Spring is almost Springing!
Sunrise through the apple tree
Hello Folks
As I write, the sunrise over the nature reserve this morning is magical, a beautiful golden sun rising above Bulbarrow Hill is casting a warm glow over the valleys, how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place.
The bird life on the farm is gearing up for the Spring, the nest boxes are being checked out and are starting to be filled with feathery down! We witness daily scraps between the male birds, some even fighting their own reflections – looking into the mirror in the outdoor kitchen garden!
George cleaned out out nest box cam last week and instantly had a visitor, see our Joaneycam to keep a track on what our feathered friends are up to!
Cheeky Sparrows
In the last few weeks our team have been spotting large flocks of Redwing and Starlings around the nature reserve, which we are delighted about, being that Starling’s numbers are seriously in decline. http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/starling/index.aspx
A good place to see large numbers of Starlings is the Somerset Levels, as they come in to roost they group in their thousands; http://www.visitsomerset.co.uk/explore-somerset/countryside/starling-murmurations
Work started last week in the garden, we cleared a patch of brambles at the end of the Bee shack to create a rambling fruit patch, I plan to plant Raspberries, Blackberries and Tayberries, training them up the Bee shack wall, creating our own fruity pick and mix for our lovely Bee shack visitors to enjoy.
We had another fresh supply of compost to dig into the new bed, here at Honeybuns we compost all that we can, fruit and veg trimmings, tea bags, small bits of card, our palm leaf dishes & blue towel. The end result being a lovely rich compost to put back into the veg patch.
Graham and I had a lovely surprise last week, whilst moving Peckingham Palace ( The chickens – Posh, Pecks & Elton’s abode) ! We discovered an old rugby ball buried in the grass, on closer inspection we realised it had a little nest in side, then out popped the owner of the nest – a bank vole!
We have a very healthy population of bank voles in the setaside areas around the farm, the long grasses are ideal habitat for these gorgeous creatures.
We are making the nature reserve around our gluten free bakery more user friendly, we are very much looking forward to welcoming children’s groups to the reserve this year. Graham is busy painting signs to help show which animals and insects live in which habitats.
We’ll ask the children to help us make a bug hotel, stacking up old pallets, bricks, pieces of slate, fir cones, old canes, leaves etc etc, encouraging solitary bees and other insects to make it their home.
This is an excellent website for ideas on how to encourage wildlife to your garden ; http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/FAQS/wildlife_garden.htm
Thanks for reading
Charlotte x
Nature log pile
