I know it’s hot but…

Don’t you just hate it when the turnstiles are jumped with total disregard and skinny dipping ensues?

Caught on video is this suspect.

Can you name this individual?

Chiffchaff, Garden Warbler or Willow Warbler?

My money is on the latter.

Who are you looking at?

“If you are Robin does that make me Batman?”

How could one ever forget?

The absolute delight of these beauties

I’m talking about the Water forget-me-not, naturally!

Water forget-me-not (Myosotis Palustris)

Two visitors from The Fast Show dropped by

“This week I are mostly seeing snails”

You may well recall that I had mentioned on my Fathers’ Day posting that I had seen a pond snail but was unable to photograph it for you.

Well! Today I was amazed to spot not one but two snails together on a Frogbit pad. 

Not only that, but they were two different species.

I ran to fetch my iPhone in order to take a snap.

Pond snail (Physella acuta) and Ramshorn snail (Planorbis corneus) on Frogbit (Hydrocharis laevigata)

Although they move very slowly by our terms, it doesn’t take the pond snail very long to cover 25mm, especially when the photographer is under the pressure of time. Whereas the Ramshorn snail didn’t seem to have any intention to shift itself.

These snails are hermaphrodites, which means that they can breed sexually with a mate or asexually on their own.

A windmill in old Amsterdam

Anybody out there that remembers this old time classic written by Ronnie Hilton and made famous by Max Bygraves?

I saw a mouse!

Where?

There on the stair!

Where on the stair?

Right there!

For the last three days I’ve been graced with the presence of this little chap. I watch it hoovering up the fragments of sunflower kernels discarded from my feeders by the Bullfinches and Greenfinches. 

Field or Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)

Did you know that it is thought that the birds weigh each kernel in their beaks? They do this in order to assess whether there is enough weight, hence nutrition in each kernel. 

Their lives are so finely balanced that they need to ensure that they would get maximum nutritional benefit to offset the energy expended in the feeding process. 

Heavy! Yum! Yum!

Light! Oops!

(Not that the Field Mouse, Dunnocks, Wood Pigeons and Blackbirds mind)

Fathers’ Day

Great Spotted Woodpeckers

Is it my fancy, or does the above image resemble the shape of a heart?

It is that of a father and I like to think son, Great Spotted Woodpecker, clinging to the leg of my bird table.

I ask, because this image is very special to me, as I had taken it on Fathers’ Day in 2010.

My father had died five years previously and naturally I had been remembering him this day, as well as today.

Both sexes of young woodpeckers start out with red heads, but as they age, the male’s shock of colour recedes to a red band at the nape of the neck, whereas the female loses the red altogether.

As for the pond, the vegetation is thriving. The iris has bloomed a second time. The ‘wrigglers’ keep wriggling.

I saw a dark coloured pond snail, the size of a pea, yesterday. I wasn’t able to take any meaningful photo to show you. However they grow quickly and should be the size of a walnut in a year or so. It must have travelled to the pond amongst our plant purchases as in previous cases.

Here’s to all fathers.🍻

A trip down memory pond

I know, I know, patience is a virtue, but time is dragging🥱

Still waiting on the damselflies and dragonflies. Where are they?

The pond is full of larvae to tempt them in. Is it still too cold?

I’m not sure.

Both species were here at this same time last year before the pond was even thought of, so they should be about.

In the meantime I thought I would indulge myself by reviewing the thousands of images I had taken at my last pond.

No, don’t flinch. Here is only a few that I have selected. There are no holiday snaps either, I promise you.

I’m sure you already know, but for those who don’t, you can click the images for a larger and clearer view.

Cockchafer (May bug)

Pond Skater

Backswimmer

Pond snail

Ramshorn snails

Damselfly

Damselfly

Damselfly

Damselfly 

Damselfly

Dragonfly nymph 

Frog focussed on lunch (Dragonfly)

The interesting thing here is that I had seen the dragonfly but hadn’t seen the frog until I had downloaded the image onto my iPad.🤪

Frog

Toads

Grass snake

Grass snake hunting frog

The grass snake, which was at the top of the food chain, was a great thrill for us both. It was pursuing a frog in amongst the rocks and I am pleased to report that I saw it escape, leaping over the snake’s head back into the pond.

Blooming quick,or what?

I think that the Persicaria, which I had planted in a pot in the centre of the pond, had given up the ghost, there being little evidence of its existence.

So my appropriate adult ordered an alternative substitute.

The plant arrived Wednesday Inst. and I potted it up and set it in the same location. Nothing remarkable, just a few tall stems and straggly leaves, with a hint of a flower bud.

Today, ta da!, a beautiful iris.

Iris versicolor

A closer look

As I was staring into the pond this morning, I could see in addition to the wrigglers, red worms writhing to and fro. These in fact are the larvae of Non-biting Midges and are commonly known as Bloodworms. A good indicator of the health of the pond. The microcosm is developing nicely.

As I scanned the surface of the pond I could see ‘spent’ Non- biting midges too.

A more colourful and more appealing visitor was this Hoverfly.

So how has the warmer weather helped the plants? Well, you can see that the Bogbean and the Typha have double in their growth.