A Tiny Corner – Page 2 – Secret Surrey

January 9, 2019

Early Signs

New year always feels out of sync for me as nature never seems to recognise dates and the increasing variability in seasonal change throws up anomaly after anomaly.

We have commenced with the slash and burn in the garden, making sure that there are no hidden guests in the bonfires. Looking after hedges and ditches is one of those tasks which both landowners and local authorities seem to frequently ignore. Most hedges locally to our home are either overgrown or grazed out, usually by horses. Happily though, the “accidental” wilding of the fields and hedgerows immediately round our home is allowing the hedges to expand into the fields, creating a wonderful scrubby edge. Looks like Merrist College are also choosing to ignore the fly grazing horses on the site which is resulting an improvement in the sward. How do I know this? Well, the coarse grasses were becoming so long that predators were having problems and now the Barn owls are back!

It’s always a joy to see the feeders and surrounding trees crowded with birds but it might seem churlish to complain as for every smile there’s a frown as to where are the missing species?

A variety of tits is great….

But where are the Chaffinches, Green Finches, House Sparrows, Starlings? I get excited if I see just 1 or 2 of these species and even 4 or 5 Goldfinches seems ridiculous as there was a time where there were flocks of up to 500 consuming vast quantities of sunflower seeds in my back garden!

It’s sad that people often equate the increase in predatory species with the decline of small birds, its simply not true.

The other difficulty with the success of highly visible species like

and Buzzard or even Little Egret is that a casual observer thinks “everything is ok” and the conservationists are just some kind of extremist eco nutters.

With apple trees come Fieldfares, beautiful but incomparably aggressive!

This particular bird defended the last few apples on our trees against all comers, other thrushes, Jackdaws, Jays and even tried to scare off our deer! Aggression can be an effective survival tool for a bird and Fieldfares are truly expert. They nest in loose aggregations and will cooperatively attack any predator with lots of noise, dive bombing and yes aerial pooing!

You just have a to love Fieldfares.

September 18, 2018September 18, 2018

One Plant

Idly staring out of our bedroom window and glancing down my reaction was “oh no, not again” for there were so many bees flying round an ivy “tree” that I thought a swarm had settled in the plant growth.

On closer inspection it was clear no swarm of honey bees but a swarm of lots of species; bees, flies, wasps and even the occasional hornet. Why the feeding frenzy? One plant, Ivy, with a plethora of tiny nectar rich flowers. Standing close and attempting to take some photographs wasn’t even scary as all visitors only had one obsession, to find the flower with the fresh nectar. Or if you are a Hornet a meaty snack to carry off.

Despite the frequent bad press Ivy is seldom a villain (endangering trees by weighing them down), far from it as it provides a rich food source for many insects throughout the year. A bit like Common Gorse there always seems to be an Ivy plant in flower somewhere, even in the depths of winter. Not just a food source either, a refuge for hibernating/dormant butterflies and a preferred nest site for several species of birds, Ivy has many roles.

Everything was moving so quickly and I am not that good a photographer so I resorted to taking pictures of the slower guests!

And even slower….

On a sunny day you really can spend hours in the company of a flowering Ivy just make sure you take plenty of patience if you intend to take pictures!

August 21, 2018August 21, 2018

Old friends and new acquaintances.

Having promised myself to keep my ramblings, both literal and physical, to Surrey I hadn’t figured out that this leads to problems if I am away! However I am now pleased to say that it is now very likely we will be staying at Hempstead for at least a further year.

What’s changed in and around our patcher the last couple of weeks? Well physically, and rather sadly, the elderly and substantial apple tree in the front garden has quietly subsided to the ground. Still attached with bark and laden with fruit I am not going to clear yet in the hope that we can use the last crop. (they are the best apples in the garden). I suspect this tree dates from shortly after the house was built, 1911, and as you may know the best Bramley apples grow on an old tree. To my knowledge this wonderful tree has hosted a tit family every year for the last 24 and some years has also provided home for families of House sparrows, Blackbirds and Robins. A good friend and supplier to me and to the birds.

After a short pause in bird activity round the feeders, probably whilst many were in moult, numbers are rising again with the addition of some “non Hempstead breeding” species. A family of Starlings seem to have discovered the fat balls and my pleasure is tinged with sadness as Starlings nested regularly in my loft till a couple of years ago. The nest hole and habitat round us still looks good enough to me but it now seems unlikely that we will ever again see the autumn and winter flocks develop over the field rounds us.

Much is being said about declining numbers of some breeding birds and how that relates to the massive drop in flying insects across Europe and the further loss of marginal land from agricultural landscapes. It seems the blame is frequently attributed to intensification of agricultural practices and this is often in turn attributed to EU legislation embodied in CAP. To me this explanation is far too simplistic. There is very little intensive agriculture anywhere near where I live and there is still much undeveloped land including large areas of uncultivated military; yet there are still only a tiny proportion of the flying insects about as there used to be. I am old enough to remember it wasn’t long ago that ones car windscreen would be covered in squashed insects particularly during a summer like we have just enjoyed/endured.

