It’s been quite a good year for wildlife in our part of Chiswick. The neighbours on one side had nesting robins and goldfinches; on the other side, a blackbird’s nest in wisteria which could be seen from the French windows – it was delightful to watch the chicks growing up and then fledging. The female is now sitting on a second clutch of eggs. We had great tits in the sparrow terrace (but still no sparrows, sadly) and the frogs have been active. And next door’s blackbird was a frequent visitor to our garden for the “buggy nibbles” I put out – waiting for me to appear each morning to provide her with breakfast!
The wildlife highlight on my allotment was a bed of self sown poached egg plant (limnanthes douglasii) which was alive with bees & hoverflies when in flower. And then last week, I discovered a splendid crop of cinnabar moth caterpillars on a ragwort plant which I’d missed while weeding. Luckily, the caterpillars will ensure that it hasn’t a chance of flowering!
Here is a photo of a beautiful adult cinnabar moth, taken at Gunnersbury Triangle nature reserve by Ian Alexander (http://www.obsessedbynature.com/blog/).
If you’d like to encourage more wildlife in your garden, the RSPB have a free guide you can send off for – https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/givenatureahomeinyourgarden/20wayspack/.
What has been your wildlife highlight so far?