Jackdaws

I may have mentioned before that we have jackdaws living/nesting on the roof, they have been here since we moved in. A few weeks ago, I had the very upsetting experience of finding a dead one in the garden. Well, actually I found it in a bin in the garden. The bin was otherwise empty (we don't use it for anything), there was no lid on it. Why would a bird go into an empty bin? And why wouldn't it it just fly out? Did it go in there to die in peace, away from everything else? Anyway, it was horrible. I cried about it for hours, not even sure why it upset me so much, but it did.

 Since then, one jackdaw has finally ventured into our garden, occasionally. It either sits on the roof of the workshop, or sometimes actually comes to the bird feeder and has some food. It never stays for very long. Now, this maybe that it has to come to the feeder for food, as it's been so hot and dry here, that it can't find other food easily. However, it could also be that it finally feels safe/comfortable enough to come into the garden, which I hope is the case. 

 I am determined to make friends with the jackdaws. I was a bit concerned that a dead one in our garden would mean that they would hate us, but apparently not.

Baby birds

 Feels like summer at the moment, it's been sunny and warm (sometimes too hot) for a couple of weeks now. There have been a lot of baby birds in the garden, mostly (very noisy) starlings, Although we have also seen a baby robin, some young sparrows and a young blue tit. The baby starlings like to sit on top of the bird feeder and shout at their parents until they come and feed them. It's adorable, but very loud.

A very sweet family of geese visited the garden the other day, 2 adults and four babies. Our neighbour called my husband to let us know they were in our garden. We watched them for a few minutes, they wanted to get through our garden to the field at the back, but the wire fence that was put up a couple of years ago was stopping them. Poor things looked very confused, then the babies started to wander off away from the parents. So, I went out and pulled up the fence (which was not put there by us, but it's on our garden boundary), making a big gap at the bottom. Luckily, after a bit of searching for their babies, all the geese went under the fence on their way to wherever they were going. The big gap/hole shall remain in the fence...as I don't want any wildlife getting stuck in a stupid wire fence. (I'm very proud of myself for making a hole in the fence to help some geese!)

One of the baby geese

 

Also, actually saw a deer in the field at the back last night. First time we've manged to see one in there! My son spotted it, while looking out of his bedroom window.

Goldfinch and partridge

 Although it is basically spring, the weather is still quite winter-like. It's been really cold, and the last couple of days have been very rainy. The rest of the country seems to have had or will be getting a reasonable amount of snow, but there has been none here, disappointingly.

We've done few odd bits in the garden recently, mainly just tidying up a bit. We did plant another tree - a silver birch. We also cut all the dried teasles, and hung them around the outside of the workshop, so the birds could still eat any seeds. This morning, I saw a goldfinch fluttering from one teasle to another, pecking at the seeds...so at least our efforts have been appreciated. Saw a couple of greenfinches on the bird feeder a few days ago too.

Also managed to see a red-legged partridge wandering in the field next door, it was just on the other side of the fence. First one I've seen so far this year. The rabbits seem to be in the field, running around a bit more as well. 

I haven't managed to plant any vegetables in the garden yet, and I need to do a lot of weeding! It's just been too cold. Hopefully the weather will get a bit milder soon, so I can actually go out and get some stuff planted.

Signs of spring

 In spite of all the frost and below freezing temperatures we've had recently, there are a few signs of spring appearing in the garden. New buds are visible on most of the trees (apart from the spindle tree and the oak tree, which never recovered from the heatwave last summer). Also, daffodils have started to spring up in the lawn.

Lots of birds have been visiting the garden, and it seems like a pair of collared doves have started nesting in the giant hedge, we keep seeing them taking lots of twigs in there. Today, my son spotted a sparrow going into the nestbox. It flew straight back out again, but maybe was just having a look for potential nest sites? The blue tits and long tailed tits have also been visiting the garden a lot....mainly the bird feeder.

It's still really cold, but I think we're supposed to get some milder temperatures soon....hopefully.

