Category: Nature

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Hedgehog Nest

I came across a hedgehog nest while preparing the garden for the robot lawn mower. I was trimming back the pampas grass and clearing out the dead, dried growth in the middle. As I did it I thought to myself ‘this would be a perfect place for a hedgehog to over-winter’. Sure enough, the next...

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Dragons in the Garden

It’s been blowing a hoolie here for the last few days thanks to our local Katabatic wind known as Ivor. That doesn’t seem to have stopped the dragonflies though and there have been quite a few in the garden. I’ve only ever had my phone with me when I’ve been out there so I haven’t...

Bumble Bee 1

How Wales Can Help Save The Bees

According to the BBC, there are 180 species of bee in Wales, but they are in trouble. Seven species have already been wiped out, and there are five more on the brink of extinction. One of the species just barely clinging on is the large mason bee, which is only found in two sites in...

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Flowers Everywhere

There are quite a few flowers in the garden at the moment. The bees are loving the chives still and there’s even a surprise rose. I don’t know why it’s always a surprise as it flowers every year but I also do nothing to it and kind of forget that it is there until it...

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Four Spot Orb Weaver

Check out this beauty… The  Four Spot Orb Weaver (Araneus quadratus). The heaviest of the UK spiders and she made quite a clunk when she landed on me just now. According to the Advancing Arachnology website. As with other members of the genus, A. quadratus macerates its prey, rather than merely injecting digestive juices, sucking out the resulting...

Caterpillars 0

Crazy Caterpillars

Check out these Crazy Caterpillars. This leaf is obviously very tasty. There were no caterpillars elsewhere on the tree, they were just all on this single leaf!

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Sea’s Alive

I haven’t managed to go fishing again since I was out SUP fishing on Monday, but I have been swimming a couple of times and the sea is alive with fish at the moment. It’s madness. Small bait fish (mainly sprats) are literally throwing themselves onto the rocks and beaches around here. All in an attempt...

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Summer Sea Birds

After a few weeks of fairly miserable weather, and a horrible bike ride on Sunday morning in constant rain and murk, the weather took a turn for the better yesterday. An amazing contrast from cold, grey and wet to glorious sunshine and scorching temperatures. It reached 24.3ºC yesterday according to the Borth & Ynyslas Weather...

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Orchid Assortment

Well, Sunday was a fairly dark, dreary and very wet day. Not much of a day really, but it was brightened by an orchid walk in the dunes. Led by Juliet Regan who we already knew from Beekeeping it was an interesting introduction to the world of orchids. There was quite a good turn out considering...

Back to Grey Skies 0

SUP Surfing, a Break in the Weather & Orchids

The amazing weather we’ve been having has finally changed and blue skies have been replaced by grey this morning on the beach. It’s still warm at 15ºC throughout the night, and yesterday we reached a maximum of 26.3ºC, the hottest temperature of the year so far. There was a little bit of swell too yesterday...