IS SPRING SLOWLY COMING?

The sunshine might brighten up our days, but step outside and the chill of winter is still hanging around.

It’s almost April and spring is running very late this year. I hope the wildlife around my garden is not too badly affected, although I’m sure nature knows when things are right to breed as they don’t actually use our calendar system!

Most birds seem to have paired up now, but I’m still not sure which pair of tits has won the battle to live in the camera nestbox when spring finally arrives. Both the blue and great tit pair have been seen around it, although I’ve only seen the blue tits actually go in it.

The blossom has emerged in the fruit tree in my garden, but it appears to have stopped growing for now. The bitterly cold easterly wind seems to have made many things stop and wait for the warmer temperatures to arrive – even the daffodils seem to be reluctant to emerge!

I’m still buying fat snacks, peanuts and seeds, when I want to be getting mealworms ready for the arrival of some chicks.

Last year’s very wet spring had a catastrophic effect on the great tit chicks in the camera nestbox, resulting in all eight chicks dying before they were a couple of days old. This year my plan is to make sure I have enough mealworms to supplement the caterpillars both the great tit and blue tit chicks require.

I will make sure that the mealworms are a support of the usual food and don’t become what the birds rely on, but I don’t want to see more dead chicks when there is something I could do to help.

Nature has its own way of rebuilding a species’ numbers following a poor breeding season or harsh winter, but as humans we affect nature so much that I think it’s right that we give a helping hand to the wildlife around us, when we can.

Two things show that this extended winter is having a negative effect on wildlife around my garden. The first is that I’ve never seen the long tailed tits feed in my garden so often; certainly in late March and beyond it’s very rare.

Secondly the great spotted woodpecker is daring to come to the feeder closest to the house and happily feed for a few minutes. In the last five years I’ve probably seen him in my garden the same number of times that he has been in feeding this year.

I hope to see more of these birds going forward; I just don’t want it to be out of desperation for food.

Winter your time is up, spring, it’s your chance to shine!
 

CAN SOMEONE CALL SPRING, SHE'S LATE!

The snow and winter has unleashed its worst weather so far this season and it’s meant to be spring!

This time last year it was 17/18c and lovely spring sunshine, but this year there’s up to a foot of snow and a bitterly cold easterly wind.

The birds look in shock when I see them in the garden and the forecasts suggest that even Easter won’t escape winter’s unwelcome extension.

Luckily in our garden we have shelter from the east winds and the birds have made the most of the area of lawn and border that hasn’t seen a single flake of snow. On the other side is drifting snow!

It’s been so cold that a lack of traditional spring food supplies has driven a great spotted woodpecker onto the fat ball feeder on my garden and literally 10ft from the house. I couldn’t find my camera quickly enough and before long it had taken flight, although I suspect it won’t be long before I see it again.

The regular supplies of food I give the birds are very welcome for them at the moment and I’ve seen plenty this week. Blackbird, chaffinch, house sparrow, blue tit, robin, great tit, long tailed tit, tree sparrow, goldfinch, woodpigeon, magpie, wren, dunnock and even a pheasant.

The camera nest box still isn’t working and I’m going to leave it for this year as a pair of great tits and blue tits have been inspecting it and even clashing over the rights to nest there.

I suspect that this battle will continue, but it’ll be the ‘who is roosting first’ challenge for the next week or so.

I think the pair of robins are using a nest site that they’ve used before, among the tree roots and vegetation that grows from the brook near our garden. They won’t use the nest box I’ve got up again this year because the honeysuckle plant hasn’t covered it up enough.

Finally I’ve not seen one bird inspect the sparrow nest box and while this weather persists I suspect they’ll only do so at dusk if a current roost site it disturbed.

Hopefully the weather will start to act like spring from Easter onwards and the wildlife can start acting accordingly – until then keep feeding them and always making sure a water supply is available.

IS SPRING DELAY SNOW GOOD FOR WILDLIFE?

Where has spring gone? It seemed to tease us with a brief appearance, but has now been banished by the return of winter.

The recent cold weather has certainly affected the wildlife, as some of the birds that had paired up are now simply feeding instead of flirting with each other and seeking out potential nest sites.

On a positive note it seems that the timing of the new house sparrow nestbox being fixed to my house has been pretty good. I’ve not seen any birds investigate it, but they will have noticed it while feeding in the garden and given the cold weather, might investigate it as a potential roosting site.

