A 2024 garden review

21st December is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day(light) of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of the winter according to those folk involved in such seasonal scientific stuff. This past year has been a real roller coaster ride for Bev and I, as the saga of her breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent medical treatment unfolded. For me, as an individual, the experience provided focus and a realisation of what is, and isn't, important in life. My blogging has allowed me to share my thoughts about the situation, as it evolved, plus also an avenue of distraction when things got a bit fraught. My enjoyment of the outdoors hasn't diminished, yet has been tempered during this period. I have found myself becoming quite insular with our bungalow, and the garden, taking centre stage within my wildlife encounters. Obviously I still get out with the rods, binoculars and/or camera kit, yet the garden has taken on a very high profile role during 2024.

Birds

Whilst 2024 hasn't been a "classic" year there have certainly been a few special encounters along the way. One thing which has been a very positive part of my blogging is the investment in some new camera and lens equipment. Image stabilization and 20 million pixels is a vast improvement on my previous kit and, hopefully, has added to the visitor experience?

What a sad reflection upon the current status of the species? A January Greenfinch!
The female Brambling showed up in February

A crazy fifteen minutes in May - the first Ring Ouzel actually in the garden

August Pied Flycatcher - more regular than Song Thrushes in the garden!

A September Common Redstart

The garden year list hasn't reached eighty species, but I really don't care about what I haven't recorded, it's the birds which have showed up that matter!

Moths

I'm probably going to upset a few folk here. My mothing was nothing more than a way to keep my mind distracted from the harsh reality of the situation Bev and I were embroiled within. I kept no records and certainly wasn't bothered if I encountered species beyond my id capabilities. The ability to share my captures with the neighbours provided the major highlights and also allowed me to spread the message of how important pesticide free gardening is to the ecosystem. Although I appreciate how fortunate I am, living where we do, there were very few species which stood out from those being recorded by other local moffas! However, there was one individual which stands head and shoulders above everything else attracted to the Robinson MV Trap this year.

Portland Moth - less than ten Kent records since the start of the millenium.
There have been more Oleander Hawk-moths during this same period.

One real positive that I've derived from the Covid pandemic has been my involvement with maintaining our garden beyond simply cutting the lawn. I have gotten involved with building, and maintaining, garden planters which are filled with plants specifically chosen due their attractiveness to insects, moths being a priority, although bees feature  prominently in the process. Nicotiana (Tobacco Plants) are a mainstay of the flowers in my boxes and I have enjoyed many a night watching, and photographing, Convolvulus Hawk-moths feeding on these, highly scented, blooms right outside my study doorway.

Other stuff

If you only visit this blog on a monthly basis, you'll still be aware of how often Hedgehogs feature in my daily routine. Their presence around the garden is a real positive in such a negative period for the species within a UK context. 

Foxes are also regularly encountered around the Dumpton area, yet due to "pest control" half-wits, seem to be loathe to visit the garden feeding bowl with any regularity. Plenty of inverts have crossed my path during this past twelve months, most of which would be considered very common by those who spend time looking at such life forms. I think that the most notable sighting I had was that of a Willow Emerald Damselfly sunbathing on a metal rod right outside my study doorway.

We're still not sure if Bev's cancer ordeal has ended yet, so I make no promises about where the blog will go as we head towards 2025 and that fresh start it heralds. It's certainly not all doom and gloom, we've got so much to be grateful about, and there's still plenty more for me to say before January arrives.