AUTUMN OR SPRING?

I get the feeling we’ve bypassed spring and summer, and gone straight to autumn. The weather is great for the growing flora, we even hit 15c today, but without much sunshine, growth will be slow.

The blue tit nest box is still being occupied overnight by the female house sparrow and is being slowly added to during the day, with a mixture of dried grasses and feathers.

 

In the sparrow nest box I’ve not managed to see any birds, but they must be going in because the material spread in the box is changing place each day.

 

I’m still not convinced it will see any full nesting action, but I hope that at least some birds are now able to understand that the camera isn’t a threat and they can build a nest and raise the next generation without fear.

I get the distinct feeling that the wildlife is in limbo, waiting for the warmer weather before starting to raise a family.

I have noticed a number of magpie nests nearby, which are obvious in the bare branches of trees and open to attack and piracy from crows.

So it looks like we’ll have to wait until April before the breeding season starts in earnest, but the wildlife in the garden certainly appears ready for it. 

IS WINTER STILL DICTATING OUR WEATHER?

This weekend has certainly brought some lovely sunshine and provided some great conditions for wildlife to prepare for spring and summer breeding seasons.

But the temperatures are still not providing much ‘spring warmth’ and the birds are not rushing to complete their nest and bring the next generation into the world.

The house sparrows in the blue tit nest box are still adding to the nest every day, but it’s not about to be completed any time soon.

I still have no idea who has added nesting material to the triple house sparrow nest box that has a camera in it.

The focus of the camera has been ‘changed’ because of the amount of dried grasses and small twigs that have been placed inside the box.

I still cannot make out if a bird is roosting in there at night, but the female house sparrow is definitely in the blue tit nest box every night.

Given the activity and frequency of the visits from a variety of birds, I suspect all are currently in the midst of building nest, bit waiting for nature to bring warmer weather before completing the nests and laying eggs.

There has been plenty of flying insects this weekend and that is something the summer bird visitors to the UK will be very interested in.

It also makes me think of my favourite bird, the swallow, and how I’m now counting does the days until the family that regularly nest within a few yards if the garden, is back again.

That’s when I and the rest of wildlife will know that spring has finally arrived.

SPRING STIFLED BY TAIL END OF WINTER

Winter is stalling spring’s ‘grand entrance’ as the initial sunshine and warm temperatures that greeted the start of the month have faded away.

It hasn’t stopped the house sparrows continuing the build process on their nest, but it’s still a slow process and it’s probably only halfway there.

 

The other nest box camera (in the sparrow nest box) has also shown signs of nesting activity, although the screen is now quite blurred from a couple of bits of what looks like nesting material.

 

I suspect only the blackbirds have fully built nests, and I’m quite confident they are on eggs as only the male has been showing himself recently.

The robin duo have been seen together in the garden so they are obviously not on eggs, but I don’t think it’ll be long.

Flowering in the borders and rockery is still increasing with daffodils now almost in full bloom.

The blossom on the fruit tree is very visible and when heavy rain or strong winds pass through, it looks like there’s been a dusting of snow.

I was even dive-bombed by a bee this weekend, so surely the warming weather of spring is around the corner.

I know the wildlife is hoping so.

SPRING SUNSHINE INCREASES BUILD WORK FOR THE HOUSE SPARROWS

Following another cold spell of winter weather, spring is certainly starting to stamp its presence and the flora and fauna are taking advantage.

The flower beds are becoming awash with colour from daffodils, snowdrops, crocuses and tulips.

This image may not do just to the previous sentence, so I’ll be taking more in the coming weeks as the number of flowers blooming starts to increase. The first one is from January.

 

 

The fruit tree has been the fastest reactor to the warmer weather in the last few days, with the branches now adorned with pinky white blossom. It looks like someone has dipped the tree in glue and then stuck thousands of pieces of cotton wool to it.

Of course the fauna is also making the most of spring appearing, with the female house sparrow having a few days rest from the aggressive male, to build up the nest – see below.

 

I’ve not seen the male inside the nest for a few days, so perhaps he’s been issued with the sparrow equivalent of an ASBO.

The robins and blackbirds are not frequenting the garden as much, certainly only the male blackbird is visible, while I can only assume that the lone robin is also the male.

While I think it’s too early to talk about eggs being laid, it wouldn’t surprise me. The only problem is finding the nest!

I’ll try to check out previous nest sites in the next couple of weeks and relay any positive news on here.

Until then I’ll be keeping a close eye on both nest box cameras and also movement in the garden.