Two badgers and a mouse

 Despite the fact that it's freezing at the moment, and yesterday was quite foggy all day (still is this morning), the garden is still quite popular with the local wildlife. So many birds come to the bird feeder during the day now, mainly sparrows, starlings and robins. But we've also seen a wren hopping around, a thrush appears occasionally and the blue tit and great tit briefly stop for something to eat.

Last night, had a quick look out of the window (at about 9.30) to see a very fluffy badger snuffling around. It looked much bigger that it used to be, which is probably a good thing as it will help it survive through the winter (which seems likely to be very cold this year). As it was searching for a quick snack, another badger appeared, also looking quite large and fluffy. I'm glad they are still coming to our garden, I'm hoping it means they see it as a reliable source of food (and safety?). It worries me that people stll see them as distructive & a nuisance....seems they have a bad reputation. I mean, they dig up our lawn slightly, but it's not too bad, and grass always grows back. Poor creatures are just trying to survive, like everything else!

Not only were there two fluffy badgers wandering around, but also a tiny mouse came out from under the hedge and jumped around a bit in the grass. I think it was a field mouse, but I wasn't close enough to see properly (and I wasn't wearing my glasses). It's really nice to see that the garden is just as busy at night.

Feeling wintery

 I haven't written anything on here for a while, mainly because I thought there wasn't much wildlife around to talk about, However, I may have been wrong.  It's starting to feel quite wintery now (ignoring the last couple of days, which have been unseasonably mild), there is a chill in the air and most of the trees in my garden have lost their leaves or only have a few left, it's still dark when I get up in the mornings.

There is still wildlife around though. A couple of weeks ago, I took lots of photos of fungus....which I find fascinating, it's all so weird and different. I'm still rubbish at identifying all the different types (I need to work on that). A friend informed me that the first photo is Parasol mushrooms (they were quite big). No idea what type is in the second photo! Please feel free to tell me, if you know.

 

 

The garden birds (mostly starlings and sparrows) are still very much enjoying the food we put out for them. They are getting through it all very quickly, I'm having to re-fill the bird feeders at least twice a day. 

For the last few eveinings, we have been able to hear a fox barking. I think it's probably in the field behind our house, so not close enough for us to see (plus, it's dark when we hear it), but it's nice to know it's there.

Woodpecker & fox poo

 First of all, a sad (but not unexpected) update: We cleaned out the nest box that the bluetits were using last spring...well, my husband did. I couldn't face doing it. There were dead chicks in there, as we suspected. I had a bit of a cry. But, at least now it's all cleaned out and ready for them to use next spring, if they wish.

In better news, while we were doing some tidying up in the garden over the weekend, we definitely heard a woodpecker! It sounded fairly close by, maybe in the very tall trees at the end of the field behind our house. Anyway, it cheered me up a bit after the sadness of cleaning out the nest box.

Also, while we were outside we found a fox poo on the front lawn. Admittedly, finding animal poo is not everyone's idea of excitement, but it means the fox is still around and still visiting our garden, which I'm very pleased about. (Be grateful I did not include a photo!) I was a little concerned, as we haven't seen the fox for ages. It's good to know it's ok.

Owl (probably) and robins

 I haven't been out much recently. We've been having some work done on the house (solar panels being fitted), so have been at home a lot. It's cold now, so been using the wood burner quite a lot to try to warm the house up a bit. But, now the solar panels have been done, might try to have the heating on occasionally.

I had to get up at about 3.00 this morning, our cats have decided that now it is colder, they need an extra meal in the early hours. It was very chilly, but I think that I heard an owl hooting ouside, which was quite exciting! I can't be sure, as I was half asleep and may have imagined it. But if it was an owl, then at least it was a tiny benefit of being awake at such a ridiculous time. I was tempted to wake the rest of my family up so they could hear it too, but decided that they probably wouldn't appreciate that.

