greenbenchramblings

A Wander Around Our Garden in February

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 4, 2012
2 Comments on A Wander Around Our Garden in February

This is the second of our monthly garden wanders designed to give an insight into what is going on each month. Our February wander will be a colder one so don those thermal gloves and woolly hats with silly bobbles and join us. We hope you enjoy what our garden offers in the second month of 2012.

The day dawns frosty but with a bright blue hat on. A lovely fresh winter’s day, with the quiet plaintive song of the Robin as company – he always comes around the garden with us and entertains us with a song. Overhead Buzzards call from their thermals high above the slope of the hill. It feels a perfectly calm day to us but these big, broad winged predators always find movement in the air. Why does the call of the buzzard always sound further away than the bird itself? Have they mastered the art of ventriloquy? We see them most days but we never lose the desire to watch them enjoying their freeform flight.

I fed the chucks and topped up their frozen water with some warm, before collecting their eggs from the nest boxes. Today the hens’ contribution to our larder had added benefits. Handwarmers! Holding these little warm parcels of food felt more special than usual. As I passed the shed on my way down to the chuck pen three Wrens burst out of their roosting pocket – late risers. A pair nested in here in the summer just a few inches above the shed door. They took no notice of our comings and goings. They filled the roosting pouch with moss, feathers and delicate grasses which now insulate them on cold nights.

The garden is full of birds once more after a quiet few months. We were beginning to wonder where all the birds had gone, but today Goldfinches have reappeared in busy red and gold flecked flocks. mixed feeding flocks of titmice invade every tree and shrub and Linnets sit on the highest branches. Long Tailed Tits in groups of a dozen or more flit from tree to shrub and from feeder to feeder, never still, always fidgeting like a class of infant pupils awaiting a favourite story. The odd Bullfinch and Blackcap conduct their business more quietly.

On the feeders Jackdaws attack the peanuts dropping morsels for the Dunnocks and Chaffinches waiting below. Jackdaws are long-lived and today two old favourites are to be seen, one with a white wing and one with a wing that droops low when he settles. Overhead their much larger relatives pass over, a “cronking” trio of Raven flying effortlessly with outstretched fingers.

It is noticeable that the clusters of berries on the Hollies and Cotoneasters are much depleted as greedy groups of resident Blackbird and Mistle Thrush are joined by migrant members of the thrush family, the winter visiting Redwing and Fieldfare. The small yellow crab apples on Malus “Butterball” have now been stripped by these members of the thrush family.

Our horizontal cotoneaster is a favourite of Blackbirds, Redwing and Mistle Thrush.

There has simply been plenty of natural food for our avian friends this winter. It has been mild enough for insects to be on the wing, for invertebrates to be creeping and crawling, and the hedges and trees have heavy berry crops. We want to see them in our garden but we are being selfish. They come to us when they need to and not before!

The blackbirds have finally discovered the windfalls.

The re-appearance of the Goldfinches gives us close-up entertainment as close to the conservatory window grow Onopordon, the Scotch Thistle, and its seed heads tower into the blue sky. Goldfinches love them and soon dig in for seeds, bursting the heads open as they do so, and the white fluffy insides overflow like raw cotton.

Scotch Thistle seed heads towering into the blue.

The intensifying of the cold sucks structure from leaves and hardens the ground beneath them. The accompanying frost layers the ground and plants with lines and layers of frozen crystals. The blueness of the skies on a clear February day is more intense than earlier in the winter. The sunlight seems brighter.

The deep cold has taken the structure out of the young self-seeded sunlit Hypericum.

Fennel seed heads still stand strong while its delicate bright green seedlings shelter below.

The deep blue February sky increases the purple tints in the tracery of the Birch's finest branches.

The frost gives an extra line of silver along the leaf edges of these grasses.

