CHICKS AND RAIN EVERYWHERE

It’s been four weeks since my last post, and quite a lot has happened.

The main thing is that summer hasn’t even started, with much of the recent weather akin to autumn, rather than the warmest season of the year.

The great tits chicks did fledge, although it must have been while I was at work, because one day they were very audible in the morning and when I got home later in the day, there was silence.

However, the air was filled with the noise of newly-fledged tit chicks and has only stopped in the last few days.

It’s hard to tell if they are great tit or blue tit chicks from the sounds, but when the parents give alarm calls it’s much easier to identify.

They all appear to have been doing very well, and they probably stuck around for a bit longer due to the unseasonal late spring weather.

Of course, the last few weeks have been awful, particularly for the wildlife who expect much warmer conditions.

The constant rain and very cool temperatures mean many of the insects that birds feed on are difficult to find or have been washed away.

I’ve been continuing to hand out mealworms, which the great tits, blue tits, robins and house sparrows have been swooping on very quickly.

Just when I thought the bird life would fade away for the wet summer, the robins provided me with quite a surprise.

In the last few days I’ve noticed robins heading into part of the ivy just outside the kitchen window.

A pair of robins did spend time in the same area last year but didn’t raise a family there.

This year I’ve seen evidence in the last 48 hours that lead me to believe they have nested and now have chicks.

Two robins are now going into the area with caterpillars, and also some of mealworms I’ve been handing out.

I’m going to monitor the behaviour of the robins over the next few days, because I’m concerned the weather will reduce the survival chances of the chicks.

And given the incidents of the various chicks in Scotland on Springwatch over the last couple of weeks, my concerns are real.

The sound of summer, in the voice of the swallows and swifts have been heard when the rain stops, with swifts seeking higher air while chattering and the swallows swooping around the garden.

I think the swifts I’ve seen haver had young, but I think the swallows are either on eggs or have young. They usually cause quite a racket when the young leave the nest, so I think I’ll be able to tell when that happens.

In the meantime, let’s hope summer does come along and doesn’t leave us with a soggy and disappointing June – I think the swallows will agree with me!

WILDLIFE MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME

May is proving to be an exciting month for the garden, with new life and new nesters!

The blue tits have indeed been the birds to have used the original nest box, and the sound of chicks begging for food was heard on Sunday morning.

However I first suspected something was going on when I saw both blue tits scurrying around the garden searching for caterpillars and insects.

They sped around so fast, hanging upside down looking underneath leaves, that my first thought was they must be looking for food for their chicks.

There was an urgency not seen when they are ‘child free’!

Unfortunately it looks like Mrs Wren didn’t like to location or build of the nest by the kitchen window and they appear to have somewhere else.

Not all is lost though, because just two days ago a pair of robins were seen taking nesting material to that very nest.

They must either be a new or, as I suspect, the garden robins that have had their first nest nearby found and raided by a predator – my money is on one of the local cats.

I’m just hoping they continue with this nest, lay eggs that are successfully hatched and fledge all their chicks.

In the meantime all of the tomato, broad bean and sunflower plants are outside in the greenhouse, growing rapidly.

I suspect it’ll be bank holiday weekend when the first ones are put out in the garden, when they are strong enough to sustain any attacks from slugs and snails.

The weather looks like being good for a while, so watering the garden will be crucial in the coming weeks, not only to keep the flora going, but also help the birds with keeping their thirst quenched and food available.

They will of course get mealworm supplements from me while chick rearing season is going on.

WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER & AUTUMN IN THE SAME MONTH?

We’ve not yet finished April but we’ve seen weather representing all four seasons already.

Hail and a little snow started the month, before spring(ish) conditions followed, then last week summer took over, while autumn came along today and looks like staying until May – or until winter starts the sequence again.

What’s been lovely to see, up until today, has been the swallows dancing in the air, chattering and making plans for breeding, plans that may be on hold for now!

The nest building in the garden continues, with the blue tits and blackbirds making their choices of nest location well known.

The male wren has been entertaining the female at his nest in the previously unused nest box.

It’s been difficult to assess her feedback, although she has been spotted a few times so perhaps this nest ‘sale’ is still under discussion.

What’s been very distinguishable is the dawn chorus, and what a lovely sound the birds are making around the garden.

Wren, blackbird, blue tit, house sparrow, robin, dunnock, goldfinch, chaffinch, swallow, chiffchaff and great tit all providing a cacophony of alarm bells from the first chink of light – at the moment 5am is late for some birds!

The big question for the birds is will there be enough food for when the chicks arrive, particularly for those that have laid eggs recently, as the colder weather isn’t beneficial for the usual spring gluttony of caterpillars.

One thing I do is order mealworms, and the first batch is due to arrive this weekend, so it’ll be interesting to see which birds fly off with big bunches of them first.

SPRING WILL HAVE TO WAIT… BUT NOT FOR LONG

Once again winter has delivered its weather, proving it’s more likely to snow at Easter then Christmas.

However this blast of cold weather and snow for some, looks likely to be replaced by much milder, some would say typical, spring-like weather later this week.

Most will say it’s a shame that the Bank Holiday weather has been not so spring-like; and the wildlife is probably in agreement.

The breeding season has definitely been on hold, with little sign of nests being built, but plenty of the local garden birds pairing up.

The cold weather has meant a delay in fixing the nest box cameras, although I suspect it might be too late as the milder weather is likely to herald the start of nest building.

Will the extension of winter mean lower breeding numbers than usual, as the breeding season for the local birds will see the first broods fledging in early to mid-May?

Possibly, however the blue tits fledged in mid-May last year and did come under threat from a cold blast at the end of April.

The real indicator for the start of garden bird breeding season will need to see some leaves on the trees and caterpillars munching on those leaves.

It’ll need some warmer weather to encourage the butterflies and moths to lay their eggs, and that’ll be the indicator for the small birds to start laying eggs.

Only time, and hopefully a fully functioning camera, will tell.

And what about the arrival of the summer visitors? Well last year is was the earliest recorded arrival since at least 2013,. The 08^th of April saw the first swallows arrive, with blue skies and temperatures of 20c.

Previous dates for the first swallow sighting have been

2017 – 08/04

2016 – 10/04

2015 – 21/04

2014 – 19/04

In theory we could see the first swallows arriving this weekend, but the average tells us it’ll be the second full weekend of April.

The swallow is my favourite bird, closely followed by the peregrine falcon. Luckily both are seen around here, although the peregrine is resident, it’s more likely to be seen a short walk from the garden, while the swallow can be see daily swooping low over the garden in summer.