The robins in the garden are tolerating me being outside now. While I was hanging out the washing this morning, the two of them were taking it in turns to fly over to the bird feeder and watch me for a few seconds, before going to sit under the hedge. I'm not sure if they were curious about what I was doing, or just trying to protect their breakfast. The larger (fluffier?) one of the two seems to be the bravest or most curious, was quite happy to watch me and flutter around nearby. The smaller one seems quite timid and a bit more wary, would not venture out from under the hedge for too long and flew off to hide whenever I moved.

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.

Unexpected Owl

 The badgers are still visiting our garden every night. On saturday night, we were looking out of the bedroom window, watching a badger snuffle around. Then something flew passed the window, wings flapping but completely silent. It took me a few seconds to work out what it was, as it was moving quite fast, but I think it was an owl! It was quite big and looked fairly pale in colour (it was just getting dark, so I couldn't see that clearly).  My son, who was watching the badger with me, declared that it was a barn owl. He may well be right, he's much better at identifying birds than I am (and his eye sight is much better than mine).

I've never seen an owl in the wild before, so it was very exciting to see one just fly past my window. You can understand why people describe them as ghost-like, not only because of their colour but because of the weird silence. It was quite close to the window, which was open, and I couldn't hear any flapping noise from the (fairly large) wings or anything. It's really odd when you think about how big the owl is, my brain tells me that I should have heard some kind of noise as it flew past, but there was none. Obviously, it's well known that owls can fly silently, but it's strange and amazing to actually see, but not hear one in real life.

Every night now, when I look out for the badgers, I will also look out for the owl. The likelihood of seeing it again is probably minimal, but I can hope.

Regular Visitors

It seems that summer has arrived here, it was quite sudden. The last few days have been very warm and pollen levels have been very high (I have been sneezing a lot).  The grass in the garden-meadow has reached waist-height. There are still plenty of birds visiting the garden, although they are not the same birds who visited us in the spring.

Back in the spring, we enjoyed watching all the regaular birds coming to the bird feeder. There were two long tailed tits who visited every day, along with the blue tits and great tit. A couple of blackbirds would hang around in the garden, as well as two (or sometimes four) robins. I assumed, wrongly, that these birds would be around for most of the year. I'd talk to them occasionally (don't judge me, I don't get out much!). I think I took it for granted that they'd always visit our garden, and come to our bird feeder.

Now we are in summer, I don't see those birds anymore, or at least not as much. Occasionally, the great tit still flits into the garden for a couple of minutes, then disappears again. However, we do see a lot of sparrows now, they are in the garden or on the bird-feeder for most of the day, and fly back and forth to the hedge. Also, there are a lot of noisy starlings around, who also like the bird-feeder. We've seen a lot of swifts flying over recently too, and occasionally a couple of goldfinches. I'm not complaining at all, I love seeing all the starlings and sparrows. The young ones are adorable, funny little creatures! The blackbirds still hang around the garden a bit, and I think two of the robins still visit regularly. I do kind of miss the other birds though. Maybe this is just what happens in summer, and this is the first year I've actually noticed? (And yes, I have started talking to the sparrows and starlings too. Would be rude not to!)

The sad tale of the Blue tits

 Earlier this year, we put up a nest box. We were quite excited when, in the early part of spring, we saw a couple of Blue tits going in and out of the nest box with all their nesting materials. I assume they laid eggs, which hatched into chicks, as later on we saw them taking food into the nest and if you stood in the garden, you would hear noises from the nest box.

Anyway, one evening last week, I saw the black and white cat (who is a regular visitor to our garden and likes to use one of the raised beds as a litter tray). The cat had managed to get on top of the workshop (which has the nest box on the side), then climb onto the top of the nest box & reach inside with a paw. At this point, I went out and shouted at the the cat to 'go away', which it did. I had a quick look around, but couldn't see any dead birds or feathers on the ground, so I'd hoped the Blue tits were ok.

The next morning, I saw one of the Blue tits leave the nest box, flap around in the garden for a while, and then fly off somwhere. It did not return. I haven't seen either of the adult Blue tits or any sign of the chicks since. I think the nest was abandoned. I'm really sad about this. A small part of me hopes that they fledged when I wasn't looking, but I am dreading the day in the autumn when we have to clean out the nest box.