WINTER WEATHER INCREASING USE OF GARDEN FEEDERS

Hard frosts and cold days have resulted in the garden birds spending more time around the feeders in the garden.

Long tailed tits are now frequenting the garden, suggesting the natural food source is running low.

A flock of around 15-20 house sparrows spent about 30 minutes hoovering up from underneath a feeder, thankfully without any of the local cats noticing.

A pair of blackbirds has been feasting on the apples; with three down and one to go.

The male and female visit separately, but can spend up to an hour (without any disturbance) eating and digesting the fruit.

I do wonder if the fermenting fruit does make them slightly tipsy!

I’ve not checked the nest box cameras since before Christmas but, with the cold weather likely to be around for a while, January is a good time to check in on them and see if any winter roosting is taking place.

Coming back to the feeders around the garden, it’s interesting to see that the peanut seed feeders are finished first, while the fat balls and snacks feeders seem to have much less attention.

This could be down to the fact the former two are easier to pick food up from and move to a place of security, while the fat snacks need them to stick around a feeder for a time.

I could conduct research into this, but unfortunately work and family leave me no time.

WINTER IS ON ITS WAY, AS AUTUMNAL FROSTS ARRIVE

The garden has already seen a couple of frosts this year, but the influx of birds has yet to appear.

The garden feeders are being utilised, mainly by a few blue tits, the odd robin and great tits. Other birds are appearing infrequently.

One exciting development recently has been the appearance of a male sparrowhawk.

It was spotted on top of an outbuilding next to the house, and it appeared to be gathering itself after a failed hunt.

It look inexperienced so likely one that was born this year, but there’s hope in the house that it’ll keep making appearances in the future.

Of course that might mean negative news for the smaller garden birds, however it does mean there is a depth to the food chain in the area, with the top predator not being cats!

The next job in the garden is to clean out the nest boxes and make them ready for winter roosting. Checking the cameras are still operating will also be part of the process.

The flora in the garden has gained a new lease of live, with a large lily flowering, along with the rose bush.

The rose bush flowered in every month last year, and has done the same this year, proving it can withstand the rigours of all seasons.

It also means there’s a food source for any insects still hanging around before winter, and for those that appear early in spring on warmer days.

Once again the signs of lack of food in the surrounding countryside is likely to be signalled by the arrival of long tailed tits at the garden feeders, although there’s sadly little hope for any waxwings, redwings or other winter visitors given the history of not appearing.

THE LONG ROAD THROUGH WINTER BEGINS

Autumn has managed to get through most of the season with mild weather, but the road to cold winter weather is well underway.

Snow has been seen in some parts of the country and in the last few days further reports of snow are being made.

But now overnight frosts are now becoming the norm and the wildlife is taking more refuge in and around the garden.

The bird feeders are being visited by more and more birds, and I’m sure a number of small mammals are nicking a few peanuts at night.

It’s hard to see which birds are coming along, with the dark mornings and evenings, so the weekend is the only time they can be counted and seen.

Will the garden be visited by fieldfares, redwings or waxwings? A hope remains, but given the scarcity in recent winters, it’s not too high.

There is probably more hope of seeing snow, which would prove more popular in the house (with the children) than the wildlife outside.

However it’ll be much easier to see which animals are visiting the garden!

WINTER, SUMMER, NOW AUTUMN?

The last few weeks have seemingly brought three seasons in just a few days. The hailstones and frosts gave way to temperatures in the high 20s, before cold northerly winds brought temperatures, and matching weather, reminiscent of autumn.

How has the wildlife fared? Probably about the same as humans – managing through it all.

The swallows have been in good song and, apart from when it’s been really wet, showing off their aerobatic skills.

Chiffchaffs have also been in full voice, while magpies are now regularly being seen on their own, suggesting it’s partner is on eggs in the nest.

The great tits are definitely on eggs, but with a change in the TV situation in the house, images are not currently available.

Not a single piece of nesting material is in the new nest box, so the camera is wasted in there. Is it because the triple sparrow nest box above it is occupied? I have my suspicions.

No sign of the house sparrow families feeding youngster in the three nest, but I suspect it’ll only be a matter of time before we hear some noisy chicks.

The main focus recently have been on planting and now the temporary greenhouse is almost completely full of emerging chillis, tomatoes, sunflowers and cauliflowers.