Something special happens to light in February. There is something about the quality of light that changes. It makes you feel better. It makes plants look better, their flower colours intensify. If, like both “The Undergardener” and I, you suffer from SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder) then you will feel and experience this change. You feel the tunnel of winter has brightness at its end. Monty Don, in the book “Fork to Fork” refers to this improvement in light quality, writing that February displays a “tangible promise of a better time” and talks of a “surge of energy and hope running through the garden”. This will be tangible from about the middle of the month but even now the hint of that promise is in the air. It isn’t just S.A.D. gardeners who believe in the wonder of February however, as we have a pair of Blue Tits taking up residence in one nest box and a pair of House Sparrows in another. Spring is in the air! Well, maybe not! No, these two pairs are just like serious sun-bathers on a busy sandy beach, just getting there early to “bag” the best spots.

Nowhere is this new hope more obvious than in the flowering of the bulbs and the bright green signs of new growth of perennials. Snowdrops, Crocus and Aconite, the pearls of the month.

Marbled foliage of Cyclamen with golden flowers of Winter Aconite

New growth on the oriental poppies - promises!

The leaves of Day Lilies spear the frozen mulch.

But some new life is out of sinc. Buds appear and surprise. The blue anemone with its metallic sheen on its indigo bud is a special treat and is reflected in the blue berries of the Viburnum davidii. The last of the rose buds however that gave promise of flowers have given in to winter’s grasp.

The promise of a rose flower stopped by the frost.

No February garden can be complete without Hellebores so here are just two of ours. But my true favourites to finish our February wander around our garden are the Witch Hazel “Jelena” and Cornus mas.

Upright growth and rich reds and purples make this a special Hellebore.

Cornus mas, the Cornelian Cherry, a modest beauty.

Tags birds, foliage, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, shrubs, trees, wildlife, winter, winter gardens

garden photography gardening hardy perennials ornamental trees and shrubs photography shrubs town gardens winter gardens

Witch Hazels at Swallow Hayes – a garden visit in January (part two)

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 2, 2012
1 Comment on Witch Hazels at Swallow Hayes – a garden visit in January (part two)

And so we continue our gentle cold wander around the wintry splendour of Swallow Hayes …….

The promise of Viburnum bodnantense flowers.

A secret, sunken garden for ferns shaded by a roof of climbers.

The unusual combination of pale pink and green together in the tassels of Garrya elliptica.

Primrose yellow cup-shaped flowers of a Hellebore.

This pink-flowered Hellebore invites you to turn its flowers over for a close look inside.

DSC_0034-2 — I am not a fan of Hellebores with double flowers but I was attracted to the colour of this one.

DSC_0021-1 — Silvery marbled variegation like a spider's web.

DSC_0020-2 — Paint splattered variegation.

And now to those Witch Hazels! These are not Hazels at all, but related to Parrotias, Fothergillas and of course the Sycopsis we saw in the first Swallow Hayes blog. Their unusually shaped flowers are in every shade of yellow, orange and red and give warming scents in the winter garden. Witch Hazels are well-known for their medicinal properties and are used in aftershave as well as in the treatment of bruises and insect bites. So, beautiful and useful!

The flowers are made up of long, thin strips of petals like curling ribbons or spiders, and appear on bare stems. Several Witch Hazels available to us were bred in Kalmhout in Belgium and the first photo shows one with the unglamorous name of “Kalmhout 999”. Kalmhout is an arboretum in Belgium run by Jelena and Robert de Kelder. Jelena has given her name to my favourite Witch Hazel which you will see in my blog “A Wander around the Garden in February” which I will post in the next few days. Two more of their developments are “Diane”, named after their daughter and “Livia”, named after their granddaughter.

This Witch Hazel matches its colour to its scent, the flowers coloured orange and emitting an aroma of oranges.

DSC_0025-2 — The aptly named "Ripe Corn".

"Ripe Corn", "Livia" and "Strawberries and Cream"

Tags foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, hellebores, ornamental trees, shrubs, trees, winter, winter gardens, With Hazels

garden photography gardening hardy perennials ornamental trees and shrubs photography roses shrubs trees winter gardens

Witch Hazels at Swallow Hayes – a garden visit in January (part one)

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 1, 2012

OK, so January isn’t a month normally associated with visiting gardens, but Swallow Hayes is different. It’s main feature is a huge collection of Witch Hazels, more than 70 types. The day of our visit was cold – teetering on freezing point all day – and a thin mist hung low over the land made cold by the heavy overnight frost. We wrapped up warm, wandered around this garden of winter, our fingers with just enough feeling left in them to take photos.

