Grey Wagtails and a Friendly Jackdaw

Last weekend, we had a day out to Corfe Castle. I'd forgotten how much I love going to castles.  On the walk up to the castle, there is a really pretty stream with lots of rocks which is surrounded by trees and brambles etc. There were a couple of small birds hopping about on the rocks, I tried several times to get a photo of them, but they were moving around too much and all the pictures were very blurry. Anyway, it turns out that they were grey wagtails. Their name suggests a boring, grey bird, but they have a patch of bright yellow on them. I think that's what caught me eye.

There was also a friendly jackdaw wandering around the little picnic area, where we had some lunch.  It seemed bit wary, as there were children running around, but it kept looking over to the table we were sitting around. I did share a bit of my sandwich with it, as it looked hungry. I think it was grateful for the snack. I get the impression that a lot of people aren't keen on corvids, but I believe you should always try to be kind to them. They are notoriously intelligent birds, and allegedly they can recognise and remember people's faces. (I'm pretty sure I've read that somewhere!) So, I like to think I made a little friend.

It's getting chilly!

 We've had a lot of rain over the last couple of weeks, and a few storms. The lawn is green again, the berries on the pyracanthas are starting to slowly turn orange, and more snowberries are appearing on the bushes. It's been a bit chilly today. In fact, the last few mornings have been a bit cooler. According to the weather forecast, it will actually feel cold this weekend (well...what I consider to be cold). I might actually wear a jumper! I love wearing jumpers.

I'm determined to go out more over the autumn, and enjoy the chilly weather, the colour changes, the wildlife....all of it! Autumn never seems to last very long, so I'm going to make the most of it.

The pheasants seem to be visiting the field next to us again. I've seen them a couple of times recently. They are really beautiful birds. When we first moved here, I got so excited about seeing pheasants and partridges (I hadn't really seen them much before). To be honest, I still get excited about seeing them. I'm not sure why I feel like pheasants are an autumnal sight...but in my mind, they are.

Meteorological Autumn

 Today is the first day of autumn (in meteorological terms). I tend to go by this date, because it starts to feel like autumn now. When I was at school (a very long time ago), the term after the summer holiday was always known as the 'Autumn Term' (I don't think that is the case these days). The leaves are slowly starting to change colour, it's getting darker earlier and the garden is full of berries! Also, according to the forecast, the temperature is supposed to drop a bit this weekend. 

 

I cannot tell you how happy this all makes me! I love autumn. I'm so pleased that the garden has plenty of berries, I was concerned that the heatwave killed a lot of the plants. It looks like a lot of the vegetables we were growning have died off, but at least the birds and other wildlife will still get to enjoy the berries, which also make the garden look lovely and colourful.

We have managed to pick a lot of blackberries and freeze them, which means we get to have lots of crumbles and pies through the winter, so I am grateful that the brambles have manged to survive. 

In fact, picking blackberries is currently one of my son's favourite activities. There are so many in our garden and down the lane. I'm sure the birds and the horses will also be enjoying them.

The honeysuckle also seems to have some bright red berries on it. I didn't even realise honeysuckle produced berries, so what are they called....honeysuckle berries? They look really pretty.