Here in the UK we are having some – well, I say unseasonably – hot weather but I probably need to accept that this is the norm now. Records will be matched, if not broken, with highest temperatures on record for May, and while the media swings between “What a scorcher!” and “Roads melting/Hospitals inundated” I am trying to take a more pragmatic view. Longtime readers of my blog will know that I am categorically NOT a lover of the heat, and much prefer cool rainy weather but it seems a bit pointless to just sulk and struggle so I’m endeavouring to see the positives. Such as:
Invertebrates
The bees are really busy in the garden, especially on the chives which are now covered in their pale purple pompoms. The ants too are making large nests in our front garden where the soil is poor, tracking back and forth to the pond to get water. We are saving our clean waste water to put on the garden; even though we aren’t currently under a hosepipe ban, it seems silly to waste it. I have a number of small bowls and dishes dotted around which I keep a) topped up and b) accessible by dunking a nearby leaf onto the surface to allow any creatures who fall in to climb out again. There are lots of garden snails about, and plenty of slugs so my poor iris is rather unhappy: any leaves which have not been broken by the puppy gambolling around are in ribbons thanks to the slugs. Still, they make good food for the birds and amphibians…
Amphibians
Thanks to all the rain last week, the ground cover is lush and thick, meaning the frogs and newts all have plenty of shelter. I saw 10 frogs and 2 newts in the small pond, and the water butts can be used to replenish the water as they were full to the brim. There is one larger frog and the rest are maybe last year’s crop? I know frogs can live anything from 5 to 10 years but I’m not sure how much they grow each year. We haven’t had frogspawn yet but our frog-pond is very weedy which I think suits the newts more than the frogs. I’ve not seen a toad this year in my garden but there is plenty of food around for them here. If you have a plant “pest” problem, don’t use pellets or sprays – it’s much better to create good habitat for their predators: Song Thrushes and Blackbirds eat snails and the larger slugs; Robins and Dunnocks will eat the small grey ones which do the most damage to plants, and tits will eat aphids…
Birds
Our Great Tits fledged a week or so ago, and I think there were 5 or 6 chicks who made it. I cleaned out the nest box and there was one small chick which clearly died soon after hatching, but they are now off in the trees enjoying the caterpillars and aphids along the Cuckoo Trail. I’ve not heard a Cuckoo this year but I have heard a number of Nightingales which is lovely. Birds love hot weather (as long as there’s water around for drinking and bathing) so they will be enjoying the heatwave as there are plenty of places for them to find shade during the hottest times of the day. The sunshine is really good for their immune systems, and will make their insect food more active. We have a birdbath in the back garden and the front, and as per the new guidelines for disease prevention, are keeping them clean and topped up. The feeders have been down since the RSPB advised against them, and I think it’s much better that gardens become a balanced ecosystem as much as possible.
Here are a few photos of the garden in the cool of the morning:
How are you coping with the heatwave?
