Away from all our wonderful animals on the smallholding, our gardens are proving a wildlife cornucopia just now. Tonight we videoed and took pictures of scores of little froglets and toadlets that were enjoying the warmer waters near the surface of the pond. We have also spied newtpoles, great diving beetles, snails, water measures, pond skaters and more. Back on dry land the bird life just gets better. A major highlight was spotting a red kite swopping over Denis’s field next to our 4-acre. This was back on the 5th of last month. We have not seen it since but live in hope. We also regularly see: blue tits, great tits, goldfinches, greenfinches, chaffinches, blackbirds, sparrows, dunnock, goldcrest, swallows, house martins, collared doves, wood pigeons, partridge and pheasant. We have also seen yellow hammers, nuthatches, meadow pipits. We get our fair share of corvids but as long as they stay in the field and don’t hassle our poultry we are okay with that.
On the 4-legged front, we saw a hare last week (25th). It was on the road as we drove out - we even managed to snap a picture.
Jack hopes to track butterflies again as she did last year but this time keep a really accurate record as to what she sees!!! We have seen a fair few already but their numbers should increase as the weather gets better.