Dunfarmin Blog

The summer has been very dry and although the number of 'rain days' was about normal, the amounts that fell were small and were removed rapidly due to plant growth and evaporation. Although a couple of significant rain events occurred in July and August, the land is very dry with no drains running. Locally several properties have run out of water as their private supplies have dried up. The pond here, has fallen to it's lowest level since it was constructed. Fortunately there does not appear to be derimental effects on the pond life. The margins have remained damp and the marginal plants have continued to grow, but not as vogourously as hoped. A plus point is that as the level is about 600m lower than normal, with the water depth about 1.0 metre, it has been easy to see the abundance of oxygenating plants such as Hornwort (Ceratophyllum Demersum) and to a lesser extent Curly Pondweed (Potamogeton crispus.) These were not so much planted as thrown into the deep parts of the pond so it is pleasing that they are happy. Various other shallow water plants such as Mare's Tail (Hippuris vulgaris), Acorus, Arrowhead (Sagittaria Sagittifolia) and various Rushes and Reeds, although 'high and dry' are still finding water to survive. Other 'wild flowers' planted in the vicinity of the pond have done remarkably well, with Bird's Foot Trefoil, Yellow Rattle, Ragged Robin, Knapweed, Mugwort, St John's Wort and Wild Carrot, to name a few, all producing a large number of flowers/seeds over a long period.

July and August were very pleasant months with a maximum temperature of 29.1°C, consequently insects and insect eaters had a good period. The Swallows reared their third brood which fledged on August 28th and I feel sure the youngsters will be strong enough to make the journey south. One day the chicks were fluttering around in the nesting building trying their wings but the following day they were flying like adults and skimming the pond for water and insects - amazing. The numbers of Peacock and Red Admiral butterflies observed this year were lower than previous but stiil numerous with an estimated 60 on one Buddleia bush. Although brassicas are grown in the garden and many Cabbage Whites were seen, very few caterpillars or plant damage were observed.

On several days a number of Red Legged Shieldbugs were in evidence (I had to look them up as never seen them before.) Apparently they like gardens and orchards with Oak, Alder and Hazel being their favourites. There are many of those species, both young and mature round the garden, so that explains the population.

The year has been pretty cold until now with snow persisting into April. However, the first frogspawn was spotted on April 4th. The pond temperature was surprisingly 10°C which seemed promising. Some cold snaps later caused the pond to freeze and it was not certain this spawn developed and hatched. Fortunately many tadpoles were observed about a month later all over the pond, so it is suspected that more spawn was laid. Numerous frogs have subsequently been seen and a couple have taken up residence in a small 'stream' created in the garden about 100 metres from the pond. This has a good plant cover and numerous niches between boulders for cover and a large number of aquatic insects have established themselves. Although no toad spawn was spotted, several toads have also been seen in the vicinity of the pond.

I suppose I have a fascination with water and having dug a pond last year I thought a 'stream' running through the garden would be appealing.

The original plan was to have a small stream about 16m long with a drop of 1.8m running at approximately 18,000lt/hr. The form of the bed was dug with 3 main 'falls' and a slower flowing part at the lower end. A 1,000lt IBC (intermediate bulk container) was buried at the lower end, wrapped in plastic sheet and back-filled with type 1 sub-base. A concrete cover was cast over this to avoid any buoyancy problems. A sheathed cable was run underground from an outbuilding and a 50mm hose was laid in a conduit to the top of the stream.

The bed was lined with sharp sand and a 0.75mm EPDM liner laid on top and adjusted to ensure no water could leak away. Unfortunately we had 96mm of rain in a few hours which washed all the sand down to the bottom. After rectifying this stones of various sizes were laid to form a bed. Rounded local stone was used as it is mainly a quartzite with attractive red or white colouration. Larger, more rugged stones were used for the margins. In the meantime our dogs had decided there were mice (or similar) under the liner and shredded about 3.5m at the top. As I had to order more liner I decided to buy enough to make a small pond about 3.0m x 4.5m and have the stream flow out of this.

River cobbles of 80mm to 100mm size were laid over the larger stones and then pebbles of 30mm to 50mm were spread on top. It required about 800kg of each from the local quarry. Pockets were left and filled with a homemade compost for planting later.

Things were left for about 10 days so that the stones could settle in place. 'Touch 'n Foam' Black Expanding Foam was then used to ensure water flowed over the stones and not under. Then where appropriate a sharp sand mortar was used to prevent movement of stones and hold soil back.