The garden here covers just two acres but they are two packed acres. There is so much to see here in January, leaf colour and variegation, blooms with scent to delight and patterns of tree bark for the eye to capture and the fingers to explore.

DSC_0003-1 — Felled by wind this branch of the blue-grey Cedrus atlantica glauca shone against the debris under the tree.

DSC_0001-3 — Arum italicum marmoratum show leaf variegation at its best.

DSC_0002-1 — A clump of beautifully marked Cyclamen enjoying the shade of a conifer.

DSC_0006-1 — I am not a fan of conifers but I do appreciate them on dark winter days.

DSC_0004-2 — Delicate deep pink berries of Berberis wilsoniae.

Last year's Hydrangea flowers display structure and colour.

DSC_0008-1 — Sparse berries hide amongst the strongly spotted variegated foliage of this Laurel.

Tree bark adds interest in winter gardens and here at Swallow Hayes Birch and Prunus add colour and texture.

Peeling Birch bark reveals pink below the silver.

DSC_0050-1 — Silky smoothness in deep shades of russet .

Swallow Hayes' bees snug and safe in their hives.

A relative of the Witch Hazels, this Sycopsis was unknown to us.

IMG_2768a — Unusual white flowered Daphne

Fresh shining purple growth of a hellebore looks full of promise.

Tags foliage, foliage plants, garden photography, gardening, ornamental trees, roses, shrubs, trees, winter, winter gardens

garden photography gardening outdoor sculpture photography

Poppy Seedhead Skeleton

Sometimes the smallest and simplest of discoveries in the garden can blow you away. Pulling up a clump of small dandelion leaves to give to the chicks as a treat, I spied this seedhead of an oriental poppy. Nature had turned it into a skeletal sculpture. Rotting had revealed little windows through which patterns emerged.

It is hard to believe that these little capsules were but a few months ago hidden deep inside the bright orange over-sized blooms. Looking past this orange glare into the poppy’s secret centre, we could see a black core dusted with purple. Already the shape of the green seed head was evident. Once the floppy orange silk of the petals drooped lifelessly they fell to feed the soil beneath. Now the gaunt rigid stems were topped with the green seed heads which would dry to tinder in the following summer months. When dried, the capsules rattling with seeds, seeds by the million, turned pale biscuit. The rotting rains of autumn softened the stems which the winds then felled. The wetness of the ground rotted the capsule’s flesh away leaving these wonderful skeletal shapes.

Tags garden photography, gardening, natural sculpture, poppies, winter gardens

bird watching birds conservation photography Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust wildlife

Martin Mere – “spectacular displays of feather and flight”.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 28, 2012
1 Comment on Martin Mere – “spectacular displays of feather and flight”.

The Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, in one of their booklets describe Martin Mere as offering “spectacular displays of feather and flight.” This is but one aspect of this special place, the large-scale side of it, but it possesses alongside the spectacular displays, simpler, smaller but equally special experiences for anyone interested in the natural world.

We had a long trek northwards in motorway commuter traffic to get there, but sitting in our slow-moving car with thousands of others creeping in four lanes over the Runcorn Bridge, we were content with the thought that we had a day of peace and wildlife to look forward to. Not a boring day in the office like most of those around us had to look forward to.

The flat land through which the road finally winds toward the end of our journey, was sodden with the recent heavy rain, the road covered in slime. The fields were full of leeks, cabbages and root crops, grown in the richness of the silted land. Turning into the site and we were in a different world away from the commuters, the farmers and away from reality. The noise that greeted us was the melee of calling geese and swans in their thousands all talking at once. The mere was full, hardly any water surface left to see. It was solid with ducks, geese and swan. A confusing site – where to look? Our eyes had to become acclimatised to the sheer numbers of wildfowl, the sea of confusion.

The majority of the swans were Whooper Swans with Mute and Berwick present in much smaller numbers. The Whoopers’ yellow beaks appear over-sized and over-bright, exaggerating the pure whiteness of their plumage. Their’s is the sort of white that washing powder manufacturers strive for. Pink Foot and Grey Lag Geese make up the majority of the geese and Shelduck and Pintails seemed to be the ducks of preference. Hundreds of Black Headed gulls in various stages of moult filled the gaps in between.

