A WELCOME VISITOR

We had never had a Goldfinch in the garden until today. What a little beauty and ringed too. I can't quite make out the numbers but I'm pretty sure it's a BTO one. It would be nice to find out where it was done but it won't be from these photos. I love the way it appears to be stamping its foot in the photo above.

The pair of Robins I caught with the male feeding the female are very active and definitely nesting nearby. Shall I?

 

Shall I?

Yes.........

The male Chaffinches' breeding colours are very apparent now. 

The Nuthatches are in and out of our nest box again this year and driving me mad with their Guinea Pig squeaking every morning at sunrise. 

This one couldn't decide whether it was on or off the perch as it systematically emptied the feeder onto the table:

Yesterday, when the weather wasn't so great, I was unconsciously scanning the ground as I avoided the horizontal rain from entering my eyes, and spotted this tiny toad; only about an inch long. Looks like some of that very early spawn I found has made it. 

It was misty over Fernworthy Forest as well as rainy:

Trigger got very wet but it's mild so it doesn't bother him:

Close up of his coat having dried after the rain:

The dogs have fun whatever the weather:

Today was a lot better, with sunshine creeping in this afternoon as we rushed out for a walk before I had to go to the school's Easter service. The light was amazing making the landscape look like a painting.

I noticed this strange lichen:

And felt the need to get closer again:

Fascinating, but not a very pretty sight which put me in mind of medieval things medical and very unsavoury.....

This bee was looking exhausted so I helped it off the path where it might have been trodden on.

There was some heat in the sun; enough to have the dogs panting:

Nothing tires Jack out though.

Why is he licking his lips here I wonder? A delicious morsel of fox poo perhaps? 

I seem to have lost a follower....I looked through the last post in a paranoid fashion, looking for something that might have caused offense, but I can't see anything. Oh well. That reminds me - has anyone had any problems joining other people's blogs because I certainly have. I keep getting a strange message telling me Blogger is having a problem at the moment. Perhaps it's picking up on my follower-loss-related stress. 

So until next time, I'll leave you with a picture of Snippet and Jack I've been trying to get for months and, as usual, it was a fluke. Have a lovely weekend all of you............minus one!

ARE WE THERE YET?

  

Whilst driving one of Origami Boy's friends home last night, gritting my teeth as they repeated the same ditty for the fiftieth time, I was reminded of a summer holiday in 1981 when my Mother and step-father drove myself and a friend up to the rather bizarre location of Newark in Nottinghamshire. Not that there's anything wrong with Newark - it's a fabulous place, just not the obvious holiday choice for two hormonal teenage girls. Anyway, for the ENTIRE length of the A1, every time we passed a house with a green door, my friend and I piped up with the chorus of the current number one single, which we were very sniffy about: Shakin' Stevens' 'Green Door'. There were many of them and how we made it there without being kicked out onto the verge, I'll never know. My Mother is not known for her tolerance so it really was a miracle. I wonder what annoying things you said or did on holiday car journeys of the past?

What with Jack training and the endless ferrying and overseeing what now seem to be called 'play dates', I haven't a lot to show you other than the delightful chalk work from OB and his friend Lily in the picture above and the following meagre offerings:

Our patrolling toad slacking again

Peacock

Some kind of White....oh for the time to scour the books to find out!

And another...

Red Admiral; the first I've seen up here in five years (on a towel by the way)

This Oriental Poppy appeared very unexpectedly. I threw seed around two years ago to no avail but that hot spell was miraculous

Can't remember the name of this Hardy geranium; it's a shade lover with red stems. Hopeless - sorry!

Hover Fly on the Self Heal

More of the miracle Californian Poppies. I never expect to see them again

So tomorrow is Chagford Show. I really will try and produce a decent post about it. OB is at an Athletics thing today in Okehampton so, having done my Mum's shopping, I actually managed a decent training walk with the dogs. Jack will now come to the whistle straight away and is making real progress with sheep/cow/pony ignoring. All we really need him to do here. Until next time, apologies for being so rubbish, have a good rest of the week and here are Snippet and Jack in our filthy porch.....oops.....not a huge amount of hoovering going on here either. 

A NEW BUTTERFLY AND TOAD PATROL

Whilst out for a family walk/bike ride over in the, slightly less horrible in summer, Fernworthy Forest, I spotted three butterflies I had never seen before: Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary. I'm pretty sure they're the small version because of the slightly different markings and vivid orange. Apparently the marginally larger version are paler in colour. This is me photographing them....very obliging, unlike the perpetually moving dragon flies this week. Not a chance with my camera I'm afraid. 

The underside markings are what give them their name:

According to the UK Butterflies web site:

The strongholds of this species are found throughout much of Scotland and Wales and in the NW and SW counties of England with scattered colonies elsewhere.

Perhaps you see them all the time, in which case you will have scrolled down by now! I was very excited....

After last year's total vegetable garden disaster, we are now vigilantly patrolling our small patch every night for those devilish slugs and snails and picking them off with glee. Last night, by the light of the head torch, we found this lovely common toad patrolling for us:

What a star. I will sleep easier in the knowledge that he/she is out there.

Last week, I put in my fortnightly order for bulking-up-Trigger horse food over the phone to our local supplier, Animal Crackers, and also mentioned I would like the usual bag of bird seed. Oh dear.....I failed to mention the size of the bag, thinking they would know it was 3kg. What I found in the shed later that day was a nearly £30.00, 25Kg bag perched on top of the horse food. I was NOT happy for both space and financial reasons and had to quickly order a seed feeder to start getting rid of the excess. Here it is:

I've fixed it to the side of the post on which I put the bird porridge at feeding time, thinking they would be pecking away with alacrity in minutes. Two days later and it's still full. I've seen one Great Tit halfheartedly poking about and that's it. Perhaps they need to get used to it? I REALLY hope so. 

What a glorious day today. I'm writing this in the sunshine in the garden with a cup of tea, having finished my list of jobs. However, it's so hot, I fear the laptop may explode so I may have to retreat to the cool of the house. Here are a few more pictures from this week so far.

Yellow Hawkbit emerging on the verges:

Moorland grasses flowering:

Lily of the Valley:

The outside of the Great Masterwort (Astrantia Major) again; so beautiful:

These two hardy Geraniums were one of the very few plants here when we moved to the house, both giants which need taking in hand every year:

Beauty in small things: a fly on the window ledge. No idea what it is but I'm sure Margarethe Brummermann of http://arizonabeetlesbugsbirdsandmore.blogspot.co.uk/ will be able to enlighten me:

She did..........a Snipe Fly, probably Rhagionidae Rhagio.

Snippet in the back of the Land Rover due to space issues, not bird seed related this time:

A rare nice bit at Fernworthy Forest:

Magpie wondering when I'm going to leave so it can get to the food:

What looks like a pearl on the Chaffinch's beak

View through the sedge today:

Trigger's hoof is much the same. I had to speak to the vet again yesterday and this morning as he was hopping about looking very lame again, despite endless duct tape and poultice work. He (the vet) is disappointed at the lack of puss emerging. Nice. I've had to scour the field for discarded 'dressings', all of which have been puss-free. He seems better today but I think this is going to be a long haul. The hole is at least three months worth of hoof growth deep so I ordered a new roll of tape today in anticipation of much packing. He was better this afternoon munching:

The Dartmoor Madams having their scoopful:

This one didn't like the bits of Trigger's special food that he dropped over the gate:

I have solved the picture transfer problem with a little USB DX card reader thingy which cost £3.49 including postage. Brilliant. Until next time, here's Snippet at the field today.