This in turn could then be the catalyst to give it credibility to become an actual nesting site. Time will tell, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

The nestbox that has been used for the last five years, well every year since it was put up in 2008, has once again become popular with both blue and great tits.

I first recently noticed that a blue tit flew into the nestbox, looking like it showed its mate where their nest should be.

The following day I saw a great tit pair flirting around the nestbox and in the bushes near it. I’m sure they will too have checked out the nestbox, but while the camera is out of action I can’t be sure.

So will this weather delay the ‘start’ of spring? Only time will tell but the recent weather forecast suggests that it may be April before we see the temperatures start rising and spring finally being sprung.

WINTER IS BACK, BUT FOR HOW LONG?

So spring has been put on hold, which teaches me yet again that March is the most unpredictable of months!

Frosts, cold winds and even a bit of snow have descended on my garden and the surrounding area. Can someone tell the swallows to stop off for a few days and delay their return? 

It sounds like we’re going to have another blast of winter for most of this coming week, so make sure you keep the birds feeders topped up and water unfrozen.

I spent most of the weekend pruning trees and bushes, to give the ground opposite my garden a chance to have some light and bring more colour to the dark and brown ground.

The trees and branches were then used to create a traditional fence, thanks to the input from my neighbour Neil who spent some hours doing this with me, while we both spent a few hours at night picking splinters out of our hands – even though we were wearing protective gloves!

 

We were followed constantly by a pair of robins, the same that frequent my garden and I presume have paired up for the year. Where they will nest is anyone’s guess, but if it’s not in the robin nestbox I have in my garden, I know it’ll be nearby and we’ll see the fledgling robins in due course.

Two other main things done this weekend – apart from topping up my fat snack, seed and peanuts feeders – was putting up a sparrow nestbox and planting some early potatoes.

With all the house sparrows about I thought it a good idea to provide them with a communal nest site, to prevent them from going under the eaves of the house.

 

I know it might be a little too late this year, but at least it’s up and ready for whenever they need it. The nestbox replaces one that was for blue tits and great tits, which seemed to be infrequently used for roosting, but never for nesting. I’ll find another place to put this in time.

 

The garden borders were readied for plants and vegetables over the last few weekends and now the first planting has taken place I’m sure there’ll be plenty more in the coming weeks.

 

By the end of March I hope to have seedlings in place so April can see the emergence of my mini greenhouse.

Of course this will be when the weather has picked up to spring like again. I’m just hoping it doesn’t end up like 2012; otherwise it’ll be another washout!

A SPRING IN MY STEP

Has spring finally sprung? It certainly feels like it and the birds seem to know it around my garden.

I’ve seen pairs of great tits, blue tits and dunnocks flirting together while the blackbird couple spend time in the garden and surrounding area a few times a day.

The great tits seem to be showing great interest in the nestbox with the camera in, although while I can’t be sure if one or both are roosting in there because the camera still isn’t working, I’m confident that it is happening. The alarm calls at dusk when I’m in the garden seem to be a good indication of this.

Looking at the camera I feel the fault is definitely with the aerial sending the signals to the receiver as the infa red lights on the camera are working, showing power is getting there. If anyone has any suggestions as to what I can do, please post a comment, it would be much appreciated.

Over the weekend the great tits were witnessed displaying to each other while picking up pieces of dead grass, which could be nesting material.

The robin that follows me around the garden has been seen with a potential mate in the last few days, including a few minutes of displaying to each other over the weekend. Perhaps they will use the robin nestbox that has been in my garden for four years, but only used once.

My favourite visitor of the weekend was a song thrush, which seems to have taken a liking to my garden and the surrounding area, and is now almost as common a site as the other birds. Below is the best image I have of it so far, but I’ll keep trying for a better one.

Song thrush in my garden

The house sparrow flock seems to be getting louder, although this is probably down to the signals that spring is here, rather than a problem with my hearing!

I suspect they will disperse a little in the coming weeks to find a suitable communal nest site, which may be close to my garden – in which case I’ll be seeing them all spring and summer.

So as spring starts to appear, it won’t be long before the current dawn chorus of song thrush, blackbird and robin is joined by my favourite summer resident, the swallow.

I hear through @Swallowsighting that some swallows are already starting the long journey to the UK and perhaps we’ll see one by Easter. Fingers crossed because they’re presence in this country is something we should celebrate and enjoy.