I thought it was about time I did a summer update.
I now have a presence on facebook, as well as a Gardening for Wildlife Group and a Gardening for Wildlife Cause, trying to raise awareness of the importance of wildlife gardens. I have also created a Gift Application, so you can send wildlife images to your friends! So if you are a user of Facebook, please check us out.

It has been very wet so the ground is squelchy and the burn is flowing well, its usually just a trickle this time of year. Everything is still looking fresh and green and not at all brown and dried up. A lot of the rain we have had has been overnight so we have still had some lovely sunny days, indeed today and yesterday were beautiful.

There is still a lot of baby birds around and I have never seen so many warblers as I have seen this year, it must be a good year for them. Also lots of baby bluetits, greattits, coaltits, chaffinches and green finches.
The Sparrowhawk has been around a lot and taken a few birds, particularly bluetits. There has also been plenty of buzzards upsetting the rooks and plenty of barn owl sitings lately. The swallows are starting to gather on the wires.

Everywhere we go this year there is an abundance of tiny frogs & toads, particularly in our garden, so hopefully they will eat plenty of slugs. We think most of the frogs got eaten in the pond last year as we have so many newts, so we took some frogspawn out this year and released plenty of froglets. Surprisingly we still have a few tadpoles in the pond at this time of year.
There appears to be a shortage of butterflies this year. Plenty of whites and I have seen a few wall butterflies but only a handful of tortoiseshell, red admirals and peacocks, perhaps they will appear once the asters are out.

I managed to get some photos yesterday of a golden-ringed dragonfly which was eating a wasp, it stopped long enough to devour it then flew off, fascinating!

We had a bee swarm the other day and found out that we now have bees living in our roof. We have decided to leave them be and are monitering them for The Scottish Beekeepers Association as they want people to keep an eye on feral bee colonies as many are dying out.

We try to install as many different habitats as we can in the garden, we have log piles, insect & bird boxes & dry stane dykes. Our latest is corrugated iron not particularly attractive, but the creatures love it! Pete had some offcuts from his workshop roof, which he cut into four pieces and attached handles to one end to make them easy to lift. We have placed them in different locations around the garden and although they have only been in place for about 6 weeks are already very successful. The one in the corner of the front garden near the stone wall is frequented by toads and lizards. The second, on top of the rock in the back garden has an ants nest and a toad is usually feasting on them. The two at oposite far corners of the back garden both have voles nests underthem and we have also seen shrews and toads under these. All in all a great success, so we are now trying to think of more ideas. A vole has taken up residence in the bumblebee box, he looks far too big to get through the hole, but managed some how! We are now thinking of making small mammal habitats.
We have had visitors recently and have had some good days out. We have been to Glentrool, Glenwhan Gardens (where we saw baby swallows feeding), Mull of Galloway (saw my first puffin! sorry no photo), Portpatrick and The Wood of Cree.

We had a lovely walk with our local SOC on Saturday 26th April at Lochinch, Castle Kennedy. It looked as if it was going to be a washout in the morning, but by 2pm when we met up the sun was shining and it was quite warm. We managed to see a total of 49 species, 35 in the first hour.
I will try and list them all but may miss a few as this is from memory:
Pied wagtail, bluetit, great tit, willow tit, song thrush, robin, carrion crow, buzzard, peregrine, sparrowhawk, canada geese, greylag geese, cormorant, heron, gbb gull, lbb gull, herring gull, black headed gull, blackcap, willow warbler, chiffchaff, garden warbler, wood pidgeon, dunnock, pheasant, goldeneye duck, tufted duck, great crested grebe, mute swan, treecreeper, oystercatcher, fieldfare, great spotted woodpecker, jay, jackdaw, wren, goldcrest, blackbird, coal tit, chaffinch, goldfinch, greenfinch etc.

Also plenty of butterflies about and we finished off with a red squirrel on the feeders by the car.
All in all an excellent afternoons birding with great weather and good company.

On Sunday 27th April managed to get a photo of this warbler just outside the kitchen window:

Also on Sunday, we have been watching a pair of pied wagtails collecting nesting material but to our dismay noticed the birds taking it under the wheel arch of our Freelander. We looked inside to find a well made nest which must have been there when we went out Saturday! Despite removing the nest and building them a pile of stones with a turf roof they are attempting to build in the car again. We have nest boxes everywhere, dry stone walls, piles of stones, log piles and tree stumps, but they would rather build in our car.