I have little doubt that the causes for declines in insects and hence birds are largely anthropogenic but they are going to end up being a cocktail of atmospheric pollution/habitat fragmentation/interruptions to migration routes/hunting/climate change as well as industrialisation of agriculture and subsidy driven farming. Most real farmers instinctively understand the arguments for conservation, most profit driven agribusinesses simply don’t care enough.

August 6, 2018August 6, 2018

Hedgehogs and absent friends

Unusual happenings in my life always seem to involve wildlife and last weekend was a pretty strange coincidence…..

An afternoon with Roy and Vala, they of of the garden of wildlife and peace, is always an intense pleasure with talk of family and the creatures and plants that they share their life with. July and early August is the quiet time for most birds with an almost complete lack of song whilst birds undertake moults which require discretion to reduce the threat of predators during the periods of reduced flying ability. Birds concentrate on feeding and keeping safe rather than advertising their presence with song. So quiet gardens everywhere including Roys! Still got hand tame Robin though!

High summer is the time of flowers and insects but this really hot dry weather presents problems for both. Plants including flowers are obviously having a shorter life , unless watered, but it is an unseen knock on effect which is likely to cause a longer lasting ripple to insect populations. On the surface it looks like a good year for most butterflies (yet again those that overwinter as butterflies have done poorly) but there is a serious problem for the larvae, not enough food of good quality. A year of boom in some butterflies this year may be followed next year by a crash due to a lack of healthy larvae to overwinter.

Before we left our hosts I had the opportunity to have a quiet chat with their resident Hedgehog. Have to say he, she, is the biggest hedgehog I have ever seen! A delight for me as I have never seen a Hedgehog in my garden, 24 years and nearly everything else you could expect but no Hedgehog but then……

As we pulled in to our drive at home my wife remarked that “wouldn’t it be nice to find a hedgehog in the garden?” The words were barely out of her mouth when we both spied a dark shape on the lawn next the drive… Yep our first ever hedgehog at home!! Smaller and speedily hid in the honeysuckle stems at the base of a pear tree, hence no photo, but a joy nonetheless.

Do remember that planting native species in your garden is great for wildlife and makes common sense as they are likely to be best adapted to UK conditions (Ok there is little that can cope with this heat and drought!).

July 12, 2018July 12, 2018

New friends

Always surprises me just how nature provides a peaceful moment of wonder when you need it, even not invited. Difficult and busy few days but “our” young doe is spending plenty of time eating round the garden. We had noticed she was enjoying any low hanging apples and accompanying leaves, surely indigestion must follow……..

A delighted call from my wife pointed out that this week our young doe revealed that she was in fact a mum with twins. I will never tire of such encounters.

The youngsters gradually relaxed and commenced further pillaging of the garden.

On a serious note, we all (particularly politicians) grossly underestimate the role of the natural world in maintaining our mental, let alone physical, health. Whatever the mechanism is , ecosystems services, green pound or many other ways of monetising the natural world, it still strikes me that they all obscure the basic truth; most of us ordinary folks instinctively understand the value of the natural world and accept that we should spend taxes when necessary in order to maintain and improve that natural world. We are all part of the natural world not just consumers of it.

June 28, 2018June 28, 2018

Cost of some Joy

My father was a lovely man, gentle and kind, with a passion for gardening and in particular growing just about anything edible. Our vegetable plot is a pale imitation of my dads but it also gives a great deal of pleasure to us.

I learnt the hard way that growing vegetables in a garden open to Roe deer is a frequently frustrating process. Once the regular agricultural activities stopped in the surrounding fields deer quickly found the refuge and at least one doe has given birth to young every year since the millennium. On telling my father, soon after seeing deer actually in the garden for the first time, and being met with incredulity and disbelief it led to great mirth. Whilst berating me for dreaming the sighting a Roebuck chose that moment, in broad daylight, to step out of the hedge behind my father and begin nibbling windfall apples! Joy and wonderment and a lot of giggles!

For a couple of years I kind of gave up growing much at all using the deer as a rather lame excuse for my laziness. Very early in the morning following my fathers late night passing I looked out of the bathroom window to find 5 deer quietly grazing in the garden, reassurance that life goes on comes in many forms.

The experience led me to interpret their appearance as a challenge and my mum and I then fenced the veg plot and started growing again.

Some years we have had very relaxed does who have treated the garden as their private refuge, bringing quite young kids (often twins) in to sleep. During the worst of the snows there were often 3 snow covered humps outside the patio doors which morphed in to mum and babes as the sun came up.

The fence round the veg has to be high obviously and you have to remember to close the gate!

Forgot the gate last night after watering and my wife had even commented over breakfast tea that we hadn’t seen any deer for a couple of weeks. Result……….runner beans gone! The cost of joy, indeed!

