holiday – Georgia Locock

Last Wednesday I went to visit my Uncle who lives in Eridge, near Tunbridge Wells for four days with my Brother, another Uncle and my Nan. Where he lives it is surrounded by nothing but the lovely countryside. He has a massive garden which includes a orchard and a large pond. I’ve heard many stories from family members about how brilliant the wildlife is in his garden and that you can see anything from grass snakes and slow worms to foxes and badgers.

Day One.

When I got there, before unpacking, I went for a look around the garden. To my surprise the first thing I saw was a common lizard which was incredible! After having some lunch I went exploring round the garden again, but this time with my camera. The weather was extremely hot and I decided to have a sit down when a grasshopper jumped onto my wellie, the wildlife was everywhere! I managed to get a photo and I took some photos of the garden too. One of the reasons why we were having a long stay at my Uncles was so my brother and my other Uncle could start clearing out the pond as over the last many years it has become extremely overgrown. Before the pond became overgrown it was a common sight to see grass snakes, newts, moorhens and much more. Here are some of the photos I took on the first day.

The very overgrown pond.

After the first day this what what the pond looked like. One of the first stages of clearing the pond.

Day Two.

The next morning I was up nice and early to check my trail camera (a blog post about the footage I managed to get is coming next!) and to spend another day exploring the vast habitats in the garden. Most of the day I helped with clearing the pond but I did go around with my camera. I even managed to see a slow worm but unfortunately I didn’t photograph it! Here are a few photos from day two.

Here’s an old reed warbler nest we found when clearing the pond.

Day Three.

Once again I was up nice and early to check my trail camera and get started with another lovely day in the garden. Today I went on the hunt for a slow worm again so I could photograph one and luckily I did find the same one again and it was in the same spot. Here are some photos that I took from day three which include my photo of a slow worm!

My brother on a swing we made going over the pond.
This is my brother, Sam, helping me photograph some dragonflies. I sat in the boat and as one landed he would slowly push me out to photograph it.

Day Four.

Today was the last day of our four day break and once again I was up early to check my trail camera. After having my breakfast I went for one last look around the garden before going home. I even spotted the same slow worm at the same place I’d spotted him at the few days before. Here are some photos I took before setting off home.