Its all about the birds and the bees….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the last few years there has been huge concern over the bird and bee populations. Yet alongside all the worrying news there have been some fabulous initiatives.  My fave has been the councils’ leaving the verges wild.  Now I’m aware this may simply be a money saving excercise re their grass cutting and strimming budget but nevertheless the result has been beautiful verges of wild flowers, particularly dandilions, and the creation of fantastic wildlife habitats.

I’ve also noticed that many of the public gardens and parks across the UK are setting aside ‘wild’ space.

Locally, many of my friends have found home for a bee hive in their garden and I’m very keen to get one too, there are so many of my friends and fellow B&B owners with one that I believe it will enable us to share costs and tasks EG we dont all need to buy bee suits, we can share knowledge; we can look after each others hive if we are away; we can split hives to repopulate each other.  Thats for 2019 for me but in preparation I have created a wild flower garden specifically to attract birds and bees.

The space outside our guest breakfast room has been sat doing nothing and looking dull and grey ever since we moved.  Barring a few bird feeders I’ve never got to grips with this bit of space, however this year I transformed it (with the help of our adjoining neighbour and their lovely new fencing) into something quite wonderful, not only for the birds and bees; but also for our guests and ourselves.

In fact our entire garden is quite a wildlife haven and at the other end we have a copse of trees with plenty of space for all types of wildlife and plenty of bird boxes to provide additional homes for visiting birds..  The pond by the drive is thick with frog spawn in spring and home to many frogs, toads, newts and water boatmen through the summer.

 

We also have plenty of holes in our eves which we leave deliberately and these provide a tenement for a variet of common birds and bats

Then theres the wonderful array of moths, an abundance of hedgehogs and of course our own free roaming hens and cockerels

Here are just some of the birds that have been spotted in our garden :-

Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Siskin, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Redpoll, Brambling, Yellow Hammer, Greater

Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Collared Dove, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Fieldfare, Redwing, Dunnock, Tree Creeper, House Sparrow, Starling, Crow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Pied Wagtail,

Wren, Swallow, House Martin, Swift, Blackcap, Nightingale, Goldcrest, Red Kite, Buzzard, Sparrow Hawk and, if you are lucky, Redstarts, Merlin and Hen Harrier.

In fact we have had several broods over the years living in our garage; swallows, wrens, blackbirds, blue tits

 

Save our Bees