hungry chicks

We had a crowd of juvenile starlings and their parents in the garden this afternoon. The juveniles are much lighter than their parents and bigger (at least fluffier) and very demanding.

long tailed tits

long tailed tits are small birds and are all tail, as this picture shows. They are very shy of humans but very sociable with each other going around in family groups chattering away (si si).

domesticated bugle

a pretty picture of domesticated bugle grwoing in our garden along with some Spanish bluebells, welsh poppies, elephants' ears and a saxifrage ... is there anything English in our Cornish garden?

early silver y

This is the earliest in the year that we have seen a silver y moth. They are usually immigrants from europe, and the spring invaders give rise to a second generation in the autumn. This moth flew in a swift and extremely erratic manner that was very difficult to follow.

Nocturnal visitors

Spot welcomes a hedgehog to the grounds of OH. This is the first hedgehog we have seen for a very long time and it is reassuring to know they are still around in our very hedgehog friendly garden (minus canine companions).By coincidence in the Spring edition of Wild Cornwall, the magazine of Cornwall Wildlife Trust, which has only just arrived, there is a request for sightings of hedgehogs to be reported to the Cornwall mammal Group (see link). So we have reported it and in doing so learnt our OS coordinates.

lanes of rivers

these images from the river Lynher below Golberdon today are very reminiscent of the lanes with their luminous tones of green. The midges are forming in great clouds as the day warms up.