Well its about time I posted again, I hadnt realised that it was nearly May and I hadnt added anything since last year. We have been very busy at Wildforms and now sell lots of plants including wild flowers and herbs. It keeps me very busy in the potting shed and greenhouse and out in the fresh air away from the computer. There have been highs and lows so far this year including a couple of days break at Dumfries Hospital having another minor operation on my nose. It caused a bit of disruption but at least I can now breath again.

Enough about me, more importantly lets get back to the wildlife. Lots of seals about around the Rhins coast this year, which are a pleasure to watch. Have seen deer, a red squirrel, loads of hares, stoats, voles & wood mice in and around the garden this year. A hare comes through the garden quite regularly and if we keep very still can come within a few feet.

The wood mice and voles regularly get caught in the humane traps in the sheds, its no wonder that there are so many birds of prey including owls about as there is so much prey.

The pond is full of life, it looked so bare and neglected when we moved in but we put in plenty of plants and pond snail. It is teamimg with newts of all sizes and there was plenty of frogspawn laid earlier in the year. It was fun listening to the frogs as they were so vocal. I havnt seen any toadspawn but there is usually plenty of toads about.

We have seen plenty of different birds this year including a male Hen Harrier.

Looking back on the summer, there were highs and lows. We had a good percentage of our nestboxes occupied and then lost quite a few yound, especially bluetits in the awful weather.

We then had an outbreak of Trichomonad parasite and lost about a dozen greenfinches. This disease mainly affects greenfinches and chaffinches. Despite regular cleaning of our feeding areas we dont appear to have prevented the disease. We have reported it to the RSPB and understand it is widespread at the moment and is causing a lot of Greenfinch mortalities.
More advise can be found at
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingb irds/health/sickbirds/greenfinches.aspThe highlights of the summer were 2 days spent bird ringing with Geoff Sheppard, our local bird ringer and secretary of the West Galloway SOC (Scottish Ornithological Club). Geoff had ringed about 200 barn owl chicks in this area by the end of the summer. Most had fledged from nest boxes made and put up by him with the support from local farmers. He is one of our unsung local wildlife heroes. In celebration of his efforts I have made a short film from the pictures taken when we had the privilege of joining him on 2 trips this year. The film also shows the ringing of 6 kestrel chicks.

The music is written composed and played by my son Mike http://www.mphmusic.co.uk

On 27th May 2007 I heard a commotion coming from the bird table in front of the webcam. When I went into the conservatory I found out the reason, a sparrowhawk had tried to get one of the birds feeding and had ended up in the conservatory. It nearly knocked itself out trying to escape but managed to find the open door eventually, not before I managed to take just one shot! Friday was beautiful here and as there was no Springwatch on ( yes of course we are watching it!) we went out for a coastal walk. We are still doing the Ringed Plover count for the BTO but didnt see any at all. We did see Stonechats, Herring Gull chicks and Fulmars though. We were just about to turn back when Pete shouted that he had found a chick on the beach. We watched it at a distance, but then it walked straight towards us, so I took lots of pictures and then we left it alone so its Mum could find it. I think it was an Oystercatcher, there are certainly plenty of them about here. It is pouring today and all the birds, especially the young ones are looking very bedraggled. Pete found a baby blutit by the burn this morning, dangerously close to being drowned. He picked it up and it hopped up his arm onto his shoulder and was then chrping to be fed. Pete quickly put it on a low branch, then at a distance, watched until its Mum came back and fed it.
Friday was beautiful here and as there was no Springwatch on ( yes of course we are watching it!) we went out for a coastal walk. We are still doing the Ringed Plover count for the BTO but didnt see any at all. We did see Stonechats, Herring Gull chicks and Fulmars though. We were just about to turn back when Pete shouted that he had found a chick on the beach. We watched it at a distance, but then it walked straight towards us, so I took lots of pictures and then we left it alone so its Mum could find it. I think it was an Oystercatcher, there are certainly plenty of them about here.

