Take off

Stressful times. The latest brood of swallows are leaving the nest and things are highly-charged. As far as I can see there are five of them and they've all passed their basic flying test - they can get around inside the garage, but haven't as yet ventured outside.

It has a number of downsides for us. For a start there's the poo issue. While the chicks are in the nest a strategically placed seed tray catches the droppings, which can then go onto the compost heap.

Now though the famous five keep moving around inside the garage and under each temporary perch there's a scattering of swallow poop. Then there's the problem of over-protective-parents; whenever I go anywhere near the garage it's like a re-enactment of the Battle of Britain, with lots of angry twittering and low-level runs at my head.

It's worse for the cat. He seems very confused by the fact that he now has to dash for the cat door under sustained attack.

With a bit of luck the youngsters will soon move on to the next stage, going out into the big world during the day and only coming home at night to roost. Then life should quieten down a little for all of us.

Returning native?

It sounded great to me. Our government has signed up to the idea that extinct native wildlife should be re-introduced, so the white-tailed sea eagle was an obvious candidate.

Re-introduction in Scotland was going well, so why not in England too? Natural England came up with a plan to release birds on the Suffolk-Norfolk coast and started to talk to local people about it.

Photo: Eprdox

I don't know Suffolk that well, but I was excited by the idea of an eagle-spotting holiday on the East Coast. Sadly, the locals weren't that taken with the idea and Natural England went wobbly in the face of opposition - the plan was shelved.

That was six years ago. Now it sounds as though the plan may be dusted off, but with Cumbria in the frame rather than Suffolk (a cynic might think that's because Westminster cares less for the opinions of Cumbrians...)

If the plan gets as far as public consultation I do hope the media coverage is less negative than it was last time around. Then the news media seemed obsessed with the idea that released eagles would devote most of their time to hunting down Suffolk's Chihuahuas and Yorkshire terriers.

Coverage was so focused on perceived problems that little weight was given to the benefit that sea eagles could bring to their new home. Cumbria is on my 'to do' list somewhere, but a Cumbria with sea eagles would be a 'must do' - my fingers will be crossed.

Spot on

An exciting (for me anyway) update on my ragwort experiment. It turns out that ragwort is just the thing if you're hoping to attract flies and flycatchers.

With the benefit of hindsight I suppose it's fairly obvious. The ragwort flowers are a magnate for just about every flying insect in the district - which, of course, is just what a flycatcher is looking for.

A couple of days ago we had one good sunny afternoon and I stretched out on my garden bench with a newspaper. A stone's throw away in full sun the ragwort was fly central all over again.

Spotted flycatcher
Photo: Andrew Easton

Then I noticed a small grey bird in the lower branches of my neighbour's apple tree. A grey bird that launched a lightning attack on fly central, skimming the flowers and then landing on a fence post close by.

It then flitted back to the same apple branch before going through the whole procedure again. And again for the rest of the afternoon, or as much of it as I could waste flycatcher watching.

Its been a while since I've seen a spotted flycatcher. And I've never seen one in my garden - it was a real thrill.

The next day it rained and there was no sign of the flycatcher.

No sign the following day either as the rain kept on coming; perhaps it was a bird on the move south, I decided. 

But then today the sun came back and the flycatcher has been busy working 'its' ragwort through another afternoon. I think my experiment is convincing me that ragwort isn't such a bad thing to have around. 

Yellow peril?

'You can't leave that there. You know it's poisonous, don't you?' Well yes I do - and thank you for your interest.

The 'that' is a glorious big, bold Senecio jacobaea in full bloom right in the middle of my wildflower 'meadow'.  Ragwort, or Stinking Billy, that is.

Why is it that some people can't resist imposing their way of gardening onto anybody they meet? My visitor was horrified that I'd not rooted it out and felt he had to tell me so, but I wouldn't dream going into his garden and telling him how I feel about his decking.

Anyway, the ragwort in question is a bit of a monster and looks ridiculous because it is now about a metre and a half tall. That makes it a bit of a Gulliver in a meadow where nothing else grows to more than knee-height. 

It's a self-seed that has blown in and I'd normally have pulled it out. I didn't get around to it and as its grown I thought I'd leave it to flower as a bit of an experiment. I thought it would be interesting to see what insects are attracted to the flowers.

And with the change in the weather over the last few days the ragwort has come into its own. In full sun the flowers are covered in feeding insects - hoverflies, flies, bees and wasps. 

It's quite something. I spent time yesterday trying to get pictures of some of the insects feeding, although without a gret deal of success.

But the plant will have to go before it starts setting seed. Ragwort leaves contain a powerful alkaloid poison that can cause fatal damage to the livers of grazing animals.

They won't eat the growing plant (and I don't usually graze livestock on my lawn), but will eat it if it gets into hay. There's actually a Ragwort Act, which puts a legal duty on landowners to prevent its spread to grazing land.

And because its seeds are wind-dispersed it can spread. So before mine sets seed I'm going to cut it down to be on the safe side.

In the meantime though I'm going to let the hoverflies enjoy it to the full. And there's the added bonus of knowing that it annoys my opinionated neighbour.

Vine street

 

Now here's a surprise, grapes. Ten years of waiting for some sign of fruiting and now five bunches of mini-grapes show up in the same year.

And I can't understand why it's happened this summer rather than all those others. When we moved in there were two vines growing into an old greenhouse, which had rotted and partially-collapsed around them.

It had all been set up so that the vines had their roots outside and their foliage inside. The greenhouse had to go - it was an accident waiting to happen - so I took it apart and built a shed on its block base. 

Time has gone on and one vine is no longer with us, but the remaining one has made masses of growth each summer. But never any sign of fruit.

A couple of years ago I did build a little open-sided wood store against the shed and the vine has been growing partly under the shelter of its corrugated, clear plastic roof. Its leaves form a green roof under the plastic one.

Perhaps that's why it has finally decided I deserve a few grapes - because I gave it back shelter. Whatever it's about I'm really looking forward to eating those grapes, or perhaps I should try making Vin de Cych.