The snails and slugs have so far been kept at bay, but I sense it’s only time before at least one plant succumb to the molluscs.

The defence barrier it there, so I’m hoping it holds out, unlike the continuing battle with the cats. More of that next time!

A COLD BLAST OF WINTER SHOCKS THE WILDLIFE

I’m sure the swallows are having second thoughts about coming back from a warm Africa, particularly given the cold, snowy and icy week of weather we’ve had.

The regular hailstone storms and overnight frosts have meant a battering for the flora, with at least two tulips having all their petals ripped away and left in tatters on the garden lawn.

The swallows have been witnessed gathering mud for nest building, and while the weather has helped create plenty of mud creating facilities, it’s not been helpful for the purposes of the a nest – rearing young.

Of course an update on this blog wouldn’t be complete without a comment about the cats coming into the garden.

The first, and only, lot of seeds have been planted this year, mainly indoor, but with a few directly outdoors. Poppies and parsnips have been planted outside, but the soil in which they have been planted has once again been desecrated by cats using it as a toilet.

If anyone has ideas on making these cats leave the garden alone and finding alternative toilets, please let me know.

Inside, the seeds of sunflowers, tomatoes, cauliflowers, chillies and broad beans have been planted. The cauliflowers are already showing a couple of green shoots, while the sunflowers are emerging in their pots too.

Of course the seedlings will stay indoors until the weather gets warmer, and they are a lot bigger.

Finally, the great tits have almost completed the nest, but the camera is playing up again so visual images of the inside of the nest box are still not available.

WILL THE GARDEN SEE SNOW IN MARCH?

Recent overnight frosts have not appeared to be too damaging to the flora that has emerged a little earlier than usual.

Indeed plenty of blossom and traditional spring flowers were out before the first snowdrops appeared.

I had wondered whether any birds had started nesting, but after a check up on all the nest boxes I have seen no evidence of any nesting material.

It meant good news for installing a new camera to replace the one in the triple sparrow nest box, which had been broken thanks to a mouse that hadn’t taken to kindly to it being in a place it was sleeping.

The camera was obviously putting off the birds nesting, as the other two boxes sections have been used since it was first erected. The mouse and a new nest box (with roof space for the camera) have meant a change of camera location.

The new camera installation has taken three sections of work, but is now fully operational as the images below demonstrates. The first one is the new nest box, the second one the original one.

Now there will be a lot of finger crossing as human eyes will be firmly focused on both cameras to check for any movement.

The new nest box has a smaller entrance as I’m hoping to bring back the blue tits, as they have not nested in the garden for a number of years – mainly sue to the house sparrows, tree sparrows and great tits.

There has been no sign of the caterpillars and I suspect they have crawled away to hide from the recent overnight frosts and prepare for warmer spell before emerging again.

Finally, the long tailed tits have been visiting regularly in recent days. It’s lovely to see and hear these birds in close proximity to the house although as there were only two of them I do wonder if the previously seen larger group has disbanded ahead of the breeding season, or these are two outcasts. 

IS WINTER FINALLY SHOWING ITS COLD SIDE?

A couple of overnight frosts have led to an increased number of bird sightings in the garden.

I carried out the BTO’s Early Bird Survey this week and witnessed a wide range of birds visiting the garden before, during and after dawn.

In no particular order I saw blackbird, robin, blue tit, dunnock, magpie, great tit, tree sparrow, house sparrow, long tailed tit and great spotted woodpecker.

The range of species so early in the morning utilising the fat snacks, peanuts and seeds I put out shows that wildlife can sometimes depend on human handouts to help them through the winter.

I think there are at least two male robins battling over the space around my garden, with one currently occupying the garden and another taking up space that includes the garage.

I mentioned it previously that the garage robin has been appearing in the doorway every time I go in there, often taking some food from a feeder that I leave while filling the others.

This week I managed to get a picture of the robin and you can see him nicking some food below.

I’ll be keeping an eye on both robins, along with any others, to see if I can map the territories and distinguish between them to see if they all visit the garden at some point.

Images of the long tailed tits are my next aim, although I’m not seeing them every day so it might be a little trickier.

Now that the storms have stopped for a while, I wonder if we’ll see any severe frosts and/or snow. I hope so, as it’ll give the flora and fauna a point at which to start planning for spring.

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.