Strode Sustainability Garden

The sustainabilty garden at Strode College is going really well and we hope to develop our bog garden area before the summer. It is so satisfying working on the project after work, and at lunch with colleagues, a little bit here and there, small steps forward - and then over months be able to look back and see how much has been achieved. We are planning to conduct a biodiversity survey of the campus in the autumn and as the garden develops and as we add to the habitat diversity it is hoped that we can have a positive impact on the variety of species we see on the site.

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Vobster Shoals

I was collecting my air-fills from Vobster Quay diving centre last night and sat watching the goggled triathletes swimming their miles around the surface of the flooded quarry. Divers were climbing in and out for the last dives of the evening, light enough to see in the depths until 9 at night although it must be pretty gloomy under the steep walls of the old stone workings. I've dived here many times over the last decade but without a buddy I sat watching others and looking forward to my weekend on Lundy Island at the end of the month. Clear water is beautiful and enticing on a summer evening and I peered down at the submerged rock tumbles looking for the elusive white claw crayfish but have yet to see one here in their inland refuge from the invasive American signal crayfish. 

The water under the moored boats, and in the shadow of the various platforms, was teaming with shoals of roach and rudd hiding from imagined predators above whilst also no doubt keeping half an eye on the slow moving but muscled perch gliding quietly beneath with their tiger stripes.

Reduced Magpie

There are are lots of optimistic magpies in and around the Sainsbury's carpark in Street and everytime I go there in the evening, to the cashpoint or to get milk, I see this young magpie in the carpark. It appears to have no tail and I wonder if perhaps as a youngster it escaped in some dramatic way from something, perhaps a fox or cat. It hops around the cars and pedestrians with the confident gait and intelligent manner displayed by so many of the crow family. It doesn't have the balance and drama of the adult magpies cavorting in cocky gangs around the petrol station with their long tails but it's still able to catch your eye with it's iridescent wing markings. I can only suppose that deprived of other options it is reduced to feasting on the off-cast chips thrown from the 'cool kids' (not) car windows.

Hoverfly

Sun and Sand - Horsey Gap

Great afternoon at Horsey Gap on the Norfolk Coast. Lots of wildlife to be seen with the resident seals peering out of the water from the surf line and terns and gulls overhead. Explored the dunes with the ever-present backdrop of skylark song, the rhythm of breaking waves and the buzz of insects. Saw a large adder move quickly off the path as I approached and was unable to find it in the marram grass so couldn't show the children, they're surprisingly fast when warmed up by the sun - both adders and children. No sign of seal bones on the beach so the winter casualties have clearly all now been removed by scavengers, time and tide. Found some crab claws in the line of seaweed and in an error of judgement I offered the children 2p for each claw found and within the hour was down by £6. I love this beach.

Norfolk Cockchafer

Birds Awake Early

The birds are awake and singing at 3.54 am at the moment.

Great to have the evenings back with the wonderful light after work hours. Found a dead buzzard by the road on the ridgeway yesterday where I often see them lifting in the rising air along the ridge and have put it in the freezer - I must deal with my taxidermy projects and I'd love to mount the buzzard with its wings open as the feathers are stunning. The swifts are back on-mass in the village, there are young rabbits tumbling into the roads and I saw my second slow worm of the year this week, basking on the road as I cycled home from work on Friday night.

It's interesting to note that two of the significant wildlife encounters of the last few days, have been on the road. I suppose it's inevitable as I traverse to and from the various commitments on these strips of tarmac that cut across this green and pleasant land.