Spent a wonderful weekend at a wedding reception at Plas Maenan, a beautifully restored Edwardian mansion on a bluff 300 feet above the Conwy Valley. Managed to drag myself away from the champagne to have a wander around the grounds.
Coal Tits and Nuthatches were calling along with Great Spotted Woodpeckers and I came across one hunkered down in a crevice near the base of a Fir tree. It had a broken wing although could still manage to grip onto the trunk and hop around using its tail for support. A Red Kite glided over the valley and three vocal Buzzards mewed as they circled eye-level to the terrace. Later three Ravens croaked above the woods to the rear of the Country Mansion. Rabbits galore burrowing into the sloping lawn – I counted eighteen in the evening as well as couple of Grey Squirrels. I found a Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes and Hoverflies feeding on a fragrant white flowered shrub included Eristalis sp. and Volucella pellucens.
I found a friendly Moth – I’d be grateful if anyone can identify it as my wildlife guides are packed for an imminent house-move.
Roses
Gunnera
Plants included garden plants such as Gunnera sp. and Roses as well as Tutsan Hypericum androsaemum, Dog-rose Rosa canina, Herb-Robert Geranium robertianum, Ground-ivy Glechoma hederacea, Common Figwort Scrophularia nodosa, Foxglove Digitalis purpurea, Germander Speedwell Veronica chamaedrys and English Bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta that had gone to seed.
Tutsan
Common Figwort
If you are interested in the wildlife of the north-west of England and would like to join the walks and coach trips run by the Merseyside Naturalists’ Association, see the main MNA website for details of our programme and how to join us.