The pond was then filled and minor adjustments to the soil at water level made. Medium sized stones were used as the pond edge with several places for animals to escape from the water and beds for planting incorporated.

The pump, an Evolution Aqua VariPump 30000, was wired up and lowered into the IBC. After switching on several adjustments had to be made where stones caused water to flow in an unexpected manner. Once everything appeared to be OK, various water and marginal plants were introduced. The desired effect will not be apparent until next summer.

All in all I think this has been a reasonable summer - it did not warm up until June, July was warm and relatively dry, August was probably the most disappointing month being cool and damp, September was overall the most pleasant month and contained the warmest day.

It has been a good breeding season for all the 'small' birds in this area with the Swallows in particular having 3 broods and the third being mature enough to tackle the migration South. Frequently they have a brood too late when food is becoming short and the chicks will probably not make it to Africa. Weather and thus, food supplies have been good and the last of the Swallows left on October 1st. I lost count of the number of House Sparrow nests and broods, but they too have had an excellent year. Other species such as Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Siskins, Pied Wagtails etc. have flourished too judging by the number of adolescent birds observed.

The pond (dug 2020) has flourished, as initially insects moved in followed by others such as common frogs. Planting could be undertaken as the margins had a good crop of grass. Unfortunately, Floating Sweet Grass (Glyceria fluitans) arrived and has established itself round the perimeter of the pond.

It appears to be very vigorous and produces a huge network of rhizomes which may present problems in future years. Some Bullrushes (Typha latifoli), Flag Irises (Iris Pseudacorus), Yellow Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium Californicum), Crimson Lily (Hesperantha Coccinea), Water Mint (Mentha Aquatica), Brooklime (Veronica Beccabunga) and some Water Cress (from Tesco) have been planted and are settling in well, indeed the hesperatha is currently flowering. The Water Cress was simply thrown in to a 'mini pond' where the drains which feed the pond emerge in the hope of catching nutrients and soil particles before they enter the main pond. It appears to be working as the Cress is spreading and already flowering.

Over 100 trees have been planted round the pond but only 'standard' 750mm tree shelters were used. I have normally found this to be sufficient protection but here, instead of having a casual graze on the tree crowns as they emerged from the shelters, the deer constantly chew any fresh growth. All the shelters have had to be replaced by 1.5m shelters with 1.8m stakes. the improvement in the growth can be seen after only 3 weeks.

The Pine Martens still visit each night, and as the cooler weather has arrived we are catching several mice in the buildings which gives them a variation in diet. The Badger apparently took a dislike to the cat flap in the barn door and completely wrecked it one night - it has not returned since.

Throughout September there were hundreds of butterflies enjoying the many flowering shrubs, primarily Buddleia. The main species are Peacock, Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell.

After a few false starts it appears that summer is finally here with many days in June over 20°C. A few nests have already fledged with Pied Wagtails appearing to have had a very successful season.

It would seem that after a few false starts, spring is arriving. Many birds can now be seen prospecting for nest sites and a few have already started building. The swallows have returned to their regular building but still find time to look elsewhere. The blue tit box, although used by tits last year, appears to have been taken over by Tree Sparrows. They have already cleared out the remains of last year's nest and spend the day checking the box regularly. So many people refer to these birds as 'just a sparrow' or 'little brown job' but they are beautiful birds with fascinating habits. The Pied Wagtails are building a nest in a similar spot to last year so I shall have to rearrange the cameras again!

The local birds are still eating over a kilogram of sunflower hearts daily and about 0.5 kg of mixed seeds. Flocks of Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Siskin and Yellowhammer descend daily as well as the 'resident' birds like Sparrow, Wagtails, Blackbirds etc.

The weather turned wintry at last with a total of 150mm snow falling from the 8th Feb. onwards. It was very picturesque and proved no problem for travel once the roads were scraped but the wind started to rise on 11th Feb. rising to Full Gale with a maximum gust of 61.2kts (70.4 mph) on 13th Feb.

The result was severe drifting of the powdery snow with local roads being covered to about 1 metre. It was not until the 15th that the thaw started and roads were cleared.

Extra feeding points were put out for birds who appear to have taken very little hurt, but consumption rose. A large flock of more than 50 Goldfinches visited daily along with a flock of Siskins, Greenfinches, Yellowhammers and the 'usual' Sparrows, Dunnocks, Blackbirds, Chaffinches, Wrens, Robins and others.