CHRISTMAS CALM?

As we head towards Christmas and festive celebrations, there’s been another exciting development for the garden wildlife.

There’s been another new bird seen flying through the garden, a quick flash of blue and it was gone – a kingfisher.

Now the pond (small that is was) has long gone, but there is a small stream next to the garden which has small fish in, plus a pond nearby.

Whether it’s fishing in either or both is unknown, but it must be in the area for some reason and feeding seems the reasonable explanation.

It’s only been seen once, so there will be numerous eyes watching over the coming weeks for a winter flash of blue flying by.

Not much else to report, apart from the garden birds making use of the free handouts, particularly in the recent really cold snap.

Will the mild weather continue over Christmas and into 2018, or will winter have a dastardly plan for the weather?

Time will tell, but the local birds, and small mammals will be well catered for as their winter food supplies remain sparse.

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!

SPRING WARMTH BRINGS BREEDING SEASON EXCITEMENT

As spring sunshine grips most of the UK, bringing with it warm weather the breeding season is well underway as birds, insects and mammals all focus on raising the next generation.

The tit nest box, which now has a pair of house sparrows, still doesn’t have a working camera so I can’t view the nest building activity.

The house sparrow nest box camera is fully operational, but no birds are utilising it – which as explained previously I think this is because the camera is too obtrusive inside the box.

Flowers, tree buds and the first vegetable plants sprouting are now being joined by butterflies and plenty of insects, including various bees, as spring has well and truly sprung.

This is a wonderful time of the year and the buzz among the birds in the garden is lovely to see, hear and feel. It feels like a huge race has begun to get the next generation born and raised; it’s great to see it in the garden and surrounding countryside.

I’m sure April will bring plenty of showers, but if the temperatures keep like they are this weekend the growth in the flora will significant.

Of course in turn this will help the mammals, birds and insects that will feast spring’s rich offerings.

The focus in the garden will be fixing the camera, cutting the grass and encouraging the growth of vegetables and flowers.

One thing is for sure, the next few months will bring new arrivals and a colourful garden as wildlife and humans alike enjoy the warmth and sunshine (hopefully).

On a final note I’m taking images of the front of the house and some of the garden that I will unveil in the coming weeks to show how spring helps the garden bloom and come alive.

THE CHANGING OF THE BRITISH SEASONS

Autumn has arrived, the last of the swallows have gone and jays are busy burying caches of winter food.

Now is the time when the hard work of our plants and