Looking carefully amongst these large and noisy birds we were able to spots waders, hundreds of Lapwing with smaller numbers of Grey Plovers and Golden Plovers. Larger Black Tailed Godwits and the much smaller Redshanks fed busily probing the mud with their long bills.

A short amble from the Mere is the diminutive Janet Kear Hide, which overlooks an intimate pool surrounded by small leafless trees, mostly willow and hawthorn. Here feeding stations have been set up to give close up views of the reserve’s smaller birds. Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Chaffinch dominate, feeding busily on the mixed seeds, with Great Tit and Blue Tit attracted to the peanuts in the hanging feeders. A real treat was the number of Reed Bunting using the feeding station. At Slimbridge we were excited to spot one, here there were dozens.

The finch family and tit family were also represented by rarer members, a Willow Tit and a Brambling. These were birds which a decade or so ago were frequent visitors to our garden in winter, but are now so seldom seen. A single Tree Sparrow was the only representative of the sparrows, as we did not see any House Sparrows that day.

The feeding stations here were so busy most of the time but were silenced three times, once by a group of fleeing Feral Pigeons charging through the trees pursued by a Peregrine and twice when a male Sparrow Hawk came ahunting. He reduced the Chaffinch population by one on his first visit.

Moving on to the United Utilities Hide and the Harrier Hide we passed through avenues of trees dotted with nest boxes and the ground below dotted with log piles and brash heaps, both great insect habitats. They are also useful hunting places for Wren and Dunnock.

The wind was blowing strongly, carrying cold air across the flatness of the land around this end of the site. When we opened the viewing windows our noses ran and our eyes shed cold tears. Shelduck were here in large numbers on the fingers of mud, spending their lunchtime preening.

During the afternoon we wandered across to the other side of the reserve making our way to the Ron Barker Hide. We followed paths alongside a stream, the pathways overhung by bare trees of winter. Beneath them on the verges mosses took advantage of the extra damp atmosphere and colonised any rotting stump or fallen trunk. We were surprised to see so much fungi in evidence. Each stump a garden made by nature.

We arrived at the Ron Barker hide – it was busy. Rows of birdwatchers peering through telescopes, or scopes as they would call them, the front lenses poking out into the thin cold January air. “Third bush past the gate!” “Follow the shining fence down from the red tractor!” Instructions to each other, aids to spotting a rarity.

There was so much noise across the water, reeds and farmland beyond, bird noise carried by the wind to our cold ears. We joined in the spotting and scanning and were rewarded with the sight of a Snow Goose gently landing on rough grass beyond the nearest watery expanse. Alongside the Grey Lags and Pink Foots these smooth white geese appear delicate. They appear whiter than the multitude of swans bustling around them.

A Marsh Harrier was hunting on the edge of the farmland, flying low over the tall grasses and occasionally dropping down appearing minutes later with no sign of prey. As he followed a fence line he spooked a Hen Harrier, much smaller and slender. They hunted almost together for a while but occasionally the larger Marsh Harrier dived at the Hen Harrier putting it down. We watched this spectacle for an enjoyable ten minutes before they moved in front of the dropping sun, which hid them from our prying eyes.

We just had time left for another perusal of the Mere before the light defeated us. The swans now looked ghostly in the pink-tinted water. they were joined by more and more geese flying in to roost. The day finished with a real show. A Short Eared Owl was quartering the marshland abutting the mere, hunting voles with a periodic hover, his colours made richer in the late afternoon light. It is sightings like these that make the reserves of the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust so special.

Tags birds, bramblings, conservation, fungi, Geese, Martin Mere. WWT, reed buntings, Snow Goose, swans, wild fowl, wildlife, willopw tit, winter

garden design garden photography gardening ornamental grasses town gardens

The Gardens of Piet Oudolf

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 26, 2012

Piet Oudolf has been one of the most influential garden designers in the C21. We have had the pleasure of seeing several examples of his work. The development of our own garden has been influenced by his choice of plants and his plant combination. Our borders now feature far more grasses, achilleas, monardas, alliums, heleniums and sedum and we consider more carefully how good plants can look as they die off during the autumn and how well they stand in the winter.