Well its been a while since I have posted. The intention was to update regularly, but so far I have failed. We were very busy before Christmas and since have had a lot of illness, thats my excuse anyway!

We now know who the regular visitors are to the Keepers Cottage wildlife garden. The stoat can be seen most days, either in the woods behind or in the garden. We feed it on chicken bones, but I havnt managed to get a decent picture yet.

The pheasant, we have named him Hoppity, finds refuge and food in our garden daily and now comes when called. He looks a bit of a state as he has a limp, hence the name, and a battered tail.

We see hares regularly in the field opposite but have only seen it in the garden twice. We now have both male and female Great Spotted Woodpeckers visiting the garden daily.

The siskins are an occasional visitor....

..and look what the gales blew in on 4th March! A beautiful yellowhammer, quite common over farmland but not in gardens.

The lunar eclipse on 3rd March was brilliant, the skies are so clear here and the stars stunning, no light pollution.

Thats all for now, come and visit our new forum, we could do with some more members!

I start this diary just 3 weeks after moving into Keepers Cottage so I wish to bring you up to date with what has happened in and around our cottage since then:

15th September - A beautiful day and our first day here, the Michaelmas Daisies are still in full bloom and there is hardly a flower that has not got the attention of a butterfly, bee, hoverfly or moth. Red Admirals are in abundance, along with Small Tortoiseshells and Painted Ladies. Learn more about butterflies by going to http://www.wildforms.co.uk/html/butterflies.html

16th September - I saw a mouse in the garden and Pete saw a weasel just ouside our front gate.
19th September - 2 young toads by the garage.
21st September - We are still in the process of moving in and opened the hire van which we had loaded at our previous address the night before, inside was a large toad that must have hitched a lift.

Learn more about toads at http://www.wildforms.co.uk/html/amphibians.html

22nd September - Set up a bird feeding station outside the kitchen window in amongst some shrubs. Soon visited by Greattits, bluetits and coaltits. Saw a wren in the dry stone wall in the front garden.

Learn more about the tit family of birds at http://www.wildforms.co.uk/html/tits.html
23rd September - We ventured into the woods that border the back of our garden and found a variety of toadstools. From our front window, we saw hares fighting in the field oposite and a buzzard being mobbed by crows. There are still swallows about and robins, blackbird and songthrushes are now regular visitors to the garden.

Learn more about robins at http://www.wildforms.co.uk/html/robin.html and learn more about the thrush family at http://www.wildforms.co.uk/html/thrushes_and_blackbird.html

24th September - Mike (our son) set up a bird table outside his bedroom window, soon visited by bluetits, greattits, greenfinches and chaffinches.

Learn more about finches at http://www.wildforms.co.uk/html/finches.html

25th September - Threw out some rotten grapes and apples and they were soon covered in Red Admiral butterflies.
26th September - Found an owl pellet full of beetles in the back garden and we were also visited briefly by a large dragonfly although I didnt get a chance to see what type.

27th September - Flock of long tailed tits in fron garden which were joined by bluetits, greattits, chaffinches, warblers and goldcrests.
28th September - We appear to have a resindent toad in our compost bin, who just sits and looks at us when we open the top, only moving when he gets peelings on top of him. Mike saw a stoat fighting with a rat just up the road. Pheasants and hares were seen in the field opposite.

29th September - A grey wagtail landed on the conservatory roof.
4th October - Threw out some chicken bones after making soup and we were soon visited by a stoat.
5th October - Put out a bowl of hedgehog food hoping that it might attract the stoat again. Found it full of very large slugs.
6th October - Very wet and windy. Visited by a male pheasant, so moved the hopper filled with seed to the side garden for it to feed.

Learn more about pheasants at http://www.wildforms.co.uk/html/pheasants.html

7th October - Male pheasant now a regular visitor and a flock of goldfinches were seen on the gorse over the road. Mike and Kirsty saw a dear just up the road and in the evening we all saw a barn owl hunting over the small loch that we can see from our front window.

Learn more about owls at http://www.wildforms.co.uk/html/owls.html
9th October - Not strictly wildlife but a cow escaped from the field into the woods and whilst thefarmer tried to get it back into the field it instead came into our garden- one way to meet the neighbours! (I mean the farmer, not the cow).