PREPARING FOR THE WINTER FREEZE

Frosts, fog and ice scrapers have been the order of this week, which is why I’m pleased that my garden is ready for winter – and also next spring.

The fallen leaves from a couple of the small trees have provided the borders with a covering of nature’s own fertiliser, while crocus, snowdrop, daffodil and tulip bulbs have been planted in the non-veg areas.

Added to that is the horse manure from a local farm and I’m hoping for a very colourful and early start to spring in the garden.

There is still pruning to do and the dismantling of the temporary greenhouse, but I can do nothing more to help the garden been in the best condition to see it through the coldest season of the year.

One more thing I’ll be doing is fixing the second bird camera to the sparrow nestbox and I hope this is in place by Christmas.

The other camera is still working, well it is at this point of writing, and it’ll be interesting to see when any birds make use of it to roost.

I’ve started to see a couple of blackbirds in the garden and the sparrows, both tree and house have made daily visits, but there’s not been more birds visiting recently.

It’s hard to actually tell to be fair, as most days of the week I’m not here in daylight.

Perhaps a new batch of peanuts will tempt a few more species in, although the fat snacks haven’t had that effect. That said they are being eaten, just not when I’m around.

As we near December and the potential for even colder weather, I suspect the numbers and species of birds will increase – as will my vigilance to the menace of the local cats.

THE BIRDS ARE STILL STAYING AWAY

The birds have started to come back into the garden in the last few days as winter starts to send early messages about the cold weather to come.

The great tits and blue tits have been fighting with the tree sparrows and house sparrows over the right to feed from the fat snack in the garden.

Occasionally a dunnock has appeared and nipped in to get any tasty parts of the fat snack that has flown off while the others have been squabbling.

Apart from the fleeting glimpse of a robin and the evening warning calls from the blackbirds, other birds have so far stayed away.

The jays that were seen frequently near the garden in September and part of October are now nowhere to be seen.

A large beech mast harvest might be the reason why the jays have not been sighted recently, which also makes me think that other natural food resources are in good supply.

One or two reports are suggesting that this winter could be particularly brutal for wildlife with predictions of severe snowfall and very cold temperatures blanketing the country.

If this materialises – and I’m quite sceptical – then people will need to watch out for all wildlife and help out where possible, including providing shelter through nestboxes, food with fat snacks, peanuts and seeds, while also remembering that clean, unfrozen water is essential for birds and other animals.

HORSE MANURE, HARVESTING AND CATS

Another trip to get horse manure – this time three heavy bags of it – and I was ready to get started on the garden again.

The only negative was being struck by an energy-sapping head cold, which meant I was shattered last night and tonight after spreading all that manure.

I harvested the last of the carrots and potatoes, leaving only the parsnips left in the ground. With the colder nights starting to bite, it won’t be long before they come up to – hopefully they’ll last until Christmas.

Once again this weekend I’ve been turning the soil over in the planting areas, trimming back the dead plants and generally giving the garden a good platform to over-winter in a good condition.

This time I wasn’t followed around by a robin, which did surprise me given the huge amount of worms that I was ‘working’ with.

The bird population doesn’t seem to be visiting the house in any numbers I thought they would be, apart from the seemingly combined flocks of house and tree sparrows.

The blue and great tits have been making the most of the remaining sunflowers, foraging on the seeds.

I’ve not seen a blackbird for a few weeks, although I have heard them, while the evening often brings a large number of birds, including chaffinches and goldfinches, to the area with trees and bushes – which also contain one of my bird feeders.

I do wonder if the natural food supplies or the plethora of cats in a couple of the houses here are to blame for the lack of activity from the birds. I suspect it’s a bit of both, but hope that when the colder conditions begin, the birds do make the most of the food I provide for them.

Some of the cats – from a house that doesn’t look after them properly – seem to be making more of an effort to get into my garden around the feeders. I’m making sure that when I see them they are chased away, which doesn’t make too much of a difference.

Perhaps new tactics are required, which frustrates me because why should I, or any other nature lover, have to work at deterring cats from their garden?

It’s a dilemma that many people face and one I think needs addressing overall, particularly in my garden.

Let’s hope the natural food supplies keep the birds with enough food, before they have to dodge the cats to get food from my garden.

PREPARING FOR WINTER AND NEXT SPRING

So today has been all about turning the soil over in the planting areas, trimming back the dead plants and generally giving the garden a good platform to over-winter in a good condition.

The series of pics below show what has been done, before and after.

 

  

I was followed around by a robin, who seemed intent on stealing the odd worm.

The horse manure came with hundreds of worms and I’m hoping more worms in my garden means better aeration of the soil and therefore better soil for growing in.

Time will tell on this so stay tuned for next summer’s ‘bountiful supply and colour’…

The birds have started to come back in the garden in recent days, with the house sparrows joined by blue and great tits – who are taking plenty of the sunflowers seeds.

Watching them hang upside down while they choose the right seed to take away with them is amazing, even if one or two lose grip!

The weather for the week doesn’t look too bad, but I expect that more birds will soon be feeding in my garden – that means tomorrow I’ll be stocking up on peanuts and fat snacks.