Taexalia
wild.life
Red Tailed Bee Taks A Dram
I found this little fellow on my garden path looking a bit dazed and confused. He seemed to be trying to get somewhere, but unable to fly.
Our bees are precious and they are under threat and I tried to help by sending Himself inside to dilute some honey with water on a saucer. I nudged the bee off my finger onto the plate and he immediately began to drink. It took quite a while for him to get his fill, but then a bees tongue is a ... read more
Butterfly Flutterby
I caught a segment of the BBC morning show this morning that left me disappointed and throwing my hands up in the air at what passes for "work" these days. The segment was supposed to be highlighting how gardeners can help to combat the decline in butterfly numbers by planting butterfly friendly plants. You can imagine my disappointment (and random mutterings) when the entire segment seemed to focus on "plant Buddleia and aren't ... read more
Nothing Is Useful
It doesn't look like much more than a scrawny patch of neglected garden - and in a way that's exactly what it is. The hedge-in-the-wrong-place was dug out a few months ago and still I haven't come up with A Plan for this corner, other than vague references to "a wildlife garden, or "a wildlife pond"... Yet this bare patch of soil has been as much a part of the circle as the Borage flowers, or the goldfinches. Can you see any holes? They were made by ... read moreOne Hundred
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Pathworking"][/caption] To mark my one hundredth post to this blog I was going to post a list of one hundred things I want to do before I die - but so far I've only written down 86. I'm not sure what that says about me... either I'm happy with my lot, or lacking imagination or perhaps some of the 86 bullet points are cover-alls and I could be more specific. Writing one hundred posts to a blog is a small landmark in the big scale of ... read more
Fox Haiku
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Red Fox Vulpes Vulpes"][/caption]
Standing on the fence Sniffing possibilities Blink and fox is ... read more
Red Fox Rearing
At the risk of having to re-name this blog The Fox Saga, I can tell you that the little darlings were around today. I've been hearing them tonight after dark too, it's great when you know for definite the sound you are hearing is fox. They were not as active as yesterday, but given the piddling rain who can blame them, and so here is another of my favourites from yesterday. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Red Fox Vulpes Vulpes Rearing"][/caption] She has no idea I ... read more
My Foxy Home Video
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Blurry Red Fox Kit Vulpes Vulpes"][/caption] This is the best example of any of the frustrating photography of the evening. The truth is that I have no idea what I am doing with a camera and so, when faced with challenging conditions (like fast fox kits as the sun goes out), I tend to fail (and wail) miserably. I mean just after this episode there was a gorgeous scene right in the middle of the grass (the choicest of places for a fox to ... read more
Garden Drama
I haven't been successful in getting a pic of any of the fox kits so far. They are only appearing right at dusk and they are very quick on their tiny toes! I suspect they were less visible last night because a neighbour left his wee doggie in the garden ~ I don't understand folk who pay more than I earn in a month on a posh pooch and then abandon it outside until long after dark... Anyway, the posh pooch (who is actually quite a fine wee being) was doing her thing lying on the path watching ... read more
Grandma By Default
I announced this elsewhere as "I think I'm a Mum again" and it was suggested that I'm actually a Grandma since the parental units are present... OK! Just before 10pm tonight, as the night was creeping in, my eye was caught by movement out in the back gardens... A fox! But not just any of our three regular foxes - this one was small! Over the next half hour or so, we watched more fox activity than I have ever seen. I think there are definitely two youngsters, at least, but they are all ... read more
Foxy Foxy
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Red Fox Vulpes Vulpes ~ Leaping Fence"][/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="270" caption="Red Fox Vulpes Vulpes ~ Leaping Fence"][/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Red Fox Vulpes Vulpes ~ Graceful Landing"][/caption] This is one of our local dog foxes and the one most often seen in the gardens viewed from my den. It has been a damp and musky day today, the heaviness in last night's ... read more
Crow
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Crow"][/caption] My desk is by the window and as I work I enjoy watching the visitors - we have a rich variety of visitors. Foxes, squirrels, magpies, gulls, a pair of collared doves, wood pigeons, starlings, blue tits, great tits, greenfinches, and my favourite - Crow. There are quite a few crows around here, but the one in the picture is Crow because his territory is largely in my view. It took me a little while to realise that the ... read more
Fox Haiku