Wordsworth wrote:
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky…
Well, my heart leapt up this morning when I beheld a Great Spotted Woodpecker in my garden this morning, only the second time I have done so. They always make me think of my friend Andy in our badger group who gets very cross if people say “Greater Spotted Woodpecker”, but it is an understandable mistake since the smaller version is a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. This is a female, indicated by the black rather than red crown.
Meanwhile the daisies are in full bloom and these lilies are bursting with life, they seem almost impatient to come into flower.
The Wood Pigeons have bred successfully and raised two young.
One of the proud parents:
I enjoyed a review of The Accidental Garden: Gardens, Wilderness and the Space in Between by Richard Mabey, Profile, 2024. He comes across as a gentle soul who expresses good-humoured exasperation: “I confess a certain weariness comes over me whenever I’m lectured on the virtues of ‘reconnecting with nature’. I’ve never entirely understood this, given that it would be impossible for us to live disconnected from nature.” Amen to that.
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