By mid-November our trees were putting on a stunning autumn colour display, but what a crazy time this is – our daffodils are already emerging. I am busy collecting up all the fallen leaves – garden gold I call them because once they have rotted down by this time next year they will have produced the best ever compost.
This time last year I was busy building my bug mansion. It has not worked! On the other hand, various stacks of rotting logs around the garden have provided an excellent habitat for insects and have already attracted many unusual beetles and other bugs.
We continue to put out food for our many hedgehogs every night once it is dark, this to prevent the squirrels getting to it first. More often than not the first feed has all been eaten by 10.30 and I have then to top up the dish for the second course. We actually manage to see these delightful animals every night, sometimes enjoying the sight of two of them feeding at the same time.
By the time you read this our village wildlife event will have taken place and I do hope that you will be joining the Payhembury Wildlifers in mapping out all the flora and fauna in the parish. In case you missed the event please contact me if you want a recording form.
I have just finished reading Isabella Tree’s book ‘Wilding’. This is an amazing account of what she and her husband Charlie Burrell have done at Knepp Castle in West Sussex to attract wildlife back onto land which had proved unprofitable to farm. It offers immense hope for our endangered wildlife in the future. I still clearly recollect how, in the early days of the project, I and others played a part in helping to establish a base-line for the moth population on the estate. Those were such exciting times, particularly when the deer came to look us over. No-one can ever have imagined the incredible extent to which really endangered species, such as nightingales and turtle doves, could be attracted back to an area where they had not been seen or heard for decades.
It only goes to show, create the right habitat and wildlife will soon move in. This has certainly been the case in our garden. A short time ago we established a trial bed for native wild flowers. Last year this was extended and this year I have recorded 16 moth species for the first time which are specific only to those plants present.
Paul 841696
