In the back garden

My crafting mojo is a bit absent at the moment and I've been enticed away from the craft desk into the back garden.  This year's Springwatch was encouraging people to make bio diversity surveys of their gardens and that got me thinking.  I've often photographed wildlife and nature in the garden, but I've never got out there and looked to see everything I can find.  This sounds like a lovely long-term project for all seasons and yesterday I got started with a couple of the more obvious inhabitants of  the wasteland that I imaginatively like to call a garden.

There are a pair of blackbirds in residence at the moment.  There are a couple of places they might have their nest, although they might just be places they like to hide whilst searching around for food and the nest could be further off.  This is dad trying to camouflage himself behind the subtle colours of an old garden umbrella.  Mum is around too and I will try and lurk to catch a picture of her at the weekend.  She often stops on the gate with a beak full of food, so I will concentrate my efforts there.  She's woken me the last few morning as she likes to sit on the fence and trill her song.

The hebe is out in flower nicely this year.  It's in a pot, but the roots grew out through the bottom and into the ground long ago.  There were lots of bees on it yesterday afternoon so a literally spent 5 minutes snapping pictures before I headed off on the school run.

I think I will record more details with species etc on my wildlife blog, but I'd also like to write up a nature diary, the crafter in me is awakened now!  Anyone got any good links to nature themed scrapbooks or diaries?

~ Kate ~