17 Jul 24

Wakeham

After all the rain we have had, it was a great opportunity to get back into the garden and dig over the right-hand flowerbed which had softened up in the rain. I also had a request from Dawn to level the lawn in one spot, as there was a bit of a hill in the middle of the garden.

I'm pleased to say I accomplished both, though it did take a good 6 hours of digging and weeding to get there. But at least I'm almost halfway there in giving the garden a much needed facelift.

It was a pretty warm day and I had a lot of drink breaks, which gave me a chance to see what was about. One big positive was the number of butterflies passing through the garden with 4 Large White, 2 Red Admiral, 1 Comma and a possible faded Meadow Brown. The latter flew through very quickly before I could get a positive ID.

There were also a few moths about, especially when I disturbed the foliage. There were a couple of micro moths, a macro and a Silver Y. None of which I was able to photograph.

Main highlights though were 3 Swifts and my first Autumn Yellow Wagtail heading south down the island.

Here a few photos from today.

One of the 3 Common Buzzards over the cottage this afternoon.

What are you staring at! A Kestrel circling the garden.

One of the 3 Swifts making their way down the island.

Its been awhile since I've seen a Frog. Its good to know there is at least one in the "Tractor" pond.

A Comma

A Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) on the Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

A Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) on the Lavender (Lavandula sp.)

Ted following me around the garden.

This privately owned Van's RV-7A aircraft. Registration G-PROS is on its way from La Rochelle (France) to an airfield south of Weston-Super-Mare (Somerset). More on this aircraft here.