THE HIDE – UGLY ?

The Hide – Ugly ?

No it’s not a vanity thing and I’m not fishing for compliments ( feel free to comment if you want ) but a throw away comment from a passer by regarding the “ meadow “. So let me explain , first with a little context. The meadow is a roughly triangular in shape , about 1.5 acres in size and has footpaths running along two sides. I don’t often see and one walking past but the other day whilst cutting the main pathway in the meadow i had a brief conversation with someone. “ the meadow is quite ugly isn’t it ? “ was the question thrown at me. What followed was a brief but one sided exchange of views.

And here is the problem. The meadow is nearly fully enclosed by mature hedgerow and trees , and surrounded entirely by farm land with access by foot only via the two paths. I explained that we aren’t managing the meadow as such , more protecting the land and letting nature do its thing. Is it pretty , well perhaps not but it is completely natural and this small area supports a vast variety of insect life with the number of species in the hundreds. This in turn supports over 50 species of birds and at least 10 different mammals . So this ugly meadow is a natural history treasure trove , and we have no plans to beautify it anytime soon.

Speaking of the residents , which feather and furries made the register . Starting with my furry friends we have a singe Roe Deer , the Grey Squirrel Gang including a very little one who was so nervous , the Rat pack , a couple of Rabbits and a few Mice.

Feather wise we have all the usual suspects , Robins , Great tits , Long-tailed tits , Great tits , Dunnock and Chaffinch. Then we have the Great Spotted Woodpecker , Wood Pigeon , Blackbird , Jackdaw , Magpie and Jay. All in , a decent days wildlife watching !

As ever , thank you for all you support , comments and views. Having you on this journey is a pleasure and much appreciated. Here is a shout out to a few more city’s ………….. Cincinnati – USA , Vic – Spain , Berlin – Germany , Hull – Canada , Sydney – Australia . Here is the month to day heat map.