Birding Expedition to RSPB Pulborough Brooks

On Saturday I spent the early part of the day at RSPB Pulborough Brooks, my first birding event with the GBC. I don't drive but the reserve is only a ten minute cycle from Pulborough station, and very well signposted.

The reserve itself has a wide variety of habitats, scrub, woodland, wetlands and heathland (which is in the process of being expanded/reclaimed from the coniferous forest). This means there was a good range of diverse species to be spotted all in a relatively small area as well as some amazing vistas of bluebell woods.

Bluebells, fern and oak at RSPB Pulborough Brooks

At the start of our walk we ambled through some open scrub areas with trees, bushes and open grassland as well as small ponds. We were lucky enough to spot a whitethroat in some brambles only a few feet away - affording some great views and superb photo shots from one of our group. Around us we could hear chiffchaff, willow warbler, blackcap, greenfinch, wren, chaffinch. A solitary cuckoo was calling as well. As we headed along the path, we spotted a nightingale on some exposed branches, where it stayed for a few minutes giving us a lengthy rendition of its rich, throaty and complex song. It was the first nightingale I had ever seen or heard, so an experience I definitely won't forget.

As we approached the wetland hides, there were nightingales and other warblers singing all around us. My ability to identify these small birds by song alone is limited, however thanks to the expert members of the group, I've now added a couple to the list that I should now be able to identify.

On the wetlands and flooded meadows, we saw most of the usual suspects - mallard, mute swans canada geese, coots and moorhens as well as a heron, but the highlight was a sedge warbler, which was flitting round a bramble bush, but stayed still long enough for me to get a good look thanks to Malcolms super-powerful telescope - well enough to see its eyebrow stripe clearly. We also saw a linnet fleetingly - another new one for me.

On our way back to the cafe for a lunch break one eagle-eyed member of the group spotted an adder dozing in a sunny spot in the long grass by the footpath - which soon made a hasty exit as the shadows of nine inquisitive birders took away his sunny patch.

At the end of lunch I noticed a couple of the group had moved toward a field with a ploughed area - situated behind the cafe garden. I heard whispers of 'wheatear' and moved across with my binoculars to catch a glimpse of another new species for me - a female wheatear flitting around the ploughed furrows.

After lunch we took a brief stroll into the woodland on the other side of the reserve - the area where some of the forest was being cleared to make way for more heathland. It was a sight to see so many tree stumps in one area in a reserve. We didn't see much here, other than hearing a long-tailed tit and nuthatch.

By that point it was 3:30 and the rain looked like it was on its way. Time for a farewell to my new birding friends, a swift cycle to the station and a pleasant train journey home - one very happy birder indeed.

Species seen:

1. House sparrow
2. Chaffinch
3. Bullfinch
4. Greenfinch
5. Mute swan
6. Mallard
7. Grey heron
8. Canada goose
9. Coot
10. Moorhen
11. House martin
12. Barn swallow

New species seen:

1. Nightingale
2. Whitethroat
3. Gadwall (male)
4. Nuthatch
5. Sedge warbler
6. Linnet
7. Wheatear (female)

Species heard (but not seen):

1. Willow warbler
2. Chiffchaff
3. Blackcap
4. Long-tailed tit
5. Cuckoo
6. Goldfinch
7. Wren

Garden Snapshot - April 2014

I love April, aside from the weather being unpredictable (it can be anything from snow to perpetual showers to glorious sunshine) the last two weeks in April are when the countryside in Sussex really spring to life. Suddenly the trees that were bare for months have fresh vibrant green leaves appearing, blossom appears, and birdsong tumbles out of the trees and from rooftops.

And the same happens in my garden...

Garden snapshot - April 2014

The neighbours' new fence is finally up! It's a closed board fence which seems much more sturdy and resilient that the previous flimsy panelled fence. So my task this weekend will be to re-attach the clematis, blackberries and loganberries to the fence.

The cherry tree is in blossom, hollyhocks are sprouting, the 'Nelly Moser' clematis (currently laying on the ground) is in bud and the tulips are out in full glory. Everything is poised to spring into life!

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 16) - Tulipa 'cummins'

I think I've probably got a bit of a tulip obsession, and of course I love the unusual, whether its in my garden or otherwise.

