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A Rattling of Magpies
I could hear the magpies most of the day, but they remained out of sight. I know they like to sit on the rooftops and drink from the guttering – sometimes you can look out of the window and see a tail dangling down from the roof! It sounded like a lot of young magpies,…
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A spare piece of lettuce
The slugs and snails have been nibbling their way through the Sprout plants we’re trying to grow, which obviously isn’t much help! Last night, we spotted a slug on the steps in the garden, which looked like it was wanting a tasty snack. Rather than letting it get as far as nibbling the sprout plants…
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Gone Wild
There’s a lot of grassy areas nearby, which are maintained by the local council. In the last two years, some of the areas have been designated “wild” with the grass only being cut twice a year. Some of the “wild” areas seem to change shape each time the surrounding grass is cut, which I doubt…
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Flight of the Bumblebee
It’s no coincidence that the music called “Flight of the Bumblebee” is so fast paced – no sooner had I focused the camera on the bee, than it flew off again! Once I got the hang of focusing the camera on the flower however, I was able to get some surprisingly clear photos of the bee gathering nectar.…
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Synchronised…. sunbathing?
For a few years now, a local Blackbird has come into the garden and flopped onto the grass for some sunbathing – it’s not something I’ve ever understood, but the Blackbird seems to adore it. However, it’s not something I’ve ever seen any other birds doing…. until today. Two crows seemed to be sunbathing on the…
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Goldfinch on the web?
I’ll be honest with you – today hasn’t been the most positive of days. So not feeling that I wanted to get outside for my something wild today, I stood by the window and watched the birds. One in particular caught my eye, sitting on a nearby piece of guttering. Normally you’d see Magpies leaning into…
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Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp
The RSPB aren’t joking when they describe House Sparrows as “Noisy and gregarious [fond of company]” – a loud chirping made me look out of the window, where I could see one adult House Sparrow sitting in the Quince. This bird was chirping to what I’m guessing was a young sparrow sitting on the wall; just…
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A tasty little snack
Have you ever stopped to look closely at a snail eating a leaf? I certainly haven’t ever done that before, but when I saw this snail sitting on the patio, it was fascinating to see it munching slowly through a fallen leaf. I know that snails aren’t considered ‘friends’ in a garden, given that they…
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Creeping over the wall
I’ve been actively seeking out some “wild” in areas you might least expect, and one of those was in a recently repaired wall. Previous years have seen the wall covered with a Virginia Creeper, with the leaves turning a vibrant red in the Autumn. The wall was recently replaced, which I assumed would be the…
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Cutting the grass
Cutting the grass is one of those chores that few people enjoy, especially when the grass is on a steep slope in a prestigious area, visible to everyone who drives past. One group of residents resolved the need for cutting the grass opposite their crescent, by employing some more natural techniques to keep it looking tidy; they use…