Uncategorised

Blue Flower

Thursday 3/7/2025 There are a lot more Cornflowers in the garden in front of the visitor centre this week and the Sunflower plants have grown much taller and were starting to lean over, so I put staples in the building wall for Eddie and Anne Marie to run garden wire along to support them.

Anne Marie put in Dianthus, Foxgloves and Pink Campion plants which she brought today and watered all the gardens. Anne Marie also brought Wildflower and Tree identification books which will be useful.

We moved the swinging footbridge round and Eddie painted the other handrail with green Hammerite. I fitted a washer under one of the screws on a bridge board as the floor was peeling up causing a trip hazard, I took the sign off the handrails so Eddie could paint the uprights.

Anne Marie and I pulled up some white Yarrow which has taken over the wildflower meadow, we cleared an area for Foxgloves and Pink Campion which Anne Marie planted and I cleared more away from where Poppies and Cornflowers are growing. Yarrow is perennial so pulling it out removes the roots and stops so much coming back next season.

The large purple Poppies near the compost bay had finished flowering and the seed pods had dried out so I cut them off and saved them for re-seeding the meadow and other areas.

We were going to scrap the broken butterfly box but I found a piece of thin plywood to make a new back panel and roof sections which I cut with my tracksaw and screwed to the box. There were missing canes from the top section so I cut and fitted replacements, then fixed the box to the stand and put it in the wildflower meadow.

At lunch time we all sat outside again and had some Norfolk Shortbread made by Anne Marie which she brought for us, which we really enjoyed with our tea. The birds have eaten all the Cherries from the tree.

In the afternoon Eddie finished painting the handrails on the bridge, I replaced the sign when the paint dried. Anne Marie and I loaded up the Yarrow we pulled out and I tipped it in the compost bay. There was a Cinnebar Moth Caterpillar in the meadow.

My last job was filling the bird food and water while Eddie cleaned the rug from the wagon by beating it against the outside of the wagon to get the dust out. We saw a Blue Tit eating peanuts from the feeder just before we left. On our way back we saw a Kingfisher flying just above the river.

Graham Bartlett

Interactive Plan Activity Volunteer Previous Projects Mill Workers

Previous Volunteer

We made our solitary bee box in November 2024, it has Perspex covering slots in the wood so we can watch progress of the eggs and larvae. There is a mud tray on top which bees use to line the slots and seal between each egg cell, they put a final mud plug at the end of the slot.

We noticed the box was being used on 15/5/25 when we saw some slot ends sealed up, we pulled out the cores and saw the slots filled with eggs and pollen.

Female Solitary bees lay an egg with a supply of pollen and nectar in each cell for the larvae to feed on when it hatches. Bees seal each cell with a mud plug in between.

Male eggs are laid towards the front of the slot so they emerge first and are ready to mate the following year.

Female eggs hatch into larvae and eat the pollen, then hibernate for around 11 months in the nest through summer and winter. The following spring, the larvae pupate, turn into adult bees and emerge from their nest.

I made a similar box for my garden which was also partially used.

We will keep watch on the nest box at the mill and keep this page updated with progress.

Graham Bartlett

The Little Egret is white with a black beak and yellow feet, its smaller than the Great White Egret which is the size of a Heron. Back to Wildlife