Nature Diary... High Summer Delights

This year I bought some packets of mixed wild flower seeds and scattered them in a large planter so now I have a very miniature meadow (on wheels) which I can re-position at will, and perhaps cut patches out of to plant elsewhere. My experimental decision of using a planter turned out to be quite a wise one as the variety of seeds wasn’t very enthralling so next year I’m going to buy packets of specific seeds and create my own mix. A snapshot of the wild flowers is shown in the centre bottom of the collage.

Today the weather was sunny and pleasantly warm and the bird feeders were as busy as usual. A very welcome visitor was the lovely baby Sparrow, still yet to grow its adult feathers but now managing to feed perfectly well without a parent. There are about two dozen Sparrows who regularly visit now which is how it used to be a couple of decades ago, so hopefully they are no longer as scarce as they once were, at least in this area.

The beautiful Magpie with its precision markings of black, white and a splendid shimmering iridescent blue is also a regular visitor and normally arrives with its partner. Neither the Magpies nor the Sparrows take any notice of each other when they arrive to feed. During the day I put out handfuls of dried mealworms which the Magpies seem to relish and for which they pop in regularly throughout the day. They are fascinating to watch as they land on the dish of mealworms, carefully scoop up a beak full, hop on to the bird bath and dunk the dried mealworms in the water, and they never leave the slightest hint that they’ve ever been there so meticulous are they about saving every morsel of food. They are a pair particularly protective of each other and originally were very nervous of the merest flicker of movement from me but now I can be within 10 feet of them and say ‘Hello’ quietly and they’re ok with that. I feed them in the hope that maybe one in particular will survive and be relatively healthy for longer than might otherwise be the case as he has been invaded by a tick which in its own need to survive has attached itself to the Magpie’s blood supply causing a blood-filled bubble the size of a big marble to hang from the throat of the bird. According to Chris Packham something like that is definitely going to kill the host but maybe ‘my’ Magpie and its partner will have had a chance to enjoy this summer and to still be together with the help of some easy food from me.

As the sun began to sink late in the day I was pleased to see a butterfly (a Fritillary?) which landed a few inches away from where I was sitting and settled on the back of the garden chair next to mine, spreading its wings to absorb the last of the heat from the setting sun. Time for me to sit there with it for just a little while longer and to wonder what delights tomorrow will bring...


(Huge thanks to everyone who has visited and left stars and hearts while my comments have been turned off . Thanks, love and hugs to you all xx)