The quick brown fox ignores our backgate locks

The quick brown fox ignores our backgate locks… One of our volunteers snapped this pic of him lounging on the compost bags. Perhaps he’s super keen to volunteer with The Hidden Gardens? Unfortunately no Vulpine Volunteer Opportunities as yet, but we’ve plenty for people. thehiddengardens.org.uk/volunteering.php

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150918 fox collage

The quick brown fox ignores our backgate locks…

One of our volunteers snapped this pic of him lounging on the compost bags.

Perhaps he’s super keen to volunteer with The Hidden Gardens? Unfortunately no Vulpine Volunteer Opportunities as yet, but we’ve plenty for people.

thehiddengardens.org.uk/volunteering.php

Intruder in the Nursery

While most of the Gardens are open to all, some bits are for staff and volunteers only, like our nursery area. Now, we can’t ever be certain this fox knew he wasn’t supposed to be there, but he looks fairly guilty. Stick to the lawn, Mr Fox! Many thanks to @elizabethmcvey1 for snapping these great […]

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Mr Fox skulking about in the Nursery
Mr Fox skulking about in the Nursery

While most of the Gardens are open to all, some bits are for staff and volunteers only, like our nursery area.

Now, we can’t ever be certain this fox knew he wasn’t supposed to be there, but he looks fairly guilty. Stick to the lawn, Mr Fox!

Many thanks to @elizabethmcvey1 for snapping these great photos.

Moths moths moths!

At different times throughout the year, Richard Weddle (the Lanarkshire County Moth Recorder) sets up moth traps in The Hidden Gardens. The trap is a box with a UV light, which attracts the moths during the night. The next day he opens the box, identifies what moths have popped by, then lets them back out […]

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Some of the moths that visit The Hidden Gardens

At different times throughout the year, Richard Weddle (the Lanarkshire County Moth Recorder) sets up moth traps in The Hidden Gardens. The trap is a box with a UV light, which attracts the moths during the night. The next day he opens the box, identifies what moths have popped by, then lets them back out into the wild.

It’s fascinating to learn about the varied species of moths, one of the more misunderstood (and dare we say, disliked?) insects. Richard has given us some advice about how to identify these moths, as well as some interesting titbits about the different species.

Angle-Shades: This moth has a very distinctive shape and pattern. Unlike the others, Richard found this moth in a shrubby Lime in the Rill area, and he caught it with a net!

Heart and Dart: This is easy to identify by the two dark marks – one being ‘dart’ shaped (not the sort used in pub games!) and the other roughly heart-shaped; the photo also shows very nicely the distinctive black ‘collar’; the larvae feed on a wide range of herbaceous plants.

Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix: Richard’s not 100% sure, but the dark colouration and the angular projection in the main dark band are the important features which suggests that’s what the wee guy is. The larvae live in the rolled-up edges of leaves of a variety of many deciduous trees – including apple and pear.

Wormwood Pug: The identifying features are principally the 3 dark spots and the black-banded abdomen, but wing size and shape are important in identifying any pug (in fact identification of this group is a bit of a ‘black art’); the larvae feed on plants of the daisy family (Asteraceae).

Riband Wave: This photo is from the cone of the trap, hence the angle of the photo! The Riband Wave is so-called because one form has the area between the two main cross-lines filled in the same colour as the cross-lines, otherwise the distinguishing features are the kink in the outermost cross-line just before the leading edge, the strongly-arched leading edge as it approaches the tip, and the peppering of dark scales on a fawn background; again the larvae feed on a wide range of herbaceous plants.

Light Emerald: Not our photo we’re afraid, this wee guy escaped before we could snap him when he visited us recently! This moth is a beautiful light-green colour, which fades to an almost-white as the moth ages. Looking at her hair, our administrator sympathises with the Light Emerald about this.

Thanks for teaching us about these moths Richard. We’re looking forward to seeing what’s in the moth trap next time!

Name that bee!

Pop quiz! What kind of bee is this? A: Common Carder B: Buff-tailed Bumblebee C: Honey bee The answer is…D! Not a bee! This is a ‘Merodon equestris’, a species of hoverfly. Like many other hoverflies, it has evolved to look like a stinging insect as a defence mechanism. Isn’t nature fascinating?

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150709 What bee is this

Pop quiz! What kind of bee is this?

A: Common Carder
B: Buff-tailed Bumblebee
C: Honey bee

The answer is…D! Not a bee! This is a ‘Merodon equestris’, a species of hoverfly. Like many other hoverflies, it has evolved to look like a stinging insect as a defence mechanism.

Isn’t nature fascinating?

Royalty in the Gardens

The Hidden Gardens were visited by royalty this week! A Queen buff-tailed bumblebee dropped by to enjoy the mint border. Good to see her getting her hands dirty collecting pollen with the other bees!

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queen bee on the mint

The Hidden Gardens were visited by royalty this week! A Queen buff-tailed bumblebee dropped by to enjoy the mint border. Good to see her getting her hands dirty collecting pollen with the other bees!

Colour matching in the “wild”

We like playing the colour match game here in the Gardens, when we try to find a specific shade of a colour (usually from a paint card) in the wild. It looks like this leaf wanted to get in on the game! He’s blending in with the pavement. Good job, leaf!

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leaf colour match

We like playing the colour match game here in the Gardens, when we try to find a specific shade of a colour (usually from a paint card) in the wild.

It looks like this leaf wanted to get in on the game! He’s blending in with the pavement. Good job, leaf!

Life, uh, finds a way

This is a photo taken by The Hidden Gardens’ Director, Amanda, at her allotment. Can you guess what this is? This photo is taken through a hole in the gate where the bolt goes. There’s a little space under the bolt, and in the space, there’s a blue tit nest! The little yellow squares are […]

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This is a photo taken by The Hidden Gardens’ Director, Amanda, at her allotment. Can you guess what this is?

This photo is taken through a hole in the gate where the bolt goes. There’s a little space under the bolt, and in the space, there’s a blue tit nest! The little yellow squares are the little baby blue tits peep-peeping away.

AP baby blue tits

Ah, they’re a bit bigger now. We can kind of see these are birds, but…

momma blue tit AP

…here’s the photo that proves it! A mama blue tit glaring up at you. Good catch, Amanda!

Get rid of slugs (in a nice way, of course!)

This isn’t (as our administrator may have thought) how oranges grow, but rather a great way to deal with slugs. Simply halve an orange, hollow it out, and put it round side up into your soil. Slugs will crawl into these wee domes overnight, so you can simply pick up the oranges the next morning […]

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Some all natural slug traps in situ at The Hidden Gardens
Some all natural slug traps in situ at The Hidden Gardens

This isn’t (as our administrator may have thought) how oranges grow, but rather a great way to deal with slugs.

Simply halve an orange, hollow it out, and put it round side up into your soil. Slugs will crawl into these wee domes overnight, so you can simply pick up the oranges the next morning and relocate the slugs far away from your precious plants. Birds love to eat these guys, so if you’ve a bird table you could offer them some limace à l’orange!

Just… don’t relocate them to The Hidden Gardens, okay?

How many birds are in The Hidden Gardens?

Some days in the Gardens it seems there are only pigeons here, but we’re actually home to a lot of birds. Bird expert Mark came along to chart all the birds in the Gardens. How many of the following have you seen? Probable breeders within the gardens: Great tit Blue tit Goldfinch Greenfinch Blackbird Wren […]

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Great photo of some blue tits in the willow by Lesley McCue, volunteer and photographer extraordinaire!
Great photo of some blue tits in the willow by Lesley McCue, volunteer and photographer extraordinaire!

Some days in the Gardens it seems there are only pigeons here, but we’re actually home to a lot of birds. Bird expert Mark came along to chart all the birds in the Gardens. How many of the following have you seen?

Probable breeders within the gardens:

Great tit
Blue tit
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Blackbird
Wren
Blackcap
Bullfinch
Robin
Willow warbler
Dunnock

Other birds recorded, but no evidence of breeding based on today’s visit:

Coal tit
Long-tailed tit
Lesser black-backed gull
Magpie
Feral pigeon
Starling

How many can you find? Let us know!

Here's a long tailed tit taken by Lesley.
Here’s a long tailed tit taken by Lesley.

Bee does not care about the eclipse

Sick of all the eclipse fuss? Join this bee! Whilst we were all squealing in the Gardens, he turned his back on the sun and got stuck into these crocuses. If you look closely, you can see how covered in pollen he is. Mr Bee! At 10 in the morning!

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Mr Bee (pictured) turning his back on the sun
Mr Bee (pictured) turning his back on the sun

Sick of all the eclipse fuss? Join this bee! Whilst we were all squealing in the Gardens, he turned his back on the sun and got stuck into these crocuses.

If you look closely, you can see how covered in pollen he is. Mr Bee! At 10 in the morning!