Some good news this end is that there have been numerous fledged Blue Tits, Great Tits and Long Tailed Tits appearing this week which has kind of made up for the horrors of my previous posting. I found some off-cuts from decking squares which seem to have made ideal material for re-cladding my nest boxes with - judging by the difficulty I had banging in the nails! I'm hoping that this should deter the Woodpeckers in the future... time will tell I guess.
It was great to see such glorious weather return here at the weekend and all the bees were out in abundance... and many flowers coming into bloom which have stayed in bud for much longer this year than previously due to the colder start... not sure they need much introducing... so hope you enjoy the photos I've taken, and hoping that good weather is with you also wherever you are in the world when you read this..
An interesting observation this end is the distinct lack of butterflies at the moment - we've quite a number of the Speckled Wood and the little Blue butterflies but not a great deal else... have other people found this too?
Whilst watching Chelsea Flower this year I learnt something new which I'd never noticed before... Chris Beardshaw talking about the name of Columbine given to Aqualegia (that bit I did know) but that Columbine infact means dove... if you look at the top of an Aqualegia flower it is like five doves all coming together - quite beautiful! This is easier to see in some forms of this flower than others.
The bees infact take the nectar from the top of the flower as opposed to going inside as with others...
I'm not going to profess to be an expert on bees but much enjoyed the variety of bees that I photographed on the various clumps of Chives we have in the veg garden! If anyone can tell me more about the species of bees shown here I'd be very appreciative!
What I've tried to show in these photos of the plants in our own garden is the variety that can be grown that really benefit not only bees but insects too!
This was a Foxglove which I grew from seed - bought from
Nicky's Seeds - it's taken a couple of years to come into flower from sowing but worth the wait!
The Geranium Phaeum varieties we have in our garden are fantastic for bees - especially with their open blooms offering easy access to pollen.
These wonderful Wood Poppies - Stylophorum diphyllum are great for the honey bees - notice the heavily laden pollen sac on this one!
The poppies are also a real favorite for the honey bees - this variety "Patty's Plum" is a beautiful colour!
An interesting observation here in Brittany is the distinct lack of butterflies at the moment - we've quite a number of the Speckled Wood and the little Blue butterflies but not a great deal else... have other people found this too? Enjoy the rest of the week... lots to do outside this week before we get thunderstorms forecast on Thursday and over the weekend :-(
I just had to share these rather cute pictures taken this morning from our bedroom window... we have a wild garden bursting with plant life - there is some formality about the planting but lots of informality too! Beyond the main garden is about half an acre of woodland - mainly Oak trees and Hazel with a stream running along the bottom. This is great for attracting all variety of wildlife.
This is one of my favorite photos... this little chap doesn't look too happy that Mum or Dad has flown off! Looks like the parent made a hasty departure!
The other v. exciting news is that I've discovered two other regular visitors to our garden recently - a pair of hedgehogs which are the first ones in 3 years... watch this space.
