CHRISTMAS CHILL CAME NOT THIS YEAR

Christmas has come and gone, and I missed the opportunity to update this blog due to work, pre-Christmas activity and then being struck down by flu.

I do, however, still manage to ensure the birds were fed, as often as possible, although they probably didn’t need as much support compared to previous Christmas’, mainly due to it being fairly mild.

So mild in some parts of the UK that we in Scotland it reached a low of almost 17c, AT NIGHT. While it’s not unusual for us to get the temperature in December, it’s certainly unusual for it to happen at night, as this BBC report explains.

Nothing much has happened in the garden over the last few weeks, although the relatively benign conditions are probably one of the reasons why the flu bug is has been creating havoc!

The wildlife has benefited in that natural death rates at night will be low and food will be fairly easy to find, with water also not a problem.

I’ll be clearing out the nest boxes in the next week or so, before I decide whether to hook up new cameras – I might just get one new one for the original nest box.

Over the first few weeks of 2020, I’ll reflect on 2019 and how the garden changes, so be prepared for some images.

It’ll give the weather time to get cold and bring us some snow, good for killing bugs and helping the next breeding season avoid too much death through little bugs.

THE LONG ROAD TO DARK MORNINGS AND NIGHTS?

So September has brought what the end of August promised – cloud, wind and rain, along with a distinctly chilling feel in the air.

In the last few weeks there has been a couple of overhead views of swifts, chattering away and seemingly on their journey to warmer climes.

I don’t think they’re local swifts, merely family groups passing over and making the most of the conditions to feed.

I’ve also seen a couple of family groups of swallows, but again it’s been a week of so since the last sighting of our beautiful summer visitors.

In the garden the pond has seen too much litter falling in, so a clean-up along with new aerating plants is required soon.

There has been a smattering of blue tits, great tits and house sparrows in the garden, particularly in the last few days, making the most of the free food on offer.

One thing that has been noticeable is the local robins singing, and sounding like they’re reasserting their territories.

The one in our garden has been very vocal in the morning and evenings, making the most of the feast of bugs and earthworms the current weather is bringing to the surface.

The tomatoes are only just growing from flowers, so I don’t hold much hope for any red ones this year.

Better news on the sunflowers, the few that have made it beyond July are now getting quite tall, so they should be flowering soon – giving some birds free and natural foods for the autumn.

Five years ago most of September was warm, if not hot at times, so whether this year it’ll pick up temperature wise is another thing – the forecast suggest not!

EASTER BRINGS SIGNS OF SPRING

Settled weather over Easter has helped to raise temperatures and increase the chances of birds completing their nest building, including the house sparrows in the ‘blue tit’ nest box.

The slightly warmer conditions seem like a starting gun for people to look for the arrival of my favourite summer visitor, the swallow.

Last year I noted the arrival of the swallows, which have nested for many years behind the house, on the 18^th April. So I’m hoping the weather warms up over the next few days and accelerates their arrival.

The flora is now showing signs of spring, with blossom being replaced by green leaves and buds. Soon the trees and bushes will have a dense coat in which birds and bugs will feed and shelter.

This is when understanding bird song becomes important, so I’m trying to learn the sounds of the birds in the garden while I can still see them on the fairly bare branches.

During the recent wet weather I’ve seen plenty of snails and slugs around the garden, so I’m going to have to be careful when planting out the flowers and vegetable I’ll be growing from seed.

This year I’ll be limiting the amount of things I’ll be growing in the garden, so I can concentrate on harvesting the best crops. I think it’ll be broad beans, carrots and tomatoes.

So this week I’ll be looking skywards and listening for the unmistakable sounds of swallows. 

RARE WINTER VISITOR IN MY GARDEN

The snow may not have hit us, well apart from the highest mountains, but the wind and rain have certainly made their presence felt.

Watching the weather forecast for the next week and Christmas, it looks like we’ll all get hit by storm after storm, which isn’t good for us or the wildlife we share our space with.

