Two year Anniversary at Little Oak Lodge

Pinning down the exact two year anniversary date for when we moved in here is not easy as in 2024 we completed the purchase on 18th May HERE, then let the builders in to do the refurb for a couple of weeks, then we half moved in for two weeks HERE before going to Australia for six weeks to let Jimmy and the builders finish the work and then finally moved in during late July HERE while work was still on going. But basically it's around two years ago since we moved in here. 

Spent the last couple of days in London working and today sorting out the garden and getting ready to travel to Bulgaria tomorrow.

The moth trap has been more lively in the warmer evening. Now on 150 for the year. 

Typically we are leaving just as the first heat wave of the year begins so sadly going to miss a wave of moth and insect activity and its going to be more challenging to keep everything healthy while we are away but luckily enlisted some help from Matt and Kath. 

The back garden meadow still needs more colour! Hopefully things will be flowering more when we get back. The same view 2 years ago HERE

The raised beds going good today. A real improvement on the original HERE. I did a one year blog post before and after last year HERE now showing the developemnt of the fruit beds and hedges. 

Slowly getting there with the front garden aesthetic

The wild ditch is one of our most productive bits of micro-habitat. Latest pan-species obs HERE

We've made good progress over the last couple of years with some nice little micro-habitats created and feeling really wild now with lots buzzing round, we recorded well over 1000 species here so all ready to now be welcoming guests at the caravan airbnb. Bookings HERE. 

Plenty of NFYs in the last couple of nights including Clancy's Rustic (above- will never be able to see these the same way again after meeting and travelling with Sean Clancy recently, who this moth was named after). Other NFYs include Yellow Belle (below), Black-headed Conch, European Corn Borer, Yellow-faced Bell, Plum Tortrix, Straw Dot, Grey Pug, Middle-barred Minor, Brown House Moth and Dark Arches

In the high pressure system there have been a few scarcities and rarites regionally. I tried my luck this morning despite being busy and checked out Ferry and Norton for a couple of hours. The couple of Little Gulls still present at Norton were the highlight and this summer plumage Cattle Egret (above) was on Ferry, Checklist HERE