No Mow May 2023

For another year we are taking part in No Mow May.

This is the first time we’ve had a hare in the garden. It stayed a while before wandering back across the road into the field.

Northern Lights

We heard that the Northern Lights or aurora borealis were possibly going to be visible from Oxfordshire last night.

Our first stop at Cumnor looking down the hill towards Wytham Woods showed nothing. We were trying to think of somewhere not too far away, somewhere high, somewhere without too much light pollution.

Next stop was the top of a hill between Noke and Otmoor. Standing in a field, looking north we could just make out a faint pink in the sky with a moving white area beneath.

We spent a few moments deciding whether it was or wasn’t the Northern Lights, but when you viewed it through the camera you could see it much better. As a camera captures colours and details that are impossible for the human eye to detect in the dark

These photos were taken using an iPhone

Autumn visitors

With a chak, chak, chak from Fieldfares and a high-pitched seeze from Redwings the first few visitors are arriving on my local patch

Over the next few weeks, Fieldfares and Redwings will be arrived in the UK, where they will feed on fruit and berries.

Hundreds of thousands will fly over from Scandinavia to spend the autumn and winter in the UK

Autumn

A few moments of autumn

House visitor

We had a visitor in the house for a short while today.

Walked in to the room to find this Blue tit just happily sat on the light.

Left the windows wide open and after a while it flew out.

I reckon it was after the spiders

Dragonflies

The Ruddy darter dragonfly is one of the most common dragonflies.

You can tell it apart from the common darter by its black legs and club shaped abdomen

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Water for wildlife

Back on 17th June I wrote a post about putting water out for wildlife.

After the last month of very little rain, it is even more important

Doesn’t have to be anything special, just as long as it isn’t too deep and has a stick or a stone that small mammals or insects can use to climb out, if they fall in.

Food Supply July

‘No Mow May’, turned in to ‘Let it bloom June’, it’s now ‘Food supply July’ .

Each year we stop mowing our small front garden for a few months over the summer, starting in May.

This year the sparrows have been taking full advantage of all the seed heads and grasses. There has also been an increase of Green finches using the garden

Day 19 – 30 Days Wild – Rainbow

Amazing rainbow over the garden this evening

Day 17 – 30 Days Wild – Water for wildlife

With the past few days of very hot weather putting a dish of water out for wildlife can be a life saver