Dragonflies and damselflies in the garden

Throughout summer and early autumn here at La Pasera we are witness to the finely tuned aerobatic skills of dragonflies and damselflies are they navigate the garden, ponds and plants. Each year they lay their newly fertilised eggs on pond plants or directly into the water where they develop into nymphs.

Most damselflies complete their life cycle in one year: egg, nymph, damselfly where as dragonflies can take up to 5 years depending on the climate, conditions and species. There are over 100 species in Europe and over 5000 worldwide.

As they emerge from the water in their nymph stage, they cling to nearby grasses and twigs, they dry out and break out of their distinctive nymph skins, spread their wings and take flight. 

Damselflies are weaker fliers and always lay their wings to the sides of their body when resting whereas the dragonfly keeps its wings open. The dragonflies tend to be much more inquisitive, often flying very near to you, hovering just in front of you and taking evasive action if you move. They also try this with the cats who are frequently tormented by the buzzing of their wings and close proximity.   

Here are a few photographs of visiting dragonflies and damselflies taken over the past few years...

July in bloom

Flowers are an important aspect of any garden, from the insignificant to the big, bright and bold, flowers are special.

Flowers attract insects, aid pollination, create scent, display colour and provide structure and form and, they are beautiful to look at.

The flowers at La Pasera change throughout the months but July is certainly a time when the brightest, boldest and showiest blooms arrive. So much so, the smaller, delicate flowers often get overlooked.

The next time you are in the borders, look a little closer, stare a little deeper and you just might see a diamond amongst many other gems, a bit like life really...

A Hawkmoth emerges from its cocoon in the ground.

Those of you who follow our blog know that we are keen observers of nature in all its forms including insects. We try and maintain a broad variety of natural habitats to encourage biodiversity and to maintain the natural balance of our plot. We have areas that we leave wild, wood piles, rockeries, ponds and a bog garden, amongst others, to create natural habitats for a range of insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, molluscs and reptiles. Many of our inhabitants can be found on our other blog: Smaller Tales from Toriello.

Smaller Tales from Toriello

We often inspect these areas to see what has taken up residence. One natural resource we rarely think about are the large areas of lawn (grass meadow cut and maintained short). It came as quite a surprise this week to stumble across a Hawkmoth emerging from its cocoon in the ground just near the tool shed. Luis' brother spotted it, just a dark brown head emerging from between blades of grass. By the time I had retrieved the camera from the house the moth was almost out.

A few minutes later, the moth started to expand its wings in the warmth of the afternoon sun. It was about 5cm in length and 3cm across at the base of its wings. We think it was a privet hawkmoth due to the stripes on the base of its body. They feed on, amongst other things, Ash of which we have several surrounding La Pasera.

Gawber the cat (increasingly bored) was curious: what are these humans looking at and is it worth eating?

We protected the moth with a rake and watched from a distance only to find the moth clambering on the rake and resting. We placed the rake in a safe position away from feline eyes and left it alone expecting that it probably would not take flight until dusk or nightfall. Sure enough, the next morning it was gone.

We retrieved the cocoon from the ground out of curiosity and wondered how many more would be emerging around our plot that we will never spot.

We will certainly look out for the caterpillar this coming year and keep our eyes open for other signs of life in all areas of the garden.

The flower garden in May

May is generally one of the best months for the flowers here in Asturias. The country lanes and meadows are ablaze with wild flowers and grasses attracting an abundance of pollinators.

The garden has several areas that are given over to flowers, shrubs and trees. We have tried, where possible, to keep the planting scheme low maintenance by using perennials and biennials however foxgloves, other biennials and self seeders do rather make order in the borders impossible.

We aren't expert gardeners by any means and have learnt over the years through trial and experiment, doing and daring. What I hope we have created is a peaceful space which we can enjoy along with the many insects, birds, amphibians and reptiles that will help maintain a balance in our small plot.

The herb garden at the front of the house is coming into its own now the plants are established and we are gathering plenty of rhubarb, fresh herbs for cooking and fresh herbs and flowers for infusions, drying and hand cream.

We use the garden a lot, walking around it several times a day and sitting in one of several areas we have created, each with a different feel and atmosphere. The back garden is tranquil and a great place to sit and take in the views or rest and contemplate, accompanied by the sound of the water fountain, bird song, shadows cast from the setting sun and the distant ring of cowbells.

Don't forget to check out our other wildlife photo blog at Smaller Tales from Toriello

The geese/cranes fly south

The weather has turned cold here in Asturias with snow on the mountains, rain on the lowlands and winds making their presence known as they travel east from the Atlantic through the Bay of Biscay. It has been a bit too wet to do very much at all in the garden but today the sun is shining bright and out of the shadows, the warmth is welcome. One bonus of the cooler weather is that the Acers are in full glorious colour and look wonderful.

We have been collecting leaves and composting them to make valuable leaf mould for next year. The green oats we have sown for green manure are sprouting and the vegetable garden is still producing a healthy crop of leeks, flower sprouts, endive, beetroot, celeriac, chard, cauliflower, cabbage, carrot and fennel. The early sprouting broccoli suffered early on with rot at the tips but has recovered a little.

The cats Wentworth and Gawber are spending increasing amounts of time indoors and it does not take them long to suss out if the fires are lit or not. This little clip shows them play fighting in the garden, taking the opportunity to enjoy the brief spell of sunny weather.

There is still plenty of wildlife activity in the garden with visits from the pine marten, many birds and insects. You can following the visiting creatures on our other supplementary blog Smaller tales from Toriello. 

Luis is back from Ravenna and in full scale mosaic production. Needless to say he is full of new ideas and energy and is currently finishing fish and water-lily mosaics for the terrace and a sculptural mosaic he started a few months ago. He is currently writing an article about his Ravenna trip for an online mosaic site which I will publish the link to when it is up and visible.

We have seen several formations of geese/cranes flying overhead but as is always the case, I never have the camera or right lens to hand when we spot them.  I did manage to get one not too clear photo and hope to spot them again soon...

footnote: a friend from France says these could be Gru (cranes) I think she might be right. What do you think?