This tulip is a fantastic colour - an old-fashioned 'mauve' and the fringed tips of the petals catch the sun giving a frilly halo to each bloom.

Tulip 'Cummins' - opened flower

On the unopened flowers this fringing can almost appear like rows of teeth!

Tulip 'Cummins' - unopened flower

And of course these are perfect to capture in close up with my squidcam macro lens...

Tulip 'Cummins' closeup taken with squidcam macro lens for iPhone 5

Tulip 'Cummins' closeup taken with squidcam macro lens for iPhone 5

As with most bulbs I buy, I got these from Avon Bulbs

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 15) - Clematis Alpina 'Frances Rivis'

Already mentioned as 'plant of the week' back in May 2013, this beautiful clematis just keeps getting better every year. It's flowered about a month earlier this year, probably because we had a very mild winter this year. Last year we had a severe winter with some late frosts. Fascinating that this variation can shift the flowering period so dramatically.

I've already described this clematis in some detail - follow this link for the original post. I am going to attempt to take some cuttings of this to bring to the new garden. Watch this space for the results.

Here's a photo of the blooms this year - more impressive than last year.

Clematis Alpina 'Frances Rivis'

Of course, I have added some macro shots of the flowers this time too.

Clematis Alpina 'Frances Rivis' - closeup of stamens - squidcam macro lens

Clematis Alpina 'Frances Rivis' - closeup of flower - squidcam macro lens

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 14) - Mahonia (unknown variety)

The mahonia in our garden was already well-established when we moved here seven years ago, although it was crowded out by a tangle over overgrown roses and a 30ft leylandii (which we had removed immediately - as it was only 10ft from the back of the house.

Since then the mahonia has thrived, although I think it doesn't like shade - it against a north facing fence and grows out away from it as if its stretching for the light.

It's positioned right by the back doors - which means we are able to appreciate the amazing display of colour (and more importantly its heady sweet scent) even when its too cold to amble out into the garden in the morning.

Mahonia (unknown variety) in full bloom

The amazingly intense flowers are very short-lived lasting maybe just one or two weeks before they fade, however the blooms transform into delicate metallic purple-blue berries (probably poisonous) which reach full size by autumn.

The bush itself is a compact 4ft high dense clump of evergreen (but very prickly) leaves. The dead leaves do not break down well as they are thick and waxy like holly leaves, so watch out when clearing up underneath the bush - the leaves have been the cause of some foul language they are that sharp!

Another one I will be repeating in the new garden - I managed to take three successful cuttings last year - it seems to respond well to this. I also sends out shoots underground so small saplings appear all around it.

Of course I have some lovely macro shots of the flower buds taken in February as well as some of the opened flowers taken in early April. Macro shots were taken with my iPhone 5 and squidcam macro lens

Mahonia flower buds (closeup taken with squidcam macro)

Mahonia flower buds (closeup taken with squidcam macro)

Mahonia flowers (closeup taken with squidcam macro)

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 13) - Snakeshead Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)

Another late post - I'm doing my best to catch up, currently about three weeks behind!

I'm always amazed that this is a native wildflower in the UK, as it has the air of a tiny exotic, with its intricate chequerboard pattern (almost like snakeskin). I've never seen one in the wild, I'm guessing its a rarity these days.

Snakeshead Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)

I bought a handful of each of two varieties - the usual purple/white check and pure white. After two years of both flowering, I haven't seen any white ones this year, and only four of the purple ones. I'm not sure if the bulbs have a limited lifespan or if squirrels have been digging them up (there's possible evidence of squirrel activity in the garden in that several baby horse chestnuts have appeared).

I've naturalised them in grass which is where they look best, as their leaves are long and linear like grass. I'll definitely be adding a few clumps of these delicate gems when I get to my our garden (wherever that is) although I probably won't bother with the pure white variety again.

Snakeshead Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) with aphids!

Garden Snapshot - March 2014

A little late but still..

Not much changes from February to March, the neighbour's fence is still not repaired, I ripped what was remaining of the broken panels out - they were flapping around like flags and were about to either take out the cherry tree or fly off into the greenhouse.

Garden Snapshot - March 2014

The rose arch is repaired, the rose pruned back. The clematis (Nelly Moser) is starting to sprout and primroses have appeared in the bed behind the arch.

