30 Days Wild in June - Pondlife

The weather today was absolutely glorious - flaming June at her best! So we decided to visit the nearby Wildfowl & Wetlands​ Trust Centre at Arundel, taking our Everyday Nature Spotter that came with our 30 Days Wild pack at the end of May.

I thought that we might see the Common Frog however I spotted something even better - an Azure Blue Damselfly. I've never seen one before and, at first, thought it must be a butterfly because it's wings are blue. Luckily the guide slowly reversed the boat to where the insect had landed and we were all able to discover its beauty.

We also came across some newly opened waterlilies:

and December was delighted to find some Lesser Water Boatmen (Corixa punctata) in a nearby raised pond:

All in all, a successful visit :)

30 Days Wild in June - Moth

A very brief post today - a photo of a gorgeous moth that I found on the wall upstairs. I haven't had any luck identifying it and am hoping that someone reading this will be able to help. Thank you in advance 😊

30 Days Wild in June - Natural Pest Control

We had a another visit from our next door neighbours duck this afternoon and have discovered how she is getting into our garden - there is a very small hole at the bottom of the fence! Our neighbour thinks​ that she might be being attracted by all​ the slugs and woodlice, so we asked if she could visit our garden for a few hours each day as a natural slug deterrent, which they agreed to. 

We found a couple of ladybird larvae on the runner beans and on investigation discovered that they are Harlequins which are not native to the UK. However, as they do eat aphids we will leave them where they are to get on with their work.

Hopefully, all this means our young veggies will now have a better chance of reaching our plates!

30 Days Wild in June - Shrine to a Shrew

A few days ago June found a dead shrew near our back door and it was decided that it should be buried.

She and December chose a quiet spot near the end of our garden to dig the grave and then the tiny creature was buried with some ceremony, including prayers and a blessing.

This afternoon, the girls felt it was time to properly mark the grave (Daddy having mowed the lawn earlier in the day) and so they made simple crosses using twigs and stems of grass to bind them together. The burial site was then decorated with these as well as petals and leaves.

30 Days Wild in June - We're all Quackers!

Yesterday (Thursday) June and December were thrilled to find tiny beans on their runner bean plants, as well as a few tiny green strawberries on our strawberry plant.

Today, whilst watching the various news reports on the election outcome, we heard a sudden loud outburst of quacking from the garden. At first I thought it was ducks flying overhead towards the village pond, however, when the quacking carried on we looked out and discovered a large white duck underneath our trampoline! Shortly afterwards there was a knock at the door and all became apparent - the duck was our next door neighbours. We still don't know how the duck got into our garden as it can't fly and there aren't any holes in the hedge, I don't mind though as it was a very welcome diversion from the politics 😉

30 Days Wild in June - Nature, red . .

. . . in tooth and claw. When I was a child my father used to quote this to me, with a sigh, whenever​ we came across sad remains either in the garden - perhaps a 'gift' from our family cat, or in the wild. 

Today, in our garden, we found two piles of feathers that strongly suggest that a couple of pigeons met their maker early this morning. Whether by cat's paw or something else I do not know - though I wonder if the bird on today's logo might have been responsible?

30 Days Wild in June - Stormy Weather

So the blustery night turned into a stormy day.

This afternoon we saw a perfect double rainbow with all the colours perfectly highlighted by the black storm clouds behind  them. Then in the evening I saw a rainbow from my living room window - just to the right of the large tree in the photo below.

Sunset this evening: