SPRING HAS SPRUNG, DURING LOCKDOWN

The swallows are back, and almost exactly the same day as the previous three years.

The lack of traffic noise has led to bird song being much more audible and just a couple of days ago I heard the distinct call of swallows.

Then today I saw my first one swooping over the fields next to the garden. It means the first sounds was heard in the 8th April and seen on 11th April.

The current sates I've first seen swallows each year, since 214, are:

2014 - 19th April
2015 - 21st April
2016 - 10th April
2017 - 8th April
2018 - 7th April
2019 - 7th April
2020 - 11th April (heard first on 8th April)

It’s typical that during this lockdown we’re seeing really warm spring weather, particularly after the wet and windy last couple of months.

Of course, we’re going to see cooler weather in the coming weeks, but it’s been nice to enjoy the garden and also for a lot longer than usual with working from home.

Sadly not everything is perfect in nature, and this was demonstrated early one morning when I found three dead chicks, perhaps a week old, in the garden not far from the potential location of a robins’ nest.

It has been very cold overnight and a gently frost was on partly visible, so I suspect this had killed them and the parents had removed the bodies.

While it could have been a predator or local cat, the nest location would suggest a cat unlikely and a magpie would have difficulty getting into the thick ivy - the nest is circled along with one of the dead chicks.

What I have noticed since is the robins both being very active in the same location, both with food and the odd bit of nesting material.

I haven’t heard any chick noises, but this is definitely a watching brief, with the male robin (seemingly) singing loudly and often from a series of perches around the garden.

Above the robin nest a pair of blue tits has recently been seen mating, but where the nest is, is another thing.

I suspect they are using the previously unused single nest box that was under the now removed triple sparrow nest box, but await final evidence.

We’ve also found a frog residing in the pond, I say residing because it’s been in there for quite a few days.

I don’t think it’ll be mating and laying frog spawn, but perhaps next year we’ll get that.

Still it’s a good sign that the pond is supporting a wide range of wildlife and plants.

And the pond is looking colourful and is proving to be a great source of food for bees and butterflies – there’s been both orange tip and peacock on most days in the last week.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR

It's been a while since I last updated this blog, but with the extreme cold weather I, like the wildlife, have spent most of the time trying to stay warm.

Over the winter I've provided the local wildlife with numerous typical winter food, from peanuts to fat snacks and all kinds of seeds.

The regular feeds have resulted in an increasing number of visitors to the feeders and below them, including jays, pheasants and the now regular great-spotted woodpecker.

Over the last two weeks the four nestboxes I have in the garden have attracted numerous enquiries for spring residents, including the returning blue tits - the reason why I started this blog.

But to my surprise and delight, two more of the nestboxes look like being occupied. Below the blue tit box, a robin is building a nest in the honeysuckle, while a great tit is making frequent visits to another nestbox on the other side of the garden.

With the clocks going forward I'll be able to check up on the new residents next week and update with images and video.

One exciting development was a new bird for my garden this morning, a chiffchaff. Think he/she may have arrived back in this country a little too late to take up residence in my garden, though you never know!

The pond has developed nicely since last year and is now crystal clear, thanks to extreme winter cold no doubt. I spotted a couple of frogs on the road the other night and I'm hoping they use my pond to deposit their frog spawn.

Finally I spotted a male chaffinch doing something very weird last weekend. It appeared to be trying to fight with a reflection of itself in my car wing mirror. It did this on two days and after that was spotted doing it to a neighbours car.

Anyway below is the video of it, with your thoughts welcome.