Tidy, tidy, tidy .........AAAAAAAAH!

Blimey, how fed up am I with the constant noise of strimmers, hedge cutters, mowers and even chain saws. 

The majority of the garden hedges in my village have had their summer trim to make them look tidy. Sod the myriad of insects and caterpillars living there, as well as of course, all those nesting birds. 

Oh, but our garden must look neat and tidy at all times. We don't want anyone in the village to think that we are letting the side down. 

Unfathomably, these nesting birds are of course the same ones that we fed and cared for all through the winter months. Tales are told in the pub of the delight at seeing so many squabbling Goldfinch and handsome Greenfinch feeding on the bird table. How we loved the song of the sweet little Dunnock in spring, the handsome Blackbird that waits each morning to be fed and of course "our"  Robin which has become so tame, it will snatch a meal worm from the hand!

Well guys, tell me where those little birds, yes, those that you enjoy so much from the comfort of your sitting room or kitchen window during the winter months, all come from? 

I will tell you, because it appears that not many of you have given it any thought whatsoever.

Many are currently little babies, sitting in nests, tucked away in hedges and grassy banks. These sites are chosen specifically by the parent birds, because the nests are hidden away by the summer growth canopy.  

That is until you come along and remove that protective green cover, leaving the nest exposed at best, (thanks say the Magpies - so much easier to spot now - yum, yum) or actually smashing the nest up completely with your latest new shiny garden tool.

What about that lovely bank, full of Cow parsley and waving grasses, that has the Robins nest hidden away and where the Slow worm lives? Well that was getting far too scruffy, so a trim was an absolute must. 

I know Slow worms live there, because the owner told me that he "strimmed one up" last year! But despite that - strimmed it was again this year.

Meanwhile, did you know that farmers (the same folk that constantly get blamed for the massive declines in wildlife) are not allowed to cut hedges between March 1st and August 31st? Only areas where growth from a tree or hedge would impinge on health and safety, such as a road junction are allowed to be trimmed. 

I think the same should apply to ALL hedges and trees, wherever they happen to be.

Farmers are not allowed to cut hedges during the summer months

So, come on gardeners and local councils - loosen up on the tidiness fetish, before our country's wildlife becomes even more impoverished. 

1 million

Congratulations to everyone who signed the NFU petition - it has now gone over the 1 million mark.

We will see if MPs take any notice - they bloody well should! 

National Farmers Union Petition

I have written twice about UK food standards in connection with future trade imports (See below - 16th & 27th May). 

Well, now the NFU has brought out a petition which has already reached 750,000 votes. It would be fantastic to hit one million, so please go to the link below and caste your vote, unless of course you are not particularly fussed about animal welfare.  


https://www.nfuonline.com/news/latest-news/food-standards-petition/ 

Thanks.

Sexton Beetles

Although a bit of a novice at this, I am getting really fascinated with the family of beetles known as Silphidae – their common names often being Sexton beetles, burying beetles or carrion beetles.

There are 21 species in the UK and the name “Sexton” literally means a person who looks after a church and churchyard, typically acting as bell-ringer and gravedigger. Well, they do the last bit anyway!

Sexton beetles have an exceptionally good sense of smell and can smell a carcass up to a mile away.

I have recently been setting pitfall traps around something “smelly”. A pitfall trap is simply a plastic beaker or pot sunk into the ground, which the beetles then hopefully stumble into and cannot climb out of because of the slippery sides. The smelly thing can be anything allowed to go off somewhat, such as chicken giblets, fish or roadkill!

The offering can be something quite small, such as a mouse, which brings me onto something else of interest. Many sexton beetles carry tiny mites which apparently do them little or no harm. These mites use the Sexton beetles to hitch a lift to these dead food sources.

When both the beetle and mites arrive at a given body, the mites do not eat the dead body, but instead eat fly eggs and larva of anything that is not a carrion beetle. They help to clean the carcass of the potential competitors, so that the Sexton beetle's larva can have the body largely to themselves. That could be important if the food source is no bigger than a mouse!

Here are a few photos showing some of the beetles that I have discovered.  

Black Sexton beetle - Nicrophorus humator - showing a number of mites hitching a lift

Sexton beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides

Oiceoptoma thoracicum - these beetles can sometimes be found sitting on 

Stinkhorn fungus, attracted by the smell