I wonder why local authorities in the UK have not taken his ideas on board – why do we still see so much Victorian bedding in our parks and other areas of public planting? Shrewsbury, our closest town and the county town of Shropshire, seems to be going backwards with more such backward-looking planting appearing. We often look at the local roundabouts and parks and think how good they could look if more imaginative, “new perennial style” gardening was adopted. Just look at Oudolf’s planting at Wisley, Trentham and Pensthorpe and imagine how well this style would work in public spaces.

We visited Pensthorpe in Norfolk not long after the Piet Oudolf garden had been revamped, and they were looking splendid.

We visited the wonderful gardens at Trentham several times during 2011 and early in 2012. Whenever you visit the gardens by Oudolf are outstanding. Piet Oudolf’s planting here is in two distinct areas with contrasting character and atmosphere. his “Rivers od Grasses” is unlike any planting I have ever experienced. Lush green low-cut paths meander through mass plantings of tall decorative grasses. Children seem to love this area seeing it as an informal maze, a place to explore gently and quietly. This is a wonderful example of how plants and garden design in public places can influence how people feel and move around.

Beyond the River of Grass is an area of perennials and grasses planted “en masse” with winding gravel paths for exploration.

I decided to look back through my photo library for examples of pictures I have taken over the last year or so that show how our own planting has been influenced by the work of Piet Oudolf. Firstly in “The Chicken Garden” in May when the lollipop flowers of allium dominate.

New planting of grasses and sedum in the recently re-vamped “Prairie Garden”.

In our “Hot Border” a mass planting of Crocosmia “Lucifer” are interspersed with campanula, verbascum and inula.

Tags Pensthorpe, perennials, Piet Oudolf, prairie planting, Wisley

gardening hardy perennials ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs

Impulse buying at nurseries – is this true retail therapy?

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 24, 2012
1 Comment on Impulse buying at nurseries – is this true retail therapy?

We hate shopping in town centres, retail parks and especially supermarkets. How can people refer to such unpleasant things as being any sort of therapy? But put us in a nursery and everything seems different – we get tempted every time! We have just visited two of our favourite nurseries half an hour from home just into the Welsh countryside outside Welshpool, The Dingle and its sister, The Derwin. We went to buy a couple of plants for a container that sits empty at the end of the central path in the back garden. It has long been crying out for some plants. We came back with a boot full of plants, some for that pot, some for another pot, some alpines, a couple of shrubs and some perennials. It happens to us all the time, but just look at our booty! We are definitely into coloured foliage.

Euphorbia Silver Swan and Euphorbia Walberton's Rudolf

IMG_2646-1 — Bergenias - Bach, Winterglut and Winter Glow.

Osmanthus x macrodonta and Luma apiculata "Glanleam Gold"

Tags bergenias, community gardening, euphorbia, foliage, foliage plants, gardening, hardy perennials, hellebore, heucheras, shrubs, winter gardens

bird watching birds conservation garden wildlife natural pest control photography Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust wildlife winter gardens

A Day at the Original Wildfowl and Wetland Trust Centre – Slimbridge

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 22, 2012
5 Comments on A Day at the Original Wildfowl and Wetland Trust Centre – Slimbridge

Our recent visit to Barnes, the WWT centre in London, reminded us that we hadn’t visited Slimbridge for a good few years. Bitterns were being spotted regularly so a relatively mild day in January seemed a good day to visit. A long and very slow drive down in the drizzle failed to dampen our enthusiasm. So having arrived an hour after we had planned a welcome cup of coffee was gulped down before we headed for the hides. Trouble is we had to begin by walking passed the flamingo enclosure – an assault on the eyes and ears. Not our favourite birds – the Dame Edna Everidges of the wildfowl world.

The walk to the first hide took us through wildfowl enclosures. We don’t stop here much but it was a favourite when our children were young, and is still a favourite for young families today. it is a great way to introduce youngsters to the joys of the bird world. It is safe to say that many children who marvel at the beautiful fowl from every corner of the world become birdwatchers – their interest is sparked here at Slimbridge.

