Monday 5 May 2014

THE GARDEN IS SPRINGING INTO LIFE

The first May Bank Holiday has delivered the sounds of new life, lawnmowers and people groaning about bad backs from too much gardening.

I can lay claim to all three having spent most of the weekend in the garden and watching the emergence of new life.

The triple sparrow nest box with the camera that is working has tree sparrows in and they are very nervous when any human is around, even though I was in the garden all day they still gave warning calls whenever they were near the nest.

I suspect the chicks are about ten days old – so about a week from fledging – as they are quite noisy when the parents bring food in. I managed to get one image (which is blurry so haven't put up on here) of the adults over the whole of the weekend due to this nervousness – although the chicks still got many feeds.

In the other nest box, in which the camera isn’t working, I suspect the house sparrows are on eggs as they don’t have frequent visits with food like the tree sparrows, but I have seen them going in and out of the nest box.

The robin family must have young and there is a wren chirping away near to the garden, which I think means there is a robin and wren nesting in the banking by the little stream.

I’ve not seen much of the blue tits or great tits, but they do visit for food.

The dunnocks are rarely seen, while the blackbirds must be feeding youngsters as both parents have been seen collecting worms.

In the garden I’ve planted a number of sunflowers, while the runner beans and broad beans are in two locations with a climbing frame for them to grow up. The tomato plants will soon be in the greenhouse, while the final potatoes have been planted.

The first potatoes should be harvested in early July and as you can see from the image below, the rows of different growth can be seen – the far side were planted first.

Finally the swallows lighten up the skies with their calls and seem to be pairing up. Every night I see a pair on the telephone wires by the garden, singing and frequently feeding by swooping low over the garden.

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