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.

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.

Early Autumn?

The blackberries are out, the leaves are starting to change colour, acorns are starting to fall, which all suggests that autumn is beginning! I love autumn. I've seen various things on social media and news articles recently saying that autumn has started early, or that we are seeing a 'false autumn' as a result of the recent heatwaves and generally due to climate change. Obviously, any effects of climate change (or climate breakdown) are very worrying, and I am in no way denying that this is a major issue of our time and is a result of our careless distruction of the planet (I won't go into a rant about this here).

But, isn't it nearly autumn anyway? And if it is starting a little earlier, maybe that's because all the other seasons are starting at different times now too (still as a result of climate change)? Saying it's a 'false autumn' suggests that there may be another, true autumn later in the year. But we are coming towards the end of what is traditionally considered summer, and it has been a very hot summer. So, isn't it just the beginning of autumn, maybe a couple of weeks earlier than ususal? These are just my thoughts on the matter, and may well be completely wrong. Also, autumn is my favourite season, so maybe I'm being overly optimistic.

It's still a bit too hot (for me), and I realise that some people love the summer and enjoy the heat, longer daylight hours etc. And some people find the autumn and winter difficult - changes is amount of daylight, it gets a bit colder etc. But I love that! I hope it is that autumn is starting a little earlier this year, and I hope it gets a bit cooler soon. (I also hope that it's not too late to fix the damage we have done to the world.)

The Rat is Back

 We're finally at the end of the heatwave. It's cooler today, but very humid, and we have warnings for thunderstorms over the next few days. The birds are a bit more active in the garden today, I think they've managed to throw some of their food from the feeder across the lawn (which is all yellow/brown). The rat (who occasionally visits the garden, usually when the grass is longer) has come back today and is eating all the seeds off of the ground.

I know I should be ok with it, and I'm really trying to be. I have a bit of an issue with rats...I'm really not keen on having one in the garden! The poor creature is probably just hungry (as most fruit and vegetables etc. haven't really grown very well because of the heat and lack of rain). If I just ignore it, maybe it will just go away once it has finished eating the seeds that the birds have spilled. As my husband keeps telling me...if we're going to live somewhere rural and insist having a wildlife-friendly garden, I'm probably going to have to accept all wildlife....including the rat.