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 12) - Honesty (Lunaria annua)

The silvery seed pods of honesty remind me of secondary school art lessons - still life drawing in particular. Drape a cloth over some boxes on a table, add one violin, a sheeps skull, some other random objects 'acquired' from the biology room and garnish with some dead stems of honesty. Also known as 'silver dollar' the seed pods are silvery and papery, you probably know them even if you can't put that name to them.

Much as I loved still life drawing, I now prefer honesty flowers and they are now one of the earliest splashes of colour in the garden. They are incredibly good at self-seeding - they now exist in all the places where I didn't originally plant them (including growing out of cracks between the house and paving. If you get enough of them they create an amazing purple mist that attracts bees and butterflies.

Honesty (lunaria annua)

Honesty (Lunaria annua) - self-seeded in a dry patch by the greenhouse

They can start to look a bit scraggy one the flowering is over - which is a matter of weeks. It takes some time for the seed pods to mature - so there's a long period where they don't look their best.

I grew mine from seed, bought from Thompson & Morgan. They are perennial, and don't flower in the first year but they are super-easy to grow and once you have them, you've got them for life.

And here's the gratuitous close-up (of course taken with my squidcam macro lens)...

Honesty (lunaria annua) - close up taken with squidcam macro lens

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 11) - Hellebore (unknown variety)

Hellebores are actually the first flower to appear in my garden but they are a bit of a slow burner and (in my opinion) don't actually reach their full glory for several weeks after first appearing. The first hellebore flower appeared in January, and in mid-March they are still going strong and making an impact, even though they are now competing with narcissi, muscari and primroses.

The varieties in my garden were here when I arrived, purple, white and some pale purple and all clumped together - I've since separated them - they do well in shady spots so I've moved them to the side of the garden sheltered by the fencing. They're easy to dig up and replant - the roots are compact and loose and the plants seem to suffer no harm from being moved.

Helleborus (unknown variety)

They self-seed incredibly easily, in fact the areas around the mature plants are dotted with babies - they are almost weed-like in their proliferation. The tiny black mustard-like seeds are easy to collect. I usually just weed the offspring out - but as we are probably moving this year I am going to nurture a few of them to take with me - although I won't be sure of their colour pedigree until they flower.

Helleborus (unknown variety)

To allow the flowers to really stand out, I cut back all the previous year's evergreen foliage to ground level once the flower stems have reached full height. The foliage is usually starting to look a bit tired and ragged by then anyway. It doesn't seem to hard the plants - new foliage re-appears every year.

Helleborus (unknown variety)

Helleborus (unknown variety - white)

As is the rule for 2014, here's a squidcam macro shot of one of my hellebores.

Helleborus - close up of stamens using squidcam macro lens 

Horticultural highlight of the Week (2014 week 10) - Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

This is one of my favourite and best-loved native wildflowers and sit heads and shoulders above the gaudily coloured 'polyanthus' seen in cultivated beds on many a British roundabout and village green. Here in Sussex the advent of spring is marked by numerous clumps of primroses as much as it is by swathes of daffodils and I was very happy when one decided to self-seed itself in my herb garden.

Primrose (primula vulgaris) caught in March sunshine

That was about four years ago, and after the first year, and my efforts to carefully transplant the tiny flowerless offspring of the initial coloniser, they are now firmly established in the garden. It appears to favour well-drained soil and partial shade where it thrives - the plants that have seeded in the part-shaded gravel areas in the garden seem to be stronger and more upright, as seen here where one has appeared in the gravel surrounding the greenhouse.

Primrose (primula vulgaris)

I've now got tens of plants that appear in shady corners of the garden every spring - one of the first real signs that warmer weather is on its way.

Of course the 2014 editions of 'plant of the week wouldn't be complete without a couple of squidcam macro shots.

Primrose (Primula vulgaris) taken with Squidcam macro lens

Primrose (Primula vulgaris) taken with Squidcam macro lens

Horticultural highlight of the week (2014 week 9) - Narcissus 'February Gold'

The first 'plant of the week' of 2014 is a bit of a blatant excuse to post some photos with my recently purchased squidcam lens for my iPhone 5 - which has a great macro lens which of course is fantasitc for some amazing close-ups of flowers, plants, insects and nature in general!

