WINTER IS ON ITS WAY

After a very mild autumn, the first signs of winter have led to frosts, cold winds and even snow in places.

There’s not been any snow, or very little sign of frost, in the garden, but the small birds have been flocking to the feeders.

The flock of house sparrows seems to be increasing in numbers, while the blue tits and great tits are spending more time in and around the peanut feeder.

I’ve also noticed a robin spending plenty of time on selected perches around the garden, sometimes singing, but mainly watching out for other robins and opportunities for grabbing some food from the feeders.

The temporary greenhouse was blown over in the recent and while moving it to the garage for winter storage, I found a huge number of slugs and snails seemingly trying to hide out the cold.

I safely moved them to the green waste bin so they can spend the winter somewhere else and not spend next spring and summer munching on the garden plants and vegetables.

Each day brings more leaves from the trees and it’s now much easier to spot the birds on the branches, but the down side is there’s not much daylight to be able to do this.

I’m hoping that as we go in to December and the weather gets colder, we start to see the likes of fieldfares, redwings and the now more common jays in the garden

This should increase the chances of the local sparrowhawks entering the airspace above the garden and the battle for survival in the coldest and darkest time of the year.

IS AUTUMN SET TO BE WARMEST ON RECORD?

The autumn warmth is showing little sign of fading, which could help make this year’s autumn one if the warmest on record.

Fog, mild nights and the odd wet and windy day have all served to delay migrating birds and the arrival of birds in the garden to feast on the offerings.

The latter because there is seemingly plenty of natural food in the surrounding countryside, which is good to know.

Despite reports of flocks of goldfinch being seen in increasing numbers in garden around the country, the garden in front of the house has hardly seen any.

I know they’re close by because I see small flocks when down the lane, but the amount of forays into the garden is minimal. Perhaps when the colder weather arrives it’ll signal the arrival of more goldfinches in the garden – I’m hoping so!

The hedgehog has still not made an appearance and I doubt we’ll see it again, but I do hope it’s found an area to forage and keep warm.

One thing the weather has brought this autumn is all the leaves from the trees and bushes. It’s good news for the garden as it provides food for worms and other small animals, along with nourishing natural food for next year’s growing flora.

One day last week a sparrowhawk was chastened by a group of jackdaws, before taking shelter in the garden.

It’s wonderful to see such a beautiful bird near the house, natural behaviour of other birds towards it, while appreciating the terror an bird of prey causes smaller birds.