The 16th annual Day of Lincolnshire Folk takes place on Sunday, August 2, 2026, at Leadenham House (LN5 0PU), running from 11:00 AM until dusk. This free, family-friendly festival features 77 performances across six stages by 46 acts and roughly 100 musicians.

https://www.visitlincoln.com/event/lincoln-folk-festival/105981101/ 

Also on my list Dogdyke Pumping Station - a much loved place. Lived nearby for 30+ years. 😁

Sheep and Wool open day – Sunday 2nd August 12:30 till 16:30

https://dogdyke.com/2026/07/24/sheep-and-wool-open-day-sunday-2nd-august-1230-till-1630/ 

He's noticed less honeybee activity this year, which he thinks is because of the heat and the bees staying in the hives, managing the air conditioning, as he puts it. So in theory, less honey this year. It's a bumper year for bumblebees though, in my garden, perhaps partly because I'm keeping it watered and the flowers the bees like thrive. The moths and butterflies have been notable for their high numbers this year too. Otherwise, now that I've found my hedgehog, he/she is back on shuffling regular fish pellet hunts and will hopefully be able to fatten up before the winter.  Lastly, Sparrows and Starlings seem to like box moth caterpillars, which pleases me no end.

https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/2026/07/familiar-feathers-and-first-time-fliers/ 

I saw 3 separate individuals in our garden yesterday afternoon. They have been regular visitors for the last few years but I've never seen 3 at the same time. Must be a good year for them. 

Fascinating to watch them - the speed and precision going to and from the tiniest flowers is remarkable, but makes getting a decent photo a bit of a challenge.

Also saw a Gatekeeper, Small Blue (x2) and a Comma, which I havent seen for several years.

We also seem to have a huge blue Emperor Dragonfly on patrol every day. Spectacular and not afraid to come very close to me to see why I am looking at it. You can almost hear its wings as it flies past. Very impressive !

An impressive beast. I once thought I saw one on the garden but it was a Migrant Hawker. 2 links.

https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/species/emperor-dragonfly/ 

https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/species/migrant-hawker/ 

There have been many varieties of Dragonfly visit our garden since we moved here 2 years ago. This year we have had 2 regular, late afternoon, early evening visitors and they are very big but as they haven't settled on any of my nearby plants I haven't been able to identify them but the bigger of the two is at least 10cm, if not more and yes you can hear them in flight as they swoop over the top of your head, then you spot falling wings after they have captured and eaten their prey, also in flight. it's been part of my late afternoon/early evening viewing.

There's also been a lot of butterflies in the garden too, Painted ladies and Red Admirals that I have witnessed getting into spats, lot's of whites, both large and small. The occasional GateKeeper and Brimstone too, not seen any blues recently but there were lots of those back in April/May as well as Peacocks. Also lots of various bumbles pollinating my raspberries, beans, chillis and tomatoes, of which there is an abundance. We're having our best tomato season and they are really tasty and my first time growing cucumbers outdoors as we don't have a greenhouse here, so plenty of pollinators about.

There were also a lot of House Martins aloft the last few evenings, feasting on the insects, which are then taken over by the bats. I love summer here!

Same here !

Loads of tomatoes, and also some of my chilli's have appeared. Maybe I will actually get a crop this year. These are real blow your socks off chillis - I brought the seeds back from Central Java. I try most years but usually run out of summer before they are ripe, but maybe this summer is more like what they are used to !

Our Emperor dragonfly was patrolling early this morning, and I managed to get a good look when he perched on top of a tomato plant in the sun. Definitely an Emperor.

Injured peregrine reunion 'brought tears to eyes' - Nottingham

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx257jdxw9yo 

And here too. Bats yes I can see them but I am of the age where hearing them is no more...

The hedgehog is getting through a small bowl of 'Bella's Bistro' chicken-flavoured (mechanically recovered) cat food, which looks like the ticket for a well-fed hog before hibernation. But it still likes the Carp pellets. The poo proves it's a hedgehog and not a rat/cat. It's a young one too. The bowl of water saves a visit to the watering hole where it might fall in.

The 55 kHz bat species is the soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus), a tiny insect-eating bat whose echolocation calls peak cleanly at 55 kHz on a bat detector. Differentiated from the common pipistrelle (45 kHz) by its higher pitch. [AI]

But I expect you knew that?

Yes - I have a useful aide-memoir of the frequencies. We have had other spp too.  I often leave my bat detector running on the sill of an open window and fall asleep to their chatter. Better than a radio. If feeling especially keen I have a second detector running, waiting for noctules at .20-25kHz. A very spooky sound.

https://media.nhbs.com/equipment/British%20Bat%20Frequencies.pdf 

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/bat-detector/id6504186190 

19/8/2026

12+ Hedgehog turds counted on lawn.

Hedgehog on trailcam:

19/8 at 11.53 

20/8 at 12.46. 01.14, 02.19 and 03.08hrs

You need a cat trap I mean flap.

Collapsed owl saved by soldiers 70 miles out at sea 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gv11nx3j8o 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/40108909/woman-finds-bat-floating-toilet/ 

The article says it was a serotine but I thought it might have been a pee-pee-strelle😂😂

Shameful!