WINTER HOLDING ON AS WEATHER STAGNATES

No major news from the garden wildlife this week as the winter weather takes a rather mundane turn.

Fog has gripped the garden for a couple of nights and the day time temperatures have struggled to rise above a few degrees Celsius.

This has led to a flurry of visitors and the large flock of sparrows making an increased number of appearances.

A pair of blue tits has been spotted getting cosy with each other, with other notable pairings of robin, great tit and dunnock also showing signs of togetherness ahead of the spring breeding season.

The female house sparrow is still roosting in the original tit nest box and has added a little bit of material (mainly dried grass) to the bottom of the nest box.

Nest building is definitely on hold, but at least the extra few bits give a little more insulation against the cold.

Unfortunately with the huge increase in cats in the area, mainly thanks to two small houses having eight cats between them, the birds are regularly heard giving out warning calls.

I’ve had to chase a cat out of our garden at least once a day recently, although I’m hoping my scare tactics will soon deter them from coming in our garden, stalking the feeders and defecating in the borders.

If I wanted that to happen I’d get a cat! Rant over and back to watching the wildlife flourish when spring arrives and seeing new arrivals on the nest box cameras.

NEST BUILDING ON HOLD

The mild weather has continued with hardly a spot of rain this week, but it has brought foggy nights and mornings, plus frosts.

It’s meant the wildlife in the garden have relied a bit more on the snacks I’ve provided and the nest building process has stalled.

I’ve still not seen the birds that have brought nesting materials to the original (blue tit and great tit) nest box, but each day has seen the material being slightly added to and moved around.

I’m wondering if the sudden burst of cold overnight weather has made the birds think that the caterpillars their youngsters will rely on to survive, might not be around for a few more weeks.

Therefore building a nest and laying eggs will be best put on hold for a short time – saving energy and making sure caterpillars are going to be around when they need them most.

The sparrow nest box has not seen any action, although the house sparrows are in the garden every day. I suspect they will use the other two nest boxes in the triple nest box because the camera might be too intrusive – only time will tell.

The first seedlings have appeared from the spring planting – basil and parsley – which is an encouraging start and I’m hoping they will replace the plants from last year which are on their last legs.

Given the week ahead looks fairly settled again I may even have to water part of the garden! Who would have thought about that a few weeks ago.

PREPARING FOR THE WINTER FREEZE

Frosts, fog and ice scrapers have been the order of this week, which is why I’m pleased that my garden is ready for winter – and also next spring.

The fallen leaves from a couple of the small trees have provided the borders with a covering of nature’s own fertiliser, while crocus, snowdrop, daffodil and tulip bulbs have been planted in the non-veg areas.

Added to that is the horse manure from a local farm and I’m hoping for a very colourful and early start to spring in the garden.

There is still pruning to do and the dismantling of the temporary greenhouse, but I can do nothing more to help the garden been in the best condition to see it through the coldest season of the year.

One more thing I’ll be doing is fixing the second bird camera to the sparrow nestbox and I hope this is in place by Christmas.

The other camera is still working, well it is at this point of writing, and it’ll be interesting to see when any birds make use of it to roost.

I’ve started to see a couple of blackbirds in the garden and the sparrows, both tree and house have made daily visits, but there’s not been more birds visiting recently.

It’s hard to actually tell to be fair, as most days of the week I’m not here in daylight.

Perhaps a new batch of peanuts will tempt a few more species in, although the fat snacks haven’t had that effect. That said they are being eaten, just not when I’m around.

As we near December and the potential for even colder weather, I suspect the numbers and species of birds will increase – as will my vigilance to the menace of the local cats.