A busy day in the garden

Today we looked for butterflies in the garden we saw peacocks ,red admirals, speckled woods, painted lady, comma ,  and cabbage white.

Tom helped to make a path through the nettles.
Then Tom picked figs and blackberries while Granny cut down the long brambles that were trying to fill the whole garden.

Yesterday Emily helped to pick plums, Tom picked more today.
Then Tom made some crumble to go with the blackberries.

Outside the garden

We went bird watching we spotted a buzzard while we were driving.

Then at Burton Mere RSPB Granny and Tom saw

Mallard ducks

Grey heron

Coots

Moorhens and their chicks

Little egret

Canada geese

Avocets

Lapwings

Black tailed godwit

Blue tit

Robin

Wood pigeon

Tom's favourite was the moorhen chicks. One of them was walking over a lily-pad.

While we walked along the path we saw a lot of bird poo all splatted under some trees. There were lots or blackberries, Tom ate some. We saw brown dragonflies. In the trees there were a wooden woodpecker and two very big wooden bats.

When we got back Tom looked in Granny's garage to see why the car had to stay outside. There were swallow's nests and lots more poo. 

Granny's washing line

Sometimes there is washing on the washing line. But one day when granny walked into the kitchen she saw the line waving about because a big bird had just taken off from the clothes prop. Dave found a picture of a buzzard

Granny didn't see it properly before it flew away but that might have been what she saw.

The last week she was in the kitchen making jam at half past nine, just before it started to get dark. There was a big owl on the clothes prop, with feathers sticking up like ears. It stayed there looking in while she got out her bird book to see what it was.

Picture from RSPB guides

She read about it and found that they are usually hard to see.

Funny leaves

Emily was helping to pick blackcurrants and noticed that the leaves on some of the bushes were all crinkly.
Granny found out that it was currant blister aphid.
Picture from RHS website

Rhubarb

The rhubarb is growing well. Emily and Tom like pulling stalks to take home. Emily remembers that last year I put the leaves in my potato trench as green manure.

There are newts and frogs wandering round the garden. Bit dangerous sitting on the concrete drive or path though, I moved one frog from near the garage door onto the grass, then had to move him off the path.

Granny and Emily were looking out of the window and Emily saw a bird. It was very big. It landed next to the pond. It was a heron. Granny had never seen a heron in her garden before. Then it flew away. 

picture fromrspb bird-and-wildlife-guides
Next we watched a blackbird having a bath in the pond. It splashed and splashed.

A soggy afternoon

Granny and Tom tried to clean out the pond today.

We raked out some grass, leaves, moss, green slime, and Tom pulled out some roots of the reed mace. No-one planted the reed-mace, it just came by itself - one plant at first but now it is all round the pond.

Tom pulled some of the furry seed heads off and looked at all the seeds inside. He sprinkled them on the pond, so there might be even more next year. Some people call them bullrushes.

Granny managed to stay dry - until Tom needed help pulling off his boots and emptying the water out, then got splashed.. But we couldn't finish the job - Granny's wellies were not tall enough