A blustery and overcast day for #biggardenbirdwatch 2016. We were pleased the long-tailed tit showed up for the count. After the hour was out the count stood at:
We finally found a local source for hazel peasticks. A big THANK YOU to the Epping Forest Centres Officer: Heritage and Lifelong Learning who arranged for them to be bundled for us to pick up from the View for a donation. We're plucking up the courage to ask if they cut rods for bean poles too.
If you haven't walked Epping Forest, or visted the Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge or the High Beach visitor centre - what's keeping you?
Our hippeastrum Papilio turning it's beauty inside out.
We purposely start our Hippeastrum late so the blooms cheer us over the post Christmas tree slump.
Waiting for their turn at the feeder (the squirrels, magpies and wood pigeon get first dabs).
This hungry ♀ Great Spotted Woodpecker arrived 20 days earlier than our first sighting (of a ♂) in our garden last year January.
We wonder if there is a route from one wooded area to another used by these birds at this time of year and that they are attracted by the activity of the squirrels. Perhaps it is the lure of overwintering invertebrates hunkered in the fissured bark of the old 28ft pear tree which they pick clean before leaving.
Our Heritage Seed Library parcel arrived today: Blue Coco climbing french bean, Long scarlet radish (relished by Peter Rabbit), Geurnsey parsnip, Red Elephant carrot, Perfection cucumber, Kaskinaurus turnip, aren't we lucky.
We attended a fascinating Natural History Museum talk on earthworms where we were gladdened to learn there is an Earthworm Society Of Britain.
We'd wondered that there seemed to be more types of earthworm than the brandling and the blackbird's early worm, how many UK species are there? We were pointed in the direction of the free pdf earthworm identification guide available for download, published by the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) network to identify presumably the 13 most common of the 27 UK species of earthworm. A more comprehensive guide to identifying all 27 species is published by the Field Studies Council. We've set ourselves a challenge to identify the Plot57b species we come across in 2016.
05/04/16 Update: It is now possible to survey your garden or allotment worms for the Earthworm Watch citizen science project.
A serious read & heady debate for today's tea time. Christmas cake was needed.
We look forward greatly to the annual Heritage Seed Library "lottery" of Garden Organic's collection of open pollinated land-race, heirloom varieties and other seed that has been dropped by popular seed-sellers.