While many people would rather we did without the cold, snow and ice, I rather enjoy these conditions in winter – it shouldn’t happen in spring or autumn for me though.

It gives the chance for wildlife to rest, for bugs to be killed off and for us to enjoy watching trails of wildlife that may have passed in our gardens or on our streets during the night.

Today I watched a first in my garden as a pair of redwing scouted around for food. I can’t recall a time when I’ve seen them anywhere near my house, so today was a real treat.

They only stayed for about ten minutes, but I hope they return during the rest of winter.

The blue tits and great tits are now regulars on my feeders, while the house sparrows and tree sparrows continue to visit daily.

A robin is starting to call from the trees and bushes, presumably staking my garden as part of his territory.

The blackbirds are also returning, although other birds are still reluctant to venture from the natural food supplies.

I’m really looking forward to when the long tailed tits make a visit, as they show that winter is really with us and the natural food supply is low.

Until then I’ll be on the lookout for more redwing and even the odd fieldfare. I think a waxwing is probably out of the question.

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF THE GARDEN

Before I went on holiday for a week with the family, I took images of the garden from all four angles to see how much it would grow in seven days, at the height of summer.

I’ve done it because this unusually wet and fairly humid growing season has given plenty of healthy growing flora, but not given us much chance to enjoy it, apart from glimpses through a window as we shelter from the rain!

The first angle is towards the front of the house and the beautiful hanging baskets that Sarah creates every year. This year they were put together a couple of weeks late due to the weather, but they’ll still be great throughout the next couple of months.

As you can see from the first image they are growing well and the sunflower is growing well. The tomato plants of the right and left of the image had flowers so I was hoping for little green fruit upon my return.

As you can see from the image below, the sunflower has grown and started to show its flower, the wall climbing plant is providing even more shelter for small bugs and insects, which in turn is attracting the returning post-moult small birds and the hanging baskets are growing well.

The rose bush, which was showing flowers when we left for the holiday, has taken a couple of years to grow to its current state and plenty of pruning at most times of the year.

It provides a haven for the small birds that visit the garden to shelter from both weather and danger, while also feeding on food gathered from my offerings, or that of the garden itself.

As you can see from the image below, some of the flowers have faded, but others are coming to replace them. The most notable difference is the lawn, which has a carpet of daisies, perfect for small insects.

As my daughter started to wander around the garden I decided to slowly fill in the small pond and grow from seed, plants to fill the gap in the rockery.

The result is a sea of colour and a micro wildlife haven, with plenty of insects making it home. The good news is the pond lining is still there, so it can be resurrected in the future.

As you can see from the image below, the lawn has again shown it's growing power in the wet conditions, while the changing colours of the flowering plants is proving to be a great place for nectar hunting insects and bees. I planted most of the current flowers as seeds in March, so it's great to see that work coming to fruition.

Earlier this year I drastically trimmed the honeysuckle bush as it was mainly dead branches and I wanted the bush to provide shelter but not overhang the patio.

At first I thought the bush wasn’t responding positively to the trim, but slowly it began to show new shoots and green leaves. It had grown into what I imagined before we went away and would provide a great place for insects and birds to watch the garden.

But as you can see it had come back to life before the Cornwall holiday and I was making sure it created a thin, but sheltering hedge, rather than the overhanging shaded area it did before.

As you can see from the image below the honeysuckle has grown even further to start start shaping up to what I envisaged it to be when I cut it right back this spring.

At the front of the garden the entrance gate has sunflowers each side of it, while a couple of tomato plants and small hedge bushes were planted a couple of years ago to make a barrier combined with the fence.

The sunflowers provide autumn food for some birds, while the fence helps provide a security from local cats.

It is now turning into a great entrance to the garden, while also providing shelter and food for wildlife, plus food for us.

The sunflowers are growing well, albeit not at the same rate!