In this area pollarded willows with wands the colours of fire glow against the storm-laden sky. Some newly pollarded trees look like they are sporting designer stubble, others throw their stems rigidly into the air.

Flames of willow lapping the airforce blue sky.

Winter light gives so much colour to a dull day.

We arrived at the first hide after a twenty-minute walk through the wildfowl pens regularly distracted by the low winter sun and its magical effect on stems and stalks. The view from the hide was one of flat landscape of reedbed, river and shallow pools. Shelduck were relaxing on the grassy bank of a patch of cold looking water while mallard and teal flirted in the edge of the reed fringed pools. This was a quiet place with just the wind rustling the reeds, the whistling calls of the teal disrupted by the quarreling mallard. A small bird flitted from one reed seed head to another never settling, a brown backed warbler with rounded end to its tail – a cettis warbler. This is a sight worth the long journey to see. But Jude quietly whispered to me “I can see a bittern”. There it was, so hard to find and so easy to lose, skulking in the fringes of the reeds a few metres from the hide. Stripes of brown on warm beige, provided the perfect camouflage, the bittern moved so slowly like a clump of dried reeds. Jude saw it with head and neck stretched up – lucky lady!

We remained in this hide long enough to get cold and stiff after perching on the hard wooden seating, revived somewhat by regular coffees. Eyes soon become tired staring over such huge areas of wetland, so blinking and rubbing them was a necessity. But our tired eyes did see many delights, Pintails, Shovellers, Water Rail among multitudes of Pochard, Wigeon, mute swan mixed with Bewicks and the occasional heron flying in and landing on fenceposts. The only birds of prey we spotted were several buzzards all lined up on fence post on the edge of the river. Our eyes needed a rest and luckily the nearby Kingfisher Hide provides just this as the views are smaller, the birds more intimate. Here bird feeders hang in a tree just outside one of the hide’s windows. A half hour of close-up views of finches and tits while eating lunch is an enjoyable interlude.

As Jude read an information board about kingfishers she informed me that they moved elsewhere during the winter but returned in March, but as she told me this one flew across the water low and purposefully. You can’t mis-identify a kingfisher, there is nothing else like it. Then it flew back across the water to prove he really was there. Beneath the feeders opportunist pigeons, blackbirds, moorhen and jackdaws joined by a squirrel picked up the seeds and peanut crumbs dropped by the messy small birds above. We enjoyed watching the antics of a Little Grebe as he swam around just feet from the hide, a delightful ball of feathers.

Picnic eaten and eyes rested we continued our tour of the site visiting smaller hides and enjoying the walkways in between. We passed the Rain Garden with the most wonderful, sculptural insect shelters.

The art of the dry-stone wall-builder provides shelter for wildlife.

Many of the birds have become so used to human visitors that they let you take photos without huge telescopic lenses, just compact digital cameras like the one I carry in my pocket.

It's not just me that appreciates pollarded willow.

The moorhen, common but beautifully marked and subtly coloured.

The coot creating his own patterns in the water.

It was between some of the smaller hides that we spotted the first good-sized clump of snowdrops of the winter so far bursting from the leaves that had dropped in the autumn to give the ground a warming duvet. Nearby gnarled old bracket fungi clung to equally gnarled old willow bark.

Bright lights in the gloom under the bare stemmed trees.

Such varied texture and so many shades of brown.

We reached the Holden tower as the poor light was fading further. The multitude of waders, geese and ducks were almost in silhouette now. A flock of Tufted Ducks had taken over one small pond exclusively, but the other pool was busy with Lapwing by the hundred interspersed by a scattering of their cousins the Golden Plover. Out on the far estuary Pintails could be seen feeding in the margins and Curley in the muddy banks. A real treat was spotting a female Reed bunting close to the hide atop a twiggy bush. She was a bird of subtle beauty. Completely unlike the black hooded male, she sported black and cream streaks all over.

The fading light that makes the afternoons in January too short, made us hurry to the South Lakes for a final half-hour bird spotting. Gulls, waders and ducks galore greeted us, unaware that they were being watched by a Buzzard in one tree and a Peregrine in its neighbour. We were entertained by a group of Black Tailed Godwit feeding in the shallows close to us and Lapwing moving across the shallower water feeding incessantly. Scanning the Lapwing flock with the telescope, I spied a small gang of Redshank, easily identified by their red legs. But amongst them was a different character, a slightly longer and down-turned beak and marked eye stripe and more marked plumage identified it as a Spotted Redshank. What an end to the day! Our time watching and appreciating the waders on the South Lake was forshortened when the Peregrine launched itself from its tree top perch. The waders disappeared.

But it is not just the rarities that it is possible to see at Slimbridge, and we certainly revelled in seeing our Water Rail, Spotted Redshank, Bittern and Cettis Warbler, that makes this such a wonderful place to visit but is the enjoyment of seeing the commonest of birds in such a varied range of habitats. Journeying home we looked back on a day when we spotted over 50 species of birds some of them in their hundreds and satisfied with a short glimpse of the ubiquitous Bittern.

Tags birds, bittern, conservation, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, insects, lapwing, organic gardening, Slimbridge, teal, wildfowl, wildlife, winter, winter gardens

garden photography gardening photography winter gardens

Winter Garden Patterns

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 21, 2012

My morning wander to feed the chickens this morning – a frosty one again- saw me take my camera as usual. I took shots of the patterns found in the garden both in nature and in the structures we have created.

DSC_0004-1 — Decking Stripes - Wood and Frost

Tags garden photography, gardening, photography, winter, winter gardens

birds conservation wildlife

Conservation and Culling

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 19, 2012

This is another controversial look at a conservation issue. I began writing this blog way back in October and then spent much time thinking about exactly what to write and ensuring due consideration was given to both sides of the argument. Then the issue was brought up on Autumnwatch where in particular the culling of Red Deer in Scotland was looked at. So I have waited until now to publish it.

Has the time come when we must consider seriously the need for the controlled culling of certain species in order to maintain a balance in our natural world? We have upset the balance through our actions for centuries by removing links in food chains and food pyramids especially predators such as wolves. Gamekeepers have removed certain raptors from huge areas of our islands and massively reduced the population of others. This amazingly continues today!

The consideration of this controversial issue is currently difficult as people’s vision is being blurred by the contentious ambitions of our government to cull badgers all for the wrong reasons – pressure from the farming industry. The unproven condemnation of badgers as being the main cause of the spread of bovine tuberculosis is being used as the reason for a cull. but this is altogether different – it is being proposed for purely economic reasons.

The aim of the culling I am talking about here would be to bring some control to over-sized populations caused by an imbalance of nature caused by man, often the species needing to be culled being foreign invaders. The most obvious creatures that need to be under scrutiny when considering culling are the Grey Squirrel, the Wood Pigeon, the Rabbit, Signal Crayfish, mink and some species of deer. It is clear to see that there are far too many of each of these and where mink and Signal Crayfish are concerned even one is too many as they cause severe disruption to our native creatures, the Bank Vole and our native Crayfish respectively. Whether the Grey Squirrel is a direct threat to our native reds is less clear-cut as they tend to favour different habitats.

Perhaps one answer is to consider these as a food source. Should we return to a time when pigeon and rabbit were part of our everyday diets, and begin to think of harvesting the Grey Squirrel and Signal Crays as a new food source? To some extent we accept this with deer for example Attingham Park, a National Trust property near us just outside Shrewsbury, culls its deer to keep a healthy herd and sells the venison.

So what is the way forward? Could we accept culling if it also had the by-product of providing a food source?

The Grey Squirrel is cute and entertaining as are rabbits, so a cull of either would be hard for some to swallow. But they are not native to our shores and they can both become tasty ingredients.

The opposite side of the coin could be the re-introduction of missing species, and this could be even more controversial. Could we realistically reintroduce wolves? The reintroduction of beavers in Scotland does not seem to assist in redressing any imbalance.

More questions than answers!! I certainly have no answers. I couldn’t kill any living creature, with the exception perhaps of the slugs that devour our plants.