We plant flowers that all the bees like – not just the honey bees.
It is not too difficult finding the flowers for us and the bees.
I love Wisteria and it was good to see that a female blackbird has chosen the Wisteria growing on the wall of our outbuilding to make a nest.
Another blackbird has chosen to nest in a cherry tree in the back garden. (A blackbird nesting in a cherry tree? Not much hope for our cherries.)
Some accommodation is specially made and it is not only this Anthophora that has made use of this bee house.
The Barn Owls have taken to their adapted trunk high up in the outhouse.
Some accommodation, like the window shutter, is improvised and is a home for the Barbastelle bat.
Of course, good accommodation includes bathing facilities, much appreciated by the Redstarts.
However, when a swallow chose our living room it received a resounding shout of “Out!”, and the doors were firmly kept closed until it had chosen another nest site.
a french garden 
I love it! We do this in our garden! And in gardens I design for other’s I work in plants that feed birds and pollinators and water-features for them to drink from…and of course for my clients to enjoy too!
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Water features are beautiful in gardens and where we stay are very important for the wild life as it can get very dry from time to time. Amelia
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At least the swallow wasn’t a bat. They’re hard to get out of a house!
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You are right there, all it takes for the swallows is a broom and keeping the doors and windows closed for a while. Amelia
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Yeah, I don’t think I’d want anything nesting inside the house, even as much as I like swallows.
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I draw the line at inside the house – outside good, inside bad. Amelia
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Great pictures, especially the barn owl. My garden is full of birds and bird boxes, but nothing uses them. I wonder if my two cats are the problem.
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It would not surprise me. Many people with cats do not encourage birds to come into their garden. The number of cats kept in towns in the U.K. has increased in recent years and some people associate it with the decrease in sparrows and other small birds in their gardens. Amelia
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PARADISE
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I’m not sure whether you have to work so hard in paradise 🙂 Amelia
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Hello Amelia,
Wonderful photos, and over the years, it’s clear that giving nature a home is indeed one of your guiding gardening principles. Has it been a good year for swallows with you? here, we seem to be very down on numbers?
Best wishes
Julian
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They are down near us as well. It is hardly surprising. A lot of the little patches of woodland are being cut down and the agricultural fields enlarged. This is drying up the ground water and the little ponds are disappearing, the larger ones shrinking. Amelia
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Your post made me smile for many reasons.
Some years ago I came home to find that there had been a severe storm and two young swifts had taken up residence in one of the upstairs rooms, a window having been left open. I evicted them, VERY carefully, but we still find some of the signs.
This year’s swifts arrived yesterday, but not in the house.
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Lovely to see the swifts but not in the house! Amelia
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Too funny! Word has gotten out that you are a friend of Nature, I guess.
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Maybe that is what happened but sometimes I think they are taking advantage of us 🙂 Amelia
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Great photography. Are you opening a zoo? What a variety.
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All part of the rewards of gardening 🙂 Amelia
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I have to say that it is the sound as well as the sight of wildlife that brings the garden to life. Yesterday I saw the first Golden Orial in the mulberry tree, wonderful.
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I could not agree more. The flowers and the trees are only a small part of the pleasures of the garden. Amelia
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Sounds like a real nature reserve in your garden. I’m sure there are plenty of other suitable spots nearby for the swallow to nest!
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I don’t think it should take them long to find an alternative home. Amelia
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One of the joys of gardening is sharing it with the wildlife. Robin’s built a nest in an old jug, in our large greenhouse this spring, the door is left open. The young fledged three days before the open gardens allowing me to put the nest out on display.
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I agree, its not just the plants but what they attract. You must have been glad the nest was vacated before lots of people were around. Amelia
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Oh you are mean, Amelia – you should share your living room with the swallows! 😄 Beautiful pictures, and you are so, so lucky to have such a wonderful array of wildlife living with you. ❤️
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No swallows but I have heard of people who have bats flying around their living room 😉
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What strange people they must be, Amelia… 😄
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How wonderful. The owl especially. Swallows in the lounge? definitely a no no!
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We agree on that! 🙂 Amelia
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Such fabulous photos. I love the close up of bees and your owls. X
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Glad you liked it 🙂 Amelia
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