DEADNETTLES: 17TH MAY 2024

Deadnetles are nettle lookalikes , evolved to look as though they will deliver a sting, to deter predators. In fact they have no sting and are members of the mint family. Here are three forms that are about right now and easy to identify. The young tips of all three can be cooked a bit like spinach, and are rich in minerals (as are the young tips of stinging nettles, which make a great tonic when drunk as a tea). All Deadnettles have square , hollow stems– you can easily feel the ridges on the stems. Bumblebees are the main pollinators– they land on the lip of the floor and reach for nectar, and as they do so they coincidentally gather pollen on their backs, which they then distribute to subsequent flowers. As with some other flowers like honeysuckle, you can suck the end of a flower and sip the sweet nectar in the base and some short-tongued insects, which can’t reach the nectar through the flower tube, cheat the plant by biting the base and extracting the nectar that way. Bluebells are ‘raided’ the same way. As well as being used as a pot herb, dead nettles were useful for pig swill for the pig many cottage-dwellers raised in their yards (My grandmother raised a pig a year in this way, so supplementing the year’s meals cheaply). White Deadnettles were believed to guard against evil and to treat the “KIng’s Evil’– Scrofula, a terrible form of TB that was so named because it was also believed that the touch of a King could cure it. Figwort was another plant believed to cure Scrofula.

White Deadnettle

Red Deadnettle

Yellow Archangel

Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler: 6th May 2024

Telling the Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler apart from their song is very easy. The Chiffchaff has the two note song in the rhythm of their name while the Willow Warbler has a lovely falling song (you can listen and watch a really good video that helps tell them apart on the BTO site (British Trust for Ornithology) . But telling them apart visually is harder and once mating and territory-holding is over the songs will slowly disappear. If you get a good view (which gets increasingly hard as the leaves come on the trees) then the easiest way is from the colour of their legs. Willow Warblers are a little paler on their bellies and their legs are paler, often a pale orange-red. The Chiffchaff has darker legs, almost black. I often have a job remember which is which from any two choices (right and left for example!) so I remember the differences of these two beautiful birds by thinking willow warbler white (not white but paler in the two ways I’ve said). Maybe you don’t need this because you are better at remembering than me! Anyway, here’s a couple of images of each. Conditions: A very warm spell, with gentle breezes. Temperature: Max 17 Min C.

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

HAIRY-FOOTED FLOWER BEES: 18th April 2024

Male Hairy-footed Flower Bees emerge first in spring– you can hear these diminutive bees buzzing as they speed wildly round the flowers searching for females. Males are of a slighter build than females, and the easiest way to identify them is from the buzzing and the pale patch of hairs that show up on their faces as they whizz round. The females emerge a few days later and both are around now, feeding and looking to mate, though the males tend to try and dive-bomb the females who spend a lot of time speeding off in the opposite direction! Females of these wonderfully named solitary bees are easier to identify. They appear almost entirely black to the eye, with yellow, hairy and often pollen covered front legs. They have very long probosces relative to their size and feed on early, tubular flowers such a Pulmonaria (Lungwort) and Primroses, for which they are significant pollinators. Keep an eye and ear open for these small, buzzy early bees while they are at their most visible. They nest in crumbling mortar, gaps in brickwork and sometimes in the ground. Conditions: Mostly drier weather, though chilly with some frosts. Temperature: Min 2 Max 11C.

Male Hairy-footed Flower Bee

Female Hairy-footed Flower Bee

Female Hairy-footed Flower Bee -female

Female Hairy-footed Flower Bee -female

BUGLE: 12th April 2024

Bugle is the other creeping plant of damp woodlands and hedgerows that can be seen at this time of the year, forming carpets through the many runners it sends out. I’m covering it now because it is often confused with the Ground Ivy I covered the other day. Both have a similar form in a similar habitat but Bugle has shiny, deep green or purple leaves as opposed to the paler green, softer hair-covered leaves of Ground Ivy. Bugle’s flowers are deep purple compared with the mauve flowers of Ground Ivy and Bugle flowers grow taller on average, in strong, upright spikes. Several cultivated varieties of Bugle, sold by its scientific name Ajuga, are available for gardens and suitable for light shade and ground cover. They are highly sought after by Bumblebees and other insects so are great for a wildlife garden, especially as they flower in early spring. Bugle was used in the past for several herbal remedies and especially prized for staunching bleeding. Conditions: above average temperatures, and a dry spell for once. Temperature: Max 17 Min 9C.

Bugle

Bugle

Bugle

Bugle

PRIMROSE: 17th March 2024

It’s the time of year to take a closer look at Primroses again. Our native Primrose is surely one of the most beautiful early spring flowers. My mum’s favourite flower, they have a lovely delicate scent and are useful early flowers for feeding insects like Bees and Butterflies, as well as for the parasitic, bee-mimic, the Bee-fly. If you look carefully there are two forms of the flowers- the Pin-eyed and the Thrum-eyed. Doing a drawing was the easiest way I found to describe why this common flower has two forms. It ensures cross-pollination which is an evolutionary development to strengthen the viability of a plant. Conditions: Still wet many days but yesterday, and this afternoon, the sun at least made an appearance. Temperature: Max 15, Min 9C.

