Hi,
There is always work to be done, so I spent most of the weekend in the wildlife garden. What started as a day of gardening, ended up as a find the nest contest. I expected to find this nest as we had seen a whitethroat carrying food into this bush, the one against the wall just inside the garden where last year there was a wasps' nest.
But, I bet you'll like what I found in the hedge. This is a finch nest, probably a goldfinch, but despite working near the hedge all through the spring, I had no idea they had been raising a family.
The hedge is a mixture of field maple and hornbeam although the original container grown hornbeam have not done well, so were replaced with small bare root whips in the autumn. Now is a good time to clip hedges as most birds will have fledged. As I knew the hedge was too sparse to be used by blackbirds, I set too with a light trim of the maples and found this. The hedges are on the right of the garden dividing it into different beds. The nest is at adult eye level - about as high as it could be - and right next to the path so hard to miss when you know!
Hedges of native trees can be great in a garden and even better if the have a mix of species. When mature, the ones in Saltholme's garden will have the butter yellow autumn leaves of the maple, and in winter the hornbeam will keep its brown, dead leaves, Good winter shelter and a summer nest site even in a small garden.
Meanwhile, Keith, Saltholme's estate worker had been repairing a sluice. Here's a picture of him back at the workshop. And, yes, I did make him a pot of tea.
Cheerio,
Peter