For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By matthew_w100
#1628521
My garden seems different this year.

I haven't had to mow the lawn since May, which is wonderful.

There are very few wasps, which is wonderful.

There are very few bees and butterflies, which is not wonderful.

There are absolute bucket-loads of flies, particularly the blue-bottomed variety, which is awful.

Do others share these experiences?
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1628528
We're OK for butterflies, especially pesky cabbage whites which I'm at war with on the veggie patch. Shortage of bees due shortage of flowers, flies doing well due to lots of easy access dead things.
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By lobstaboy
#1628529
Similar here (Norfolk).
There are wasps now in abundance though. And for the first time ever I'm seeing wasp nests dug up and eaten by badgers who are finding it hard to get enough I guess (Tommy Brock eats wasp nests in a Beatrix Potter story. She was very accurate as a naturalist,)
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By JonathanB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1628534
matthew_w100 wrote:There are absolute bucket-loads of flies, particularly the blue-bottomed variety, which is awful.


I had to deep clean the wheelie bins last week after discovering a maggot infestation... :puker:
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By rikur_
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1628535
I've done a bit of mowing of the lawn to get rid of the tufts - but it probably didn't need it
More wasps than usual
More bees than usual
Flies decreased until we had the first rain last week, now lots of flies
Keep finding dead pigeons (and scruffy looking alive ones)
Fewer small birds than usual
Mole has either died, or given up tunnelling
Much more furrowing than usual - something largish furrowing for food and making a right mess
Carrots hopeless
Beans stringy
Raspberries tiny
Apples plentiful but on the small side
Pumpkins looking good
By Chris Martyr
#1628540
JonathanB wrote:I had to deep clean the wheelie bins last week after discovering a maggot infestation... :puker:


Nowt to do wi' hot Summer . Just means you don't clean your dustbins often enough..... :D
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By FlarePath
#1628553
There are very few wasps, which is wonderful.


Not on my patio this evening, they find the Pornstar Martini's and Prosecco very inviting, Cabbage White butterfly's and bluebottles also in abundance.
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1628560
Bees and white butterflies in abundance here in Guildford. Not seen any wasps...we usually have some as they live in next door's cavity wall (I have protectors on the gaps on mine, they were put on by the previous householder). Flies...no different from normal I don't think.
By Chris Martyr
#1628586
FlarePath wrote:Not on my patio this evening, they find the Pornstar Martini's and Prosecco very inviting,


All round to FlarePath's place then........................... :D :D
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1628587
House sparrows seem to be making a comeback in our garden after decades.

Lone crow who appears every morning at 10 am and crows his box off till we chuck him something and a pair of doves that aren’t put off by my piano wire pigeon excluders from nicking the peanuts on the bird table.

Flies? I have to empty the tray of our u/v fly zapper in the kitchen every few days...... :roll:

Plenty of passing cabbage whites on their way to next door’s cabbages : we have no veg...

Peter :roll:
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By matthew_w100
#1628630
I had ascribed the flies to a lack of wasps. They are plaguey enough that we couldn't eat outside. And, as I said, it's bluebottles (and greenbottles - are they different species?) rather than ordinary house flies.

Only white butterflies. And we have *lots* of sparrows, but I can't tell which flavour. And tits, finches and, the other day, a woodpecker. I was *very* excited by that!

And my beginners' ornithology lesson a couple of weeks ago tells me that the swallows are actually house martins.
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1628633
matthew_w100 wrote:I had ascribed the flies to a lack of wasps. They are plaguey enough that we couldn't eat outside. And, as I said, it's bluebottles (and greenbottles - are they different species?) rather than ordinary house flies.


Or 'blue-ar sed flies' as my dear departed Dad used to call them.

They are the one problem with u/v high voltage zappers in that they spark and sizzle often for minutes at a time and the stench is asphyxiating....

Peter :roll:
By Bill McCarthy
#1628642
There are advantages to living in the far north - everything is green and lush here and I’m having to mow the fields more than normal to keep the grass down. I’ve made hay for the first time ever in June
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1628647
Bill McCarthy wrote:There are advantages to living in the far north - everything is green and lush here and I’m having to mow the fields more than normal to keep the grass down. I’ve made hay for the first time ever in June


Yeah, but you've got midges! :roll:

Peter