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" Garden and Wildlife - July 2020 - "

Date & start time:      18th - 26th July 2020.   

Location of Start :     By the red phone box, Loweswater, Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 143 211 )

Places visited :          Just the garden and paddock this time, to catch the sights of the new season.

Walk details :              I've walked for miles but you can get round in minutes !.

Highest point :           Seeing the results of our labours.

Walked with :              Ann and our dogs, Dylan and Dougal.

Weather :                     Variable, as the week has also had some poorer days.

© Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number PU 100034184.

 

Time for a quick catch up of the various photos I've taken recently,

in order to reflect the comings and goings around our lovely valley location.

Our gardening is reaping rewards in fruit and veg but it is the wildlife that adds the cherry on the cake.

Our raised bed is full of vegetation and colour, good protection for the field mice that live within.

But what's that on the feeder ? . . . not that one, the one on the right !

Our squirrels have returned on a regular basis this year, which is a real delight.

This is our lighter-tailed red squirrel.

Light summer evenings often means the hedgehogs are out early.

I feed them every evening once the birds have gone to bed.

The zoom lens means I can catch that close up detail.

We have seen four in the garden on one occasion, two adults and two youngsters.

An unusual visitor . . . a young pheasant which may have escaped from a local farm.

We have seen a cock pheasant and a mature hen on occasions so maybe this one could be truly wild ?

He stayed for a while . . .
. . . but headed off down the garden when I moved into view.

The change of seasons has brought mushrooms in the lawn next to the oak tree.

In the paddock our wild flowers have grown along the metre wide patch next to the mown path.

The taller yellow grass in the natural re-growth of the old, now enclosed sheep field.  It is tall because it is no longer cut or grazed.

The difference between natural and re-seeded can just about be appreciated.

On the right my larger wild flower patch has fully grown over after a dry summer of bare, cracked soil.

The brown seed pods are of the Yellow Rattle which I added into the seed mix to try and hold back the grass.

The rattle is parasitic on grasses so should help reduce competition for any flowers that grow.

Cutting the grass by the water's edge caused a stir . . .
. . . presumably one of our ex-tadpoles now with legs !

Talking of frogs, the greenhouse has a a regular inhabitant for the third year running.

Sorry he/she is rather camera shy !

- - - o o o - - -

 

Checking out the photo prior to posting it

I suddenly noticed an extra eye poking out

from the the shelter of the raised bed to the right.

 

Here's a close cropped view of what could be

a secret love affair ?

 

- - - o o o - - -

Back in the garden our one squirrel was joined by a second, this one with a darker tail.

Taking advantage of the bird food rather than the squirrel nuts.

Where shall we go next ?

The third feeder has had a fresh supply today.

Dark tail above, light tail below . . . two for the price of one.

Two in one photo from minutes before !
But that one on the ground is a different one !
   

- - - o o o - - -

 

For one moment only (that we saw)

we even had three reds in the garden at the same time.

 

There was lots of frantic running about

and one of them scaled an ornamental post

and sat on the top with his hazel nut.

 

Presumably up there he was safe from having it pinched.

 

The best moments in the garden

are often provided by our wildlife visitors

and today was no exception.

 

- - - o o o - - -

- - - o o o - - -

 

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Panasonic Lumix TZ60, or my Panasonic Lumix Gx8 Camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . so many things going nuts in the garden.

Go to Home Page . . . © RmH . . . Email me here

Previous walk - 21st July 2020 - Scale Hill Walk

A previous time up here - 2nd/6th June - Garden, Howarths and Ling Fell

Next walk - 31st July 2020 - Sandy Yat and Keswick