Envision me grinning from ear to ear, reader, if you please. You see, yesterday at the prestigious annual Biffa Awards Ceremony, our lovely wildlife garden project was awarded first prize in the Recreation Category. I had been pleased enough to be nominated, and had not expected to win against some very worthy competition, so imagine my delight when the category Judge, Nathan Williams of the Ingleby Foundation, announced Flatford as the winner!
I managed to gather my wits enough to say a few pertinent words in thanks, and my parting shot was something like “The RSPB would not be able to carry out worthwhile projects like this without the support of organizations such as Biffa Award, who have the foresight to GIVE SOMETHING BACK….” They funded a large portion of the original garden build, you see.
So, back to normality today – I arrived to a beautiful autumn scene this morning, all bright golden leaves in the slanting morning sun. Despite the advancing autumn, we still have a fair bit of colour in the garden, the hardy plumbago (Ceratostigma wilmottianum) is still blooming prettily, and in fact the week before last we had a hummingbird hawkmoth regularly drinking from the bright blue flowers… They always make me do a massive-double take: their steady hover and loud humming flight are incredibly suggestive of a hummingbird!
We are also regularly seeing a particularly graceful guest – willow emerald damselflies…. These intriguing bronze-green damsels are a recent colonist from the continent. A few years ago, a single sighting would have had the amateur entomological world very excited, but now they seem to be colonizing exceptionally well, and a warm day a week ago had several all hawking for insects from a suitable vantage point. They are lovely to watch, all graceful lines and swooping flight.