Dabchicks at Cromford

The Dabchick or Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficolis) is not a common bird in the County of Derbyshire, but at Cromford there has been a colony on the canal for as long as I can remember. In the Spring and Summer it is a colourful small water bird with a black and brick red head and a grey body, having a distinct white spot below their beak.
In the Autumn and Winter, these birds become quite drab and uninteresting in their colour. They become a dull and brownish grey colour, losing some of the splendour of the breeding plumage. However they are still amazing little characters, darting about under water and emerging to chirrup at each other in a very distinctive call. They make a lot of noise at times for such a small water bird.
The grebes feed on water invertebrates and small fish, remaining in the water most of the time. Their legs are very far back, making them excellent underwater swimmers, but their ability to walk on land is very poor. They will fly rather than walk, nesting at the waters edge in vegetation.

Consall Gardens

Autumn at Consall Gardens is quite an event. These extensive gardens have 6 lakes and a wide variety of different forest habitats. One of my favourite and unusual forest habitats is the Leylandii forest.
Leylandii (Cupressocyparis leylandii), commonly called the Leyland Cypress, is a forest tree which is usually marketed in garden centres as a hedging plant. It makes an exceptionally high maintenance hedge, as the trees have a fast growth rate and will grow very tall. They also naturally shed leaves when they are overshadowed by other Leylandii or garden structures. This is a natural process in a forest environment.
The perimeter of the Leyland Cypress forest is green with fine leaves, giving a dramatic effect all year round. When you enter the forest it is like any conifer forest, having the foliage high in the canopy.
The tree trunks are bare and devoid of green leaves, though, above the browse line, the dead branches still remain attached to the trunks. The inside of the forest is dark and quiet, with leaf litter on the forest floor and a soil which is generally too acid for any other plants to grow in.
There is little usable food here for birds or mammals and few insects are adapted to feed in these forests, so they are very sparsely populated. Their main function seems to act as shelter from the elements.

The trees are a cultured hybrid, originally bred in 1888 from a Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) and an Alaska Cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis). They are specific to the UK and have occasionally been exported as garden plants to other countries. These forests at Consal Gardens are a rare habitat, which is seen in very few places. The gardens are closing to public access at the end of this month, which is a shame. Seeing these forests will have to be arranged by special appointment in future.

Rosies final visit to Consal Gardens

Predator in the greenhouse

Having picked all of the tomatoes and removed the tomato plants from the greenhouse I am left with only one cucumber plant. It was difficult working around Harry as he had decided to spin his web across the middle of the greenhouse.
Harry is a common garden spider (Araneus Quadratus) of large proportions (probably a female) who has been clearing the greenhouse of flying pests for months. This is part of my natural pest control system, along with growing marigolds under the tomatoes to discourage whitefly.
The last of the tomatoes were still green, so Rosie made some green tomato and apple chutney. We now have 4 large cucumbers left, so we need to do something with those. The last crop in the garden will be the Brussels sprouts which are looking a bit sad after they were infested with caterpillars last month.

Conkers

The Horse Chestnut tree (Aesculus Hippocastanum) is one of our most endearing native species. It has a splendid display of flowers in the spring, looking like candles on a decorated tree. The flowers are either white or pink. In the autumn, when the multi foliate leaves start to turn amber brown, the tree drops its fruits.
Horse chestnuts (Conkers) are not an edible nut for humans, but the squirrels will eat them and they are consumed by some other species. As a youth, I recall the significance of this fruit. It was used in games to challenge all opponents in the school yards and on the streets. Much rested on your prowess as a conker competitor in the Autumn season.
The challenge was simple. Collect lots of conkers and select the best - the largest and most spherical specimens. Use a knitting needle to pierce the conker through the middle and thread it with knotted string. The length of string comming from the conker should not exceed 12 inches. Armed with a few prepared conkers you were ready to go.
The challange was simple. One person suspended their conker on its string so that it hung motionless. The challanger would be allowed only one strike with their conker to try and split your conker. Rolls were then reversed - proceeding with 1 strike each until one conker split. The winner was the person with the intact conker, who would then tie a knot at the end of the conker string. The winning conker was referred to as a one-er. If it was used to win another match it was a two-er, then a three-er. The person with the conker that won the most matches was held in high esteem for days.

Cool baking the conkers, or soaking them in vineger was frowned upon as this was seen as cheating. It all boys stuff really.

Tidying the pond

For some time, our garden pond has been overgrown with Iris and Water Lillies. The upshot is that with a little wind, the vegetation is sucking up the water in the pond and leaving the frogs and newts with low water levels. It is time to clean out the pond.
The first stage in the operation is to lay down a tarpaulin and get out the big planting tray. If I am going to remove vegetation and grunge from the pond it will need carefully screening for frogs and newts as well as pond snails. It does help at the start to cut back the vegetation and this was quickly done by Rosie whilst I was working on a way of lifting the Iris plants which were compacted into the side of the pond in a large root mass.
I ended up sawing the roots and rhyzomes to lift the iris plants in 3 blocks. They were trimmed and a selected group were returned to the pond whilst the others were either re-planted elsewhere or disposed of in the compost.
Scooping out the rotting leaf debris and excess water lilly rhizomes was a messy business, as was sifting through the black and smelly mud to check for wildlife. All I found was one newt and a handful of water snails.
A couple of hours later, the pond was full and the water was clear of many of the excess plants. The resident amphibians will now have more space and still have access to some cover. The pond is now better suited to the needs of the animals when the spring breeding season arrives. This usually gives lots of frog spawn and is followed by an abundance of tadpoles and baby newts.
The whole process was conducted whilst the resident frogs were in the pond. They are use to me working around the garden and don't seem to mind the upheaval. The frogs just watch where I am, move out of my way, then return when I have finished.