If you sat up too quickly in bed, you'd do yourself serious damage on the low ceiling, but this loft-conversion rental was otherwise warm, comfortable and very clean. Cheaper than a hotel or B&B too. The trouble was, the seagulls don't half make a racket at 6am.
It's been a hectic summer and with the school holidays ending, the swifts having flown off to Africa and our peregrine watch at the Tate modern reaching its climax, I felt the need for a weekend away and Aldeburgh is a short journey from London. Now, I am used to the noise of trains, sirens, helicopters and jets, all with an underscore of the throb of London doing what London does, but the seagulls shattered my sleep, bless them. If only I hadn't left all the windows open. It being a weekend, I did the sensible thing and went back to sleep.
Minsmere, Orford Ness and Snape were all within striking distance, throw in some great food, sea air, sunshine and great walking opportunities (plus plenty of time for the children to enjoy the sea). What I got was a weekend that blew the cobwebs away, leaving me fit to face whatever autumn brings.
Back at home, even the sight of a burrow having been dug by an urban fox in what will form a grassy bank in my wildlife garden failed to take a shine off the break. I wanted a wildlife garden and that's what I've got even if none of the plants are in yet. My challenge is how to incorporate the exisiting wildlife, like this burrowing night visitor, while creating new habitats with wildflowers, a native beech, blackthorn and hawthorn hedge, fruit trees and a vegetable patch.biodiversity
Having experienced living with foxes at my old address I'm not sure they fit in with my new wildlife garden scheme. On the other hand, they are an important part of local . So, should I be trying to plan them out of my garden or try to manage their presence accordingly. It's the age old conundrum of conservation. Do we let nature do its own thing, or create a version of nature that matches our vision of what we want it to be?
I believe I have a partial answer. There are no fox holes in my garden at the moment. There are fox holes on the railway embankment at the rear of my garden. How about I deter them from creating a home in my garden but not exclude them from it. They'll help keep down pests and, as long as I protect tender plants, I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement where we all rub along together.
Wildlife gardening gives a taste of the sort of decisions that have to be made daily by wardens on our reserves. Do they remove this plant in favour of that one? Should these migrants be encouraged or discouraged because of their impact on resident species? Is this a new invasive species or a consequence of climate change?
Whatever course we take, our actions have an impact and this is as true in our gardens as it is on nature reserves. Am I doing the right thing in planting trees and a hedge? Of course I am, I've never counted more than two house sparrows in my garden and never seen a starling here. These are, traditionally, London's two most common garden birds so they should be here. A year or so from now, I hope they will be. The real question is: which of the plants, insects, birds and mammals that call this home right now, will be missing?