Primrose, pin-eye

Primrose, thrum-eyed

Primrose

Primrose

Primroses

LEAF-LITTER: March 6th 2024

Blackbirds historically fed among the leaf-litter on woodland floors, especially in winter when the invertebrates they love to feed on were less available in colder, more exposed areas like grasslands. This is just one reason why it’s helpful for us to leave leaf-litter on our gardens well into spring. On grass, leaf litter can be problematic for grass-growth but on flower beds it protects against frost, breaks down into humus to feed the soil and protects insects and other invertebrates, helping them to survive winter. Then along come birds like Blackbirds and Thrushes and boost their food in our urban and built-up environments – another way in which being a bit untidy in the garden can help diversity as well as sparing us a bit of hard work. Conditions: A drier spell after excessive rain over the last weeks. Temperature: Max 10, Min 1C.

QUEEN BUMBLEBEES EMERGING: 22nd February 2024

During the past few milder days some of the early Queen Bumblebees (only the Queen Bumblebees survive over winter) have been emerging to warm up and feed. The Queens go into an arrested development called diapause over winter. Less deep and continuous than hibernation, they can re-awaken during warm spells over winter to feed but in late winter-early spring the Buff-tailed Bumblebee and Tree Bumblebee Queens are among the first to emerge from diapause and feed up properly. Diapause is stressful and demanding, drawing on a lot of their reserves over many winter weeks so some don’t survive. Recent research shows that the heavier ones are most likely to get through. You may see them warming up on heat-absorbent surfaces, or feeding up on early pollen. Any pollen rich plants we can grow that will feed them over winter and in early spring can be life-savers. Ours come out to feed on Daphne (Jacqueline Postill flowers so long and early it is a favourite of theirs and ours), winter-flowering Honeysuckle, Goat (‘Pussy”) willow and early crocus are among several shrubs and flowers that can help. Conditions: Milder with yet more wet spells and some strong gusts of wind. Temperature: Max 11, Min 3C.

Tree Bumblebee

Tree Bumblebee

Goat Willow

DRUMMING GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS: 17th February 2024

This splendid male Great Spotted Woodpecker has been feeding frequently for a couple of weeks on the fat and seeds we put out, with no visits from the female at present (males have a red patch on the back of their neck, lacking in females). But all week this male has also been drumming on local trees, especially the Oak at the bottom of the garden.The male Great Spotted Woodpecker is the bird you will hear drumming- Green Woodpeckers hammer to make nest-holes in trees but they don’t drum. Drumming is primarily about letting other males know that this territory is claimed, and also attracts the female.. (The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker also drums but sadly, numbers are very low now and you’d be lucky indeed to hear one of those, unless you are near to the places they still appear). Numbers of Great Spotted Woodpeckers are growing slightly which is really good news. They are frequent visitors to garden bird-feeders which may have helped their numbers grow. If you look closely you can see this woodpecker’s sharp, thin tongue. It can protrude 40mm beyond the tip of the beak, enabling it to spear the insect larvae it finds tunnelling in wood.. Conditions: Mild spell, with heavy rain ahead. Temperature: Max 13 Min 8C.

LONG-TAILED TITS IN FEBRUARY: 8th February 2024

Long-tailed Tits are a favourite of many, though they aren’t actually tits. They are monogamous, pair-bonding over their lifetime. They both build their intricate nests and this process starts in February, which is why I put downy feathers out from now. The intricate nests, which I’ve covered in more detail before, are made up of over 6,000 individual elements so it’s no wonder they require efforts by both the male and female. Over 2,000 of these elements are downy feathers which must be hard for them to gather in some environments, and which they use at the end of the process to line the nest. The other elements are strands of moss, spider-cocoon and webs, and the whole is covered by lichen, which camouflages the nest well. Nests are quite small but the fronds of moss, combined with the stretchy spiders-web acts as a form of velcro. This allows the nest to expand as the numerous eggs (up to 15) hatch and the young grow. Both male and female feed the young and, unusually for our native birds, other adults will join in the feeding if their nests are unsuccessful. Long-tailed Tits are carnivorous- they eat invertebrates like spiders and the eggs and larvae of moths and butterflies, resorting to vegetable matter and our bird feeders, especially the fats, more in autumn and winter. Conditions: Snow and sleet most of the day. Temperatures : Max 4 Min 2C.

Long-tailed Tit

Long-tailed Tit, with feather

Long-tailed Tit nest

NEST-BOX ACTION; February 2nd 2024

Great Tits are dominating one of our nest-boxes so far this year, though we more frequently get Blue Tits in them. Blue Tits had been looking in on this box for a couple of weeks beforehand. One of these Blue Tits must have noticed the Great Tit turn up and enter the box because it became quite agitated and flew to the box entrance, looking inside. The bigger and more aggressive Great Tit came to the entrance and fought off the Blue Tit, at one stage grabbing its leg in its bill and not letting go. The Blue Tit had to really flap its wings and fight to get released- fascinating to watch. I wish it hadn’t been such a dull day as I couldn’t get a clear photo but have included the photo I got just to give a sense of the fight they went through. Since then the Great Tits have been really looking round, when clinging to the box, vigilant in case the Blue Tits try a take-over again! For the first time in twenty or more years I’ve had to put metal plates on the boxes. We went away for some time last year with at least two Blue Tits about to fledge from another box in the garden. We returned to the sad sight of the box having been raided by one of the Great Spotted Woodpeckers we have year round I the garden. I should have done in before so here’s a warning to all!. It’s a very sturdy box but the beak’s of Woodpeckers can easily deal with it. Conditions: Some sunny, drier days with gusty winds. Temperature: Max 13, Min 8C.