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.

Nature Writing/Blogging...maybe.

 I'm changing what I use this blog for, I think. I haven't actually used it at all for ages! Anyway, I want to start writing/blogging again. So, I think this may become more of a nature blog....so I can have a record of some kind of all the nature and wildlife we see now, mainly in our garden.

My son has become quite a keen birdwatcher, which is a lovely hobby to see and enjoy with him. We're seeing a lot of young/baby birds at the moment, along with the odd mouse and shrew, which is quite exciting! We're trying to keep the garden as wildlife-friendly as possible. One of the advantages of living somewhere slightly more rural, is that we get badgers and foxes visiting the garden sometimes. I don't think I will ever get over how amazing it is to see them (usually on a wildlife camera we put outside, but at one point I did actually wake up and watch the badger from my bedroom window).

Unfortunately, I'm not as good at identifying all the different birds and creatures as I'd like to be. I'm trying to learn as we go along. I don't know the names of all the wild flowers yet, and I can't identify birdsong. Hopefully I will be able to do these things, eventually.