...sunshine...

...All this sunshine has brought the wildlife on the farm bouncing and buzzing into action. Just sitting in my garden yesterday I saw hoverflies, 4 different types of bumblebee a Brimstone butterfly, the first chiffchaff and later that evening a pipstrelle bat flying so low over the hedges that at times I was tempted to reach up and grab him!

A Field Blewit

The unofficial wildlife list is nearing 200 species and counting. I've been talking to some experts and asked them to come over to have a "root around" the wild patch. In future posts I'll be introducing you to "Paul the Moth Man", "Ian the Bee Man" and "Pete the Invertebrate Challenge Man". They are all experts in their fields and have very kindly agreed to help us discover more about the farm's wildlife. They'll only come along though, if locals come out to discover what's here too.
That shouldn't be too hard.
I think the "Corner Farm Kids" will love a few late nights camping out and looking for moths, detecting bats with a bat detector and running around the field collecting bugs for Pete and Ian to identify.

Nature shouldn't be left to a few experts. Are you a teacher? Do you fancy teaching a new subject? CBT. Community Biodiversity Training. Think of the power you'll give future communities when faced with insensitive development.

Oh, and I showed some of the amazing mushrooms we found on the field to John Hughes, a rather lovely man. He was so impressed. We have Field Blewits - with bright purple stems. They shouldn't be out at this time of year, but he thinks that as last autumn was so rubbish for fungus, they may have residual energy stored up for more suitable weather conditions. The Field Blewits are making up for lost time and putting on a spring show. It's not that common a species either.

I'm summing up the courage too, to speak to the developer of the proposed housing estate. It's time we had a good chat....eek!