The other morning when I went to do the morning feeds I spotted a buzzard on the fence beside the Alpaca shelter but he flew off pretty quick, this morning it was there again and I managed to sneak up and get a photo
Odd Job wasn't fazed by it at all being in close quarters
I was hoping to get a photo of it taking off but missed it
The day has been spent sorting out the Citrus trees, I have had them all out of the greenhouse as I spotted scale insect on a few of them, last week I sprayed them all and was hoping for the promised downpours at the end of the week to clean them off, the downpours didn't happen, we had a little light drizzle that did no good
The black sooty deposits on the leaves is a tell tale of scale insect,
on close inspection this is what you will find there is a scale insect on the middle of the leaf
each leaf was wiped down today before moving them back into the greenhouse
Nice clean glossy leaves again, they will get sprayed again in a fortnight and I hope that sorts it out, if left the deposits just build up and smother the leaves causing leaf drop in turn will weaken the trees.
More wildlife in the yard
I spotted this fella today
what a beautiful slow worm (legless lizard) a very useful creature to have around, this one was making its way across the drive.
Tonight when out walking Sol we spotted a grass snake basking in the evening sun in the middle of the path, I didn't have a camera with me unfortunately, I picked it up and moved it off to the side before it became the supper of a passing bird.
Young K from next door popped round today all excited with his fishing net he had been exploring the pond and needed help identifying his find, it was a Great Diving Beetle, I have loaned him a book with lots of pictures so he can show the rest of his family what his find was.
Its been a right day of wildlife up here :-)
We had slow worms, lizards and the occasional grass snake in my Southampton garden when I was growing up. I was used to handling these reptiles, though poor creatures, if you scare the lizard or slow worm by holding on to them too long they will drop their tails! Great news that you have such diversity on your land.
ReplyDeleteI bet little K will learn lots from the book you loaned him. We have those beetles in our wildlife pond.
I am happy to live along side the wild things as long as they remain outside and dont move in with me :-)
DeleteSounds like you've got some wonderful wildlife visitors! Buzzards are lovely, great photo!
ReplyDeleteThe Buzzards are great to see but i dont like them hunting my poultry :-)
DeleteI think that is a hawk or a falcon not a buzzard or at least not the same thing we call a buzzard over here. The Buzzards we have are HUGE and rarely do their claws touch the ground or a limb etc. unless they are eating something dead. I do think they roost in trees that hang out over bluff areas though.
ReplyDeleteWe never see legless lizards either. Not even sure there are any around these parts. Mostly we get Blue and Brown Skinks. Your legless lizard is kinda neat looking though.
It is what we call a Buzzard its a lot bigger than a falcon, Slow worms are beautiful creatures :-)
DeleteLots of adventures with wildlife happening on your little homestead! xx
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of wildlife around its great fun discovering it all :-)
DeleteLovely wildlife photos, we have a small bird of prey (not sure which one) who visits my bird rich garden from time to time! I had my little citrus trees out yesterday for repotting & a blow about xx
ReplyDeleteYou should try and get a photo of it :-)
DeleteWe see lots of birds of prey around here but they're usually in the sky, it's lovely when you get to see one at close quarters like this. How lovely that your little neighbour is so interested in wildlife, they can learn lots of things from pond dipping.
ReplyDeleteWe always see Kites and Buzzards it was great to sneak up and get a photo :-)
ReplyDelete