Otley in Bloom have decorated a Christmas tree with giant pompom bumblebees, to symbolise the importance of bee-friendly planting in our gardens, and because it was fun making them. The Christmas tree is on display as part of the Otley Christmas Tree Festival at Otley Parish Church on Saturday 10th Dec from 10am to 6pm, and Sunday 11th Dec from 11am-4pm. For more information see the festival website.
Since we planted the Nectar Bed in Wharfemeadows Park, we have lost some of the plants and added new ones. It will continue to change and evolve as we see what does well and what doesn’t, so it’s impossible to give a list of what’s there right now. But if you want to know which garden plants are perfect for pollinators, attractive to bees, butterflies and hoverflies, see the RHS’s list.
We counted the birds at Myers Croft Beck, Craven Street, Bremner Street and the Memorial Garden, all patches of land we have worked on, on 30th-31st Jan, a very cold, rainy weekend. We didn’t see any birds at Bremner Street. At Craven Street we saw 2 blue tits, 2 woodpigeons and 3 blackbirds in an hour. At Myers Croft Beck, near the entrance to the allotments, we saw 9 blackbirds, 3 blue tits, 1 sparrow, 2 magpies, 1 robin, 3 woodpigeons, 1 crow and 1 wren in an hour. At the Memorial Garden, 5 blackbirds, 1 sparrow and 3 pigeons were spotted. There are more birds in these little overlooked scraps of land than you might think, particularly blackbirds which seem to be everywhere.
We also counted birds in our gardens, and between us spotted 14 different species, including a pheasant, lots of blackbirds and pigeons, and most of the other common garden birds.
It’s the Big Garden Birdwatch on 30th-31st January. Organised by the RSPB, the idea is to count the wild birds that land in your garden or a local park for one hour on the 30th or 31st January. There’s a simple tick-box form to fill in and send off, for further details see the RSPB website.
We are hoping to count birds on some of the sites we’ve worked on or put bird boxes on, such as Bremner Street, Gasworks Corner, Craven Street, Myers Croft Beck, the Memorial Garden, weather permitting.
These pictures taken in October show butterflies enjoying the nectar bed.
Otley in Bloom 