May/June 2022
Devon Wildlife Trust’s challenge which inspired us to involve our Parish in WAL is to have at least 1 in 4 people from the tiniest to the Old Grandpas engaged in saving our declining wildlife by 2030. Yesterday would have been music to their ears! Our Garden Club Plant Sale and Coffee morning in the Function Room was a wonderful community occasion. Tables were closely packed with plants of all sorts produced by the very much engaged in order to be bought, most reasonably, by other Villagers also very much engaged tending their gardens, allotments, windowsills, tubs or recycled old wood boxes etc. The Queue for early entrance quickly expanded to a packed crowd including insects and the odd bee all engaging in the Merry fray! Well Done the Garden Club whose Commitee all own beautiful gardens encouraging other members of the winged fraternity; also birds and beasts, and butterflies; slugs and snails and the mighty worm upon whom we all depend for our soil’s life; ants, exemplars of how to run an efficient, unselfish society; Jeremy Fisher and Mr. Toad who sadly these days are leaving us so fast. How our gardens, big or small matter so enormously.
Now when I go wandering around the village I often meet a friend or visitor who are delighted to tell me of what they are doing to help our challenge. Yesterday at the bus stop a friend told me of a whole bank her family had planted with wildflowers; another friend told me of a small business she had set up making Bouquets with the flowers she grows loved by pollinators as well as by humans! The photo below tells of an in usual Buzzard with a pale front; and another lady had watched fascinated by the drama of a Kestrel attacking two pigeons, killing one of them. Simon Pryor was delighted when the first swallows appeared and he is awakened each morning by the call of of a curlew near the river…… I could go on but the poor Editor won’t have room!
We have several things planned for later. Now is the time with a few friends just to walk round about, scrutinising the trees hedges and verges.
June I has the 30 Day Challenge to do something each day to help wild life. Good fun too for the children eg simply “ puddle splashing” one day or pond dipping with Dad; counting the little hedge whips round the Goddard’s new-footpath, finding out why the waves are big or tiny in the river and who else enjoys that…..just ideas! What others do you have? Let us know on the website or email.
National Gardens are opening again. Rebecca spent a memorable evening at Sharpham listening to the dusk bird-chorus led by Mike Langman. Can anyone suggest someone who might take a walk here, perhaps a bat walk?
All ideas gratefully received! Perhaps for the Queen in June and her great love of horses, our village horse lovers might have ideas?
Every Happy wish go with you in our lovely village.
Mary Truell & Rebecca Abrahams
Website: https://www.lympstone.org/clubs-socities/wild-about-lympstone
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildAboutLympstone
