Today I bought my first fat snacks of the winter for the birds.
It can still be relatively cheap (no pun) to by these snacks and the birds love them. The added benefit is any scrapes dropping on the floor can provide food for voles and birds that prefer to feed on the ground.
I use about ten snacks a week so costs about £8 a month to keep the birds with a constant supply.
Today I filled my feeders and felt I was being watched I as placed them around the garden. My feelings were right as the feeders were barely out of my grasp when a robin came to sample the delights.
The robin spent most of the afternoon nibbling on the snacks and was joined at various stages by a couple of great and blue tits.
I'm expecting more arrivals over the next few days, although the weather isn't too cold so the majority of birds do seem to be content with the food they can get in the fields and hedgerows.
Tomorrow I'll be spending a bit of time in the garden cleaning out the nestboxes so hope to catch a few different birds, including chaffinches, goldfinches, long tailed tits and tree sparrows.
More updates next week.
Saturday 29 October 2011
Tuesday 25 October 2011
AUTUMN IS IN ITS WAY
The chill of autumn cast an early white shadow on the lawn one morning last week, but the full version of the season is yet to show.
A mild autumn has meant many birds are yet to spend much time in the garden as the fields, hedgerows and woods are clearly providing enough food.
I did glimpse a flock of long tailed tits over the weekend briefly visiting the garden. I've seen them while on my bike around Frodsham Marsh but I'm looking forward to watching them flock around the peanut feeders in the garden.
Last year I counted over 15 in the garden at one time, so will they break the record this year and have a big number of youngsters from the breeding season? Only time will tell.
This week I've spotted a couple of jays around the lane and possibly the first fieldfare, although I was unable to confirm this as I was driving.
As November nears I'm hoping for a number of winter visitors, but will the elusive badgers from down the lane put in an appearance?
I'm hoping a spring and summer of teaching my daughter Poppy of the exciting aspect of nature watching will pay dividends as a new batch of garden visitors come to the garden.
On another note my birdbox camera will be cleaned this weekend and await the arrival of the first winter roosting birds.
More soon!
A mild autumn has meant many birds are yet to spend much time in the garden as the fields, hedgerows and woods are clearly providing enough food.
I did glimpse a flock of long tailed tits over the weekend briefly visiting the garden. I've seen them while on my bike around Frodsham Marsh but I'm looking forward to watching them flock around the peanut feeders in the garden.
Last year I counted over 15 in the garden at one time, so will they break the record this year and have a big number of youngsters from the breeding season? Only time will tell.
This week I've spotted a couple of jays around the lane and possibly the first fieldfare, although I was unable to confirm this as I was driving.
As November nears I'm hoping for a number of winter visitors, but will the elusive badgers from down the lane put in an appearance?
I'm hoping a spring and summer of teaching my daughter Poppy of the exciting aspect of nature watching will pay dividends as a new batch of garden visitors come to the garden.
On another note my birdbox camera will be cleaned this weekend and await the arrival of the first winter roosting birds.
More soon!
Thursday 6 October 2011
AUTUMN, WHAT AUTUMN?
Towards the end of August I watched as the swallows chattered excitedly on the telephone wires, probably sharing experiences of the migration to Africa with this year’s youngsters.
This year I counted over 30 which is almost double the amount I counted in 2010, obviously a good year.
I expected to see them fly before September, but apart from a few days with only a fleeting glimpse of them, most appeared to stay until after the recent big storm. Were they telling me something?
It would suggest so as the storm didn’t herald the start of autumn, merely that start of an Indian summer, which in turn appeared to be the catalyst for the swallows to depart.
As we basked in 30c and wall to wall sunshine, so the swallows made their exit and other animals made the most of a late harvest as blackberries ripened in the hedgerows and insects continued to flourish.
The weather has certainly helped my tomatoes ripen and also have a positive effect on my peppers, carrots and chillies.
In the last week I’ve had over 100 cherry tomatoes ripen and I’m expecting at least double that in the next week or so, despite the weather actually starting to behave like October.
The summer has been patchy at best, but it appears to have been good for the wildlife. The blackbirds have raised at least two broods, as have the robins.
I’ve recently heard the blue tits and watched a number of great tits on the feeders, some of which must be this year’s brood from the nestbox.
Talking of the nestbox, I’ve not see any activity in there since the great tits left in early summer and I’ll soon be clearing it out ready for any roosting birds over the winter.
The breeding birds of the summer have shown signs of fatigue as the end the post-chick raising moult, I even saw a male blackbird with a grey head, but this has gradually turned black again.
Finally my pond has helped form a place for a frog to spend time but has produced no tadpoles this year. This winter I’ll be filling it in as my daughter is now walking and exploring everywhere.
In its place I’ll continue the rockery and have a boggy wildlife area until such time as I can have the pond back.
This year I counted over 30 which is almost double the amount I counted in 2010, obviously a good year.
I expected to see them fly before September, but apart from a few days with only a fleeting glimpse of them, most appeared to stay until after the recent big storm. Were they telling me something?
It would suggest so as the storm didn’t herald the start of autumn, merely that start of an Indian summer, which in turn appeared to be the catalyst for the swallows to depart.
As we basked in 30c and wall to wall sunshine, so the swallows made their exit and other animals made the most of a late harvest as blackberries ripened in the hedgerows and insects continued to flourish.
The weather has certainly helped my tomatoes ripen and also have a positive effect on my peppers, carrots and chillies.
In the last week I’ve had over 100 cherry tomatoes ripen and I’m expecting at least double that in the next week or so, despite the weather actually starting to behave like October.
The summer has been patchy at best, but it appears to have been good for the wildlife. The blackbirds have raised at least two broods, as have the robins.
I’ve recently heard the blue tits and watched a number of great tits on the feeders, some of which must be this year’s brood from the nestbox.
Talking of the nestbox, I’ve not see any activity in there since the great tits left in early summer and I’ll soon be clearing it out ready for any roosting birds over the winter.
The breeding birds of the summer have shown signs of fatigue as the end the post-chick raising moult, I even saw a male blackbird with a grey head, but this has gradually turned black again.
Finally my pond has helped form a place for a frog to spend time but has produced no tadpoles this year. This winter I’ll be filling it in as my daughter is now walking and exploring everywhere.
In its place I’ll continue the rockery and have a boggy wildlife area until such time as I can have the pond back.
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