Nature

On Sunday night Mike's wife Jill dropped me off at the top of our street. And as I walked home down the left-hand path (American: sidewalk), I saw an animal hurrying up towards me. What could it be? At first I thought it might be a domestic cat but very soon I realised it was a badger.

Knowing they have poor eyesight, I quietly stepped into the road and watched as the creature motored past unaware of my nearby presence. What a privilege! Badgers have lived on the island of Britain for half a million years. Traces of them have even appeared in ancient fossils.

For some reason, these wonderful creatures have often been persecuted. There have even been government-led culling operations. The anti-badger lobby have worked tirelessly to promote the myth that badgers have caused widespread TB in cattle but I am a badgerman through and through and I cherish the fact that they still live amongst us - often occupying setts that are two or three hundred years old. God Save The Badger!

On Tuesday afternoon, I went to see Richard Hines once again. As a boy he trained a kestrel and his brother Barry Hines created an iconic novel inspired by his brother's hobby. That novel was "Kes".

Once again Richard referred to a book that had stirred his love of birds of prey. I have not read it myself but I hope to acquire a copy before this year is out. It's "The Goshawk" by Terence Henbury White - about the writer's obsessive attempt to train a wild, fierce northern goshawk named "Gos" in the mid-1930s using archaic, centuries-old falconry methods. The book was published in 1951 and it meant the world to Richard Hines. Without "Gos" there would probably have been no "Kes".

I promised that I would send Richard some images of goshawks I spotted on my favourite photo-mapping website - "Geograph". Such noble birds and of all British hawks the goshawk is the biggest. What gifts evolution has given us! Here's just one of the pictures I sent him.

© David Dixon 2019

English bluebells have figured several times within the confines of this blog. Magically they burst into the light every springtime in shady woodlands often creating a magical blue haze. These native flowers and their bulbs enjoy legal protection. Digging them up is against the law but you can order bulbs from licensed growers.

Yesterday, the four year old bulbs I ordered from Wildwood Bluebells in North Wales arrived. The accompanying advice indicated that I should plant them out as soon as possible. Today I soaked the designated planting area because of our continuing hot, dry weather. Then this evening I planted all twenty five of the bulbs with the aid of a dibber. The instruction was to plant them about five inches deep so that is what I did.

Afterwards, I filled the holes with a mixture of soil and compost before brushing it over and stomping on the area. Fingers crossed we should see some flowering native  bluebells late next April. I hope so because we both love that special spring flower.

In other nature news, we believe that a fox has chewed the tennis ball off our new swingball stand. Our neighbour Tony found it in their garden. Now I have a replacement problem. Phoebe is not happy. Thank you so much Foxy Loxy!

from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/ZsKXxte