Daytime Flying Month

Once again something caught my eye as we were walking down the lane mid afternoon:



A Silver-ground Carpet moth. (Xanthorhoe montanata)

Mowing in Comfort

Reasonable comfort anyway. Unfortunately my stamina and physical abilities have lessened over the past year or so. I may not have a very big garden by some standards, approximately 3,600 square feet with about two thirds grassed. It had reached the stage where I couldn't get it all cut in one session and needed some time to recover afterwards. Walking back and forth pushing, or even following a powered mower, I cover over a quarter of a mile.  I mentioned a while back I had been to a mower centre to have a look at ride on mowers. On a second visit I made my mind up that the smallest one they had would just go through my gates to the back garden.  It was delivered a few days ago and I gave it a quick try out.



Battery starting so no heaving on bits of rope. Forward and reverse accelerator pedals make manoeuvring easy. Comfy padded seat which is just as well as there is more than a bit of vibration. Hardest is steering. After years of driving cars with power assisted steering one forgets how much effort it can take. I did find operating the long lever which engages the cutter needed both hands to pull as it is stiff and has the be engaged slowly otherwise the engine is liable to stall.

Yesterday the weather was fine enough to gave it a full run and soon got used to the various levers for engaging the cutter (need to press two pedals at once to cut in reverse), choosing cut height, etc..  Best of all, myself feeling fresh and lively when I had finished.

Still need to use the strimmer or battery mower to finish off awkward corners but  the ride on breaks the back of the job.

It would possibly have been cheaper, even in the long run, to employ someone or rely on generous, helpful neighbours to cut the grass but I hate the thought of not being able to do things for myself when there is a solution to the problem.

No Fledgling Blue Tits

Unfortunately none of the Blue Tit babies have survived in the camera nestbox.
Of the eight eggs, seven hatched out. Over several days many just disappeared until there seemed to be two healthy youngsters left, feathers growing, eyes open and healthy appetites. They were being fed frequently but first one suddenly died one night. The surviving one lasted a couple more day then suddenly stopped accepting any food. Not even opening its beak when Mrs BT brought a tasty snack.
I've no definite idea as to what went wrong. The box had been disinfected and thoroughly washed last Autumn.

Spider

As we were ambling along a lane I spotted what, at first, I thought was a fly scurry across in front of us. It stopped half way so I had a better chance to see what it was and take a couple of photos.





As far as I can deduce it is one of the wolf spiders, smaller and darker in colour than the ones I see in my garden. I would love to know what the seven pronged item is / was at the bottom of the second photo.

If you are reading this on 23 May 2019 the photos may not show as Flicker is making alterations to where photos are stored and access will be unavailable for a while.

Feeding Time

The Blue Tit chicks have really grown in the past eight days.



On our early morning walk I spotted about six House Martins swooping about overhead.
Managed a quick snapshot as one neared its nest on a nearby house

 

There appeared to be three nests under that roof.

Rhipsalis Hatiora

Miniature or dwarf Spring / Easter flowering cactus plant.

Hawthorn Time

Plenty of white flowers in the hedgerows now the Hawthorn is in bloom.





Blue Tit Nestbox News

Both parent birds are spending up to 14hrs a day finding food for their chicks.
Difficult to count them. It looks as though 7 of the 8 eggs hatched.
They are growing fast. Hope to put together some video very soon.