Day 308 #365DaysWild Don't ever give up hoping. The last record of a hedgehog here was in 2017. Seven years ago. They are: Killed on roads. Poisoned with pesticides. Blocked from roaming by our walls and fences. Predated by badgers. Killed with kindness by milk and bread.. Drowned in steep-sided ponds. Emaciated. Dehydrated. Readers of this blog will know I've got my hopes raised before but to no avail.......... Then this little fellah appeared on the camera in the Woodland Garden last night! Just about as excited as a man can get!!!! Welcome home spiky ..read more

Day 307 #365DaysWild On our national day - our national bird photographed in the garden. Little stunner ..read more

Day 306 #365DaysWild Around 2012 I was clearing brambles on the boundary and discovered a little clump of native bluebells. One small clump of four flower spikes in a six-acre site! I had seen bluebells growing abundantly in areas within Bestwood Country Park so decided to buy plants ‘in the green’ for planting near our one existing clump. Twelve years in and you can see the progress. I added further bulbs for a few years.  And then began casting seed. The results are satisfying ..read more

Day 304 #365DaysWild Down at George’s Pond … Another day, another stag-do for mallard drakes. How many can you count..? Granddaughter (4) says 2 Grandson (6) says 3 Daughter says 4 Son-in-law says 5. The judges decision is final ..read more

Day 302 #365DaysWild Can a poo not be a thing of beauty? Approx one inch (2.5cm) long.. No idea from which creature’s bottom it emerged ..read more

Day 302 #365DaysWild Bluebells at Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire today.. Also through this azure celebration we’re white to soft mauve wood anenome, butter-yellow celandine and understated but pretty-white stitchwort. A wonderful mixture of our woodland understory flora. I struggle to imagine anything more natural - and beautiful! Thanks to our wonderful friends Mike and Gill for sharing this with us on a walk this morning ..read more

Day 301 #365DaysWild ‘Garden of ten ponds’ #2 Continuing my 'series' on our garden ponds... This is a small pond in the woodland garden made from a recycled mini-vegetable bed reclaimed from a skip. Enjoyed by birds and small mammals. Believe it or not, my hope is for rat-tailed maggots in it this summer. Rat-tailed maggots love the gunk in ponds. On maturity, they will join the rest of the garden hover-fly population ..read more

Pipistrelle bat hiding in the folds of a garden parasol. Day 300 #365DaysWild I’ve been looking forward to today for two weeks!! Like a small boy on Christmas morning! Today’s the day when we open up the bar detectors and discover what data is hidden inside! And I wasn’t disappointed!! Notts Bat Group bat detector SD cards were so loaded with data from the garden that there was only enough room for eight out of the fourteen days active. So much so that John had to take the cards away for analysis. Initially we saw lots of common pipistrelle and soprano pipistrelle sonogram activity ..read more

Day 298 #365DaysWild Our first night for months with suitable weather for months! Lunar marbled brown Larval food Pedunculate oak Coxcomb prominent Larval food Broadleaves trees A month early ..? Brindled beauty  Larval food Silver birch, Common lime, Pedunculate oak Hebrew character  Larval food Stinging nettle, Silver birch, Common lime, Pedunculate oak Muslin moth Larval food Broad-leaved dock, Red dead nettle Grey birch Larval food Silver birch ‘..a confined distribution in Nottinghamshire..’ Eakring Birds ..read more

Day 297 #365DayWild Crab apple ‘Evereste’ in glorious bloom now.  A small crab apple whose size is easily managed by pruning in August. First admired at RHS Harlow Carr Gardens near Harrogate, Yorks. A stellar performer.  Last year, due to frost, completely failed to crop - in common with our apples, other crabs and fig.  But in 2022, the abundant fruits attracted many noisy and hungry fieldfares.  Flower buds now about to break.  Soon it will be full of nectaring pollinators. A boon for wildlife ..read more