Anyway these little beauties opened up in to the world last week and provide a welcome splash of colour in an otherwise dull and soggy garden. The original bulbs were planted in November 2011 so have started to form nice clumps. Bulbs purchased from Avon Bulbs.

The photos speak for themselves really.

Clump of narcissi 'february gold' -  with aphid!

Rain-splashed narcissus 'february gold'

Narcissus 'february gold' - close-up of trumpet - taken with SquidCam macro lens

Narcissus 'february gold' - close-up of trumpet with water droplets - taken with SquidCam macro lens

Garden Snapshot - February 2014

Here's the first garden snapshot of 2014 - and the garden is just re-emerging from a pretty gloomy and miserable state of affairs. The hellebores and narcissi bravely flower on.

Garden snapshot - February 2014

Two sections of the neighbours fence have been blown away (I had to remove some of the flapping panels before they took out the young cherry tree thats situated just the other side of the trellis fence. The rose arch has collapsed (just on the left of the shot) - I'm waiting on delivery of a stronger replacement but its been out of stock for a month, possibly there have been many replaced garden arches this winter?

Broken earthenware strewn across the patio, weeds everywhere - and that was after I had tidied up! At least the sun was out today...

Greenhouse repairs - replacing glass panes with acrylic panes

The terrible weather here in the UK in December, January and February didn't hit us anywhere near as hard as it did some parts of the country, fortunately being inland and on a hill (50m above sea level and no rivers nearby) the flooding and damage was minimal.

That said, there was some damage to fencing, the rose arch and more urgently the greenhouse - three panels of glass needed replacing.

Broken greenhouse glass panes

The problems with the greenhouse were partly my fault, I made a fatal error when erecting it. The error was in securing the corners with post-crete before placing the glass in the roof. This meant that the structure was cemented in as a slight parallelogram rathan than a rectangle, meaning that even though the aluminium frame in the walls of the greenhouse remained square (so the glass fitted perfectly) the roof frame formed parallelograms where the square glass was to be fitted. The glass just about went in on the roof but it was a tight squeeze. Any movement in the frame would have put pressure on the sides of those panes, causing them to shatter if the force was too extreme.

(Maths) lesson learned the hard way!

I opted to replace the glass with 3mm acrylic panes from Greenhouse Warehouse. 3mm is the minimum thickness you should use for roof panes to avoid bowing. The reasons for choosing acrylic were:

• Easier to handle than glass (which actually gives me palpatations!)
• Can be ordered and delivered easily online
• Seven times stronger than glass
• More likely to withstand the strain of being fitted into a poorly erected frame.

This is now fitted and the panes are almost indistinguishable from the glass panes.

Greenhouse with replacement acrylic pane (top right)

Greenhouse with replacement acrylic pane (top centre)

The acrylic panes are slightly more opaque  than the glass ones and hold on to water droplets/condensation whereas water runs off the glass panes keeping them clear and transparent.

The last of the winter firewood will stay dry now. Job well done!

Back in the garden again - first time in 2014

So this weekend I managed to get out in the garden at last. First time since November! My attempts at any garden activity had been hampered by three major events:

1. A fantastic holiday in Tobago over Christmas and New Year
2. Minor surgery on my leg which meant I wasn't able to walk for a couple of weeks.
3. The worst wind and rain in the UK I have ever seen - meaning the lawn was just too flooded and muddy to be able to walk on it much.

Fences need repairing, the greenhouse needed glass replacing and the lawn in in some serious need of TLC.

First job of the year was to turn the raised bed over to wild flowers for the year. With the potential that we may be selling up and may not see the whole year out in this garden, the vegetable patch will become a wild area.

Wildflower seed packs - butterfly and bumble bee attractor plants

I bought two packs of wildflower seeds from the RSPB online shop. One pack of butterfly attractor wildflowers and one pack of bumble bee attractor wildflowers. Not the cheapest of seed packs but at least the money goes to a very worthwhile charity, and I love bumble bees.

Hopefully I will get to see some of these flower before we move!

These two packs covered an area about 4 square meters in the raised vegetable patch, minimum effort and maximum insect attractors. Did I mention that I love bumble bees?