Earlier in the year when the tree was cut down, the men who did it offered to cut back the ivy. I said no because I knew there were birds nesting in there, and also because they would have charged lots more. I am glad I waited as I found the nest today-empty now as nesting time is over. The ivy is incredibly thick, and the nest was on an area where about five branches diverge. The nest has the traditional sticks, mud and moss, and also makes good use of some plastic netting and a small piece of cellophane. Clever birds!
You can just about see the netting here. The ivy is also home to lots of moths. I will leave some of it up at the back of the garden for them to shelter in, having destroyed much of their home today. I have never seen this type before. It is a really lovely ochre/golden yellow and is beautiully marbled.
Yellow marbled beauty.(my name)
Yellow Shell (actual name)
Hook Moth (my name)Silver Y (actual name) (there are hook moths though!)
(not in the ivy, in the house-Cassie pointed it out!)
Rusty Speckled Hawk Moth (my name)
Frilly Brown Dress Moth (my name)
My gardening tip of the day would be, don't leave your ivy to grow uncut for four years as it will become virtually impossible to remove, and will wreck your already ricketty fences! So far I have taken twelve bags of it to the tip-sorry-recycling centre, and I have got a lot left to go. I am doing the other side of the fence too as it makes sense to do so, but have now got to the high up pieces. I want to wait till Andy is here so he can hold the ladder!
Rusty Speckled Hawk Moth (my name)
Frilly Brown Dress Moth (my name)My gardening tip of the day would be, don't leave your ivy to grow uncut for four years as it will become virtually impossible to remove, and will wreck your already ricketty fences! So far I have taken twelve bags of it to the tip-sorry-recycling centre, and I have got a lot left to go. I am doing the other side of the fence too as it makes sense to do so, but have now got to the high up pieces. I want to wait till Andy is here so he can hold the ladder!
I am going to try to find out the proper names of the moths later, but for now I have made up my own!
12 comments:
What delightful finds in the ivy! Ivy's like brambles - it grows prolifically and always where you don't want it. The moths are gorgeous - I'm still slowly learning moth names at the rate of one a year, currently ;-/
Brilliant photos! That yellow moth, so pretty. It looks like it's made of marbled paper.
I've heard that ivy can be quite destructive if it gets out of hand, but I love the look of old structures that have been consumed by it.
Your ivy houses some wonderful life! Ours has surrounded whatever is left beside it- brilliantly successful plant, completely obfuscating the machines left in the weather, climbing the trees that barely cling to their own roots.Yes, It is like the day of the Triffids.BEWARE!
Your photos are beautiful.
Sounds like you put in a lot of work today. Battling with shrubbery is a tough job. Makes you wish for the Knights who say NI!
Love the moth photos and the fact that you appreciate their beauty.
Bird nests are always amazing. How they build those little places of the available materials is fascinating.
The moths are awesome.
I too love to admire their beauty as I feel they are often overshadowed by the butterfly :)
Ivy is a buggar there's no doubt about that.
The good thing about it though is that it is a good air purifier... especially if you live close to a busy road.
Love what you have shared here today.
Best wishes
Robyn
You sure have been busy. I hate ivy, it just covers everything.
Love the pics of the moths.
i like the look if ivy but not what it does. Plus spiders live in it. Moth blurrrrrghhhhhhh. Nest very cool indeed!
Beautiful pictures of the moths! We also tend to admire the ones that we find! Some are as pretty as butterflies!
Beautiful photos of the moths! If you get fed up removing the ivy, just cut through the stems you want to remove, then leave it to die - it's much easier to remove then (and does less damage when you pull it off walls/fences)
The moths are lovely- they look like fabric designs (or probably it' the other way round).
It's a good idea to get rid of that ivy because it sucks the moisture out of fences and makes them fall to bits!
I've just done something similar in my yard and now the fence looks bald! xx
I like the moths and your moth names! Oh, I know all about ivy. We used to live in an old Victorian house and let the ivy grow unattended for years. When eventually we removed it, it was a MAJOR job, and the walls were damaged quite badly!
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