30 Days wild Day 17 - Greenfinch

A day for relaxing and enjoying ourselves.  Dalemain was our first port of call.  A local mansion, which looks Georgian but is built round some parts of the previous "manor house" dating back much longer.  We weren't there for the shots of deer, or the house not even the garden, so why?  The plant Fair!

The estate famous for its gardens (not to mention the marmalade festival) had drawn plants men from all over the north of England.  There were also a smattering of "craft" type stalls, not to mention food and the cafe.  Showing great restraint we left with only a couple of Roscoeas.  One (the last of its kind on the stall) virtually snatched before the other person who was eyeing it up could make up their mind.

The afternoon was visiting a couple of gardens in the village where members of a local art group were displaying their work.    I am afraid the sculpture wasn't to my taste, but their garden was worth a walk round.  The potter was an old friend so really we just dropped in to have a chat.

The blip still keeping to the wild theme is a male Greenfinch.  The population has crashed in this century.  Trichomonosis a common disease in doves and pigeons jumped species and infected them.  BTO surveys showed that in 2006 in the region of 500,000 birds died of the disease.  The decline hasn't really stopped yet.