Hi everybody,
So here it is, the half way point, #Day50 of #100DaysofNature, yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!
Sorry lol, but I’m very pleased with myself for getting this far. When I started this challenge 50 days ago I had no idea what I was about to uncover in my own backgarden, yes we all know there are spiders and caterpillars etc but when you delve deeper, when you sit and watch just one patch of grass or one bushy area you begin to see a whole different world, it’s quite amazing.
I’ve had lots of questions sent via facebook and flickr regarding my garden. A lot of people assume that because of the variety of species I’m finding that I live in a country house or have a huge jungle of garden, but they couldn’t be further from the truth. I live on a council estate, my garden is just like yours.
It’s an active, used garden. Full of kids toys, swings, garden shed etc, Nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing is we don’t use any chemicals, and we tend to just let things grow, no matter what it is, and this seems to have an effect on the wildlife living in it.
One thing you will notice in our garden is the lack of colour, and this is also reflected in my 1st 50 days, no Butterfly’s or Bee’s, it’s too late to start planting flowers now but next year we plan on using the wildflower seed pack we got from the RSPB butterfly feeder to grow a patch of land and make it our little personal meadow, maybe this will attract new wildlife.
I have also not had any birds in the garden despite filling up and changing the feeders regularly, I hope however this will change as the winter nights draw in and birds start searching more actively for food as it gets cold and the Insects begin to disappear.
It’s been a real eye opener and My family and I have learned so so much. My 2 young girls have always had a keen interest in Nature and this challenge has cemented that.
(Jasmine with a frog in the garden)
When I asked Jasmine(6) what she want’s to be when she grows up she replied a ‘Bug Hunter’ just like you daddy, when I asked Amber(4) what she wanted to be when she grows up she replied ‘a Butterfly’ haha that will do for me 🙂
(Amber with her ladybird friend)
I hope you have enjoyed this blog upto now, I know I have, it’s been tiring doing this after work every night but it’s so worth it. I have updated various ID’s that I got wrong and/or didn’t ID in the 1st place, there is some still outstanding though which I hope to ID before day 100.
So, thank you for following, sharing, liking and reading this blog and my pictures, it means a lot, and thank you once again to BBC Springwatch, without you putting these challenges out there things like this would never happen.
Now, onto #Day50, another bug from the ugly big ball again lol.
This is a Common Striped Woodlouse, Philoscia muscorum, An active woodlouse found in damp leaf litter and under flowerpots, very common and widespread. Adult is grey-brown with a dark head and dorsal stripe.
Enjoy
Matt
Matts Macro 