we are still back in time to cut the grass and feed the livestock! Barton Fell in the background.


I guess the housework will wait;-)

I Don't Believe it!

There's nothing quite like being proved wrong. I said we wouldn't see the Jay in the garden again, so what happens? It comes back today. Not once, but twice - at least twice when we were in the Kitchen, so who knows how many times it came back in total.

In true Jay fashion, it is very wary, so sliding along the floor on my stomach to get the camera, and then lying on the floor inside the back door was the only way to get photos. Does that mean I've totally lost the plot?

A big bird indeed, but incredibly agile. It was no effort for it to hop in and out of the sheep netting which supposedly protects the bird table from larger birds.
We have also had constant visits from Woodpeckers today. In fact, we have come to the conclusion that there must be more than one pair visiting us, as they fly off in opposite directions. This is one of the males, pausing between mouthfuls no doubt

And talking about pausing. A lovely little Swallow decided to have a stop off on our fence post this afternoon. It was there long enough for me to walk back inside, get the camera, bring it out, past the post it was perched on, to get this shot. Apparently not even batting an eyelid. Shortly after, it just hopped off, into the sky.

Fledglings and a Surprise Visitor

We've had fledgling Blackbirds, Sparrows, Dunnocks to name but a few over the last week or two, but the prize for the most adorable fledgling was on it's way to this rather bedraggled baby Goldfinch............






Until this little beauty arrived today.

Mrs Woody was busy back and forth from the nut feeders into the tree, where this one sat patiently waiting for it's food to arrive.

Talking of food. As we were eating this evening, we had a real surprise. A Jay flew into the garden and momentarily landed on the seed feeder. It didn't stay long enough for me to get the camera. But what a sight. We had no idea just how big they are. Much bigger when seen like that than from a distance on a tree. Known as being incredibly secretive, I doubt we will get a revisit of that particular specimen.