June 24, 2018June 24, 2018

The Benefit of Stillness

At last we finally visited Roy and Vala at their home in Haslemere! What you cry a facebook type blog?! Not really no, more of confirmation that there are wonderful people in this world who treasure every small but wonderful encounter with the natural world around them. The garden of their home extends up a rather steep slope but has been tendered with a passion for gardening, flowers, vegetables and art then combined with a love of birds, insects and all wildlife. The results are humbling. Roy’s patience and calm stillness has created a relationship with many of the birds in his garden where their instinctive fear has been overcome by the simple fact that humans can be a ready source of food. Always carry mealworms in your pocket! The fact that a Robin

can be coerced is one thing but House SparrowsBlackbirdsand Great tits have all come to Roy and any other calm friends is a tribute to his continual wonder of the small things in life (I suspect that actually they are really the big important things in life just a little disguised!).

Sitting within feet of feeders repeatedly visited by 2 families of Siskins was also a pretty gobsmacking experience!

Roy has watched the Woodmice come and feed, knows where the Hedgehog is likely to sleep, observed surprising behaviour like Great tits hawking his honey bees and knocking the stings out, Blackbirds fishing for tadpoles and so much more.

Yes I would love him to share more of his knowledge and I am also hoping he will share some of his photos!

June 22, 2018June 24, 2018

Summer Arrives

Woke up to a beautiful clear morning, so clear it was decidedly fresh, and once again wondered at my good fortune. Lots of small things and experiences knit together to give meaning to my life and these are a few of those moments from the last couple of days.

The first telephone ping of the day was my niece, Amber, forwarding a short video of her late night close contact with a rather lovely hedgehog! Her evident delight at having a chat with a relaxed spiny fellow was a great way of starting the day and my jealousy is tinged with a little sadness that I have never encountered one at my home. Deer yes, an ongoing relationship; foxes yes; weasel yes; occasional lost rabbit yes but no hedgehog!

Yesterday was also the first time for months that we have seen a fox. In this case a youngster making a run with a corn on the cob put out for the birds! Similarly, but not with corn cob, a young Kestrel came over the garden for the first time in months. In contrast Red Kites are now daily over the garden and fields but Wednesday was the first time we saw one take food from the garden. Bizarrely the item picked up by the Kite was a cooked Jersey Royal potato that had been put out for the birds! Yes really!

A hunched sunbathing Blackbird relaxes on the lawn whilst a young Robin , looking like a mini thrush, scoots around feeding. Bound to be some more special moments in the day ahead.

I do love a good sunrise and sunset, these are just a couple taken from the garden.

June 16, 2018June 16, 2018

A new generation

Its a bit hard to know where to start with birds in my garden at this time of year because we are once again inundated with young birds. Amongst the positives are that the Blue tits and Great tits have done well, the record so far is 12 birds on a fat ball container that holds 6 balls! My joy at this is tinged with a caution as to why this year the garden birds seemed to have become much more reliant on supplied food. Something more seems to have gone wrong with the relationship between natural food supply, particularly insects, and timing of broods. There is a much discussed problem of the temperature trigger that influences insect abundance getting out of step with birds egg laying which is often related to day length. This year, to me, it also just looks like there are far fewer insects and insect larva. Whether this is so or not and whether it may be down to climate change or not isn’t clear. I am alarmed at the thought that the influence of atmospheric pollution may also be far more insidious than the obvious impact on human health in cities.

Greenfinch family also regulars but it is the surprise presence of a pair of Bullfinches and an adult Great Spotted woodpecker together with the absence of young House sparrows that raises my level of concern.

June 13, 2018June 13, 2018

On from Beginnings

Looking back to that first summer in Worplesdon I am sad that there are so many negative changes among all the wonderful experiences.

For the first couple of years Merrist Wood continued to cut the surrounding fields for hay and silage followed in the autumn by cattle grazing before the ground became to wet (September to October). The impact on bird numbers and variety was incredibly beneficial. We knew that we had a Linnet nest in the garden and even more amazingly Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers had nested in an old plum tree in our hedgerow but were simply overwhelmed with the migrants that appeared soon after the cattle.

First, and a little hard to miss lined up along the barn roof, were hundreds of Yellow wagtails. Most spent there time gorging on the flies associated with the cattle but on some days there were more in the garden than Bluetits! Seems like a dream now as we also regularly saw Whinchats, Wheatears, Redstarts, and Stonechats! Two glorious autumns then Merrist Wood ceased being an agricultural college, dispensed with the herd of cattle and the farm staff- hardly any autumn migrants!

You will note that the only reason the fields were passed from public ownership to the college was because they were required as part of the teaching resource of an agricultural college. Sadly the management of the college at the time decided, in my view without any consideration of the long term impact, to shift the college towards teaching both golf and equine studies. Nothing wrong in that you could say but my view is that at that stage the land should have been passed back to public ownership rather than being used as a prospective housing site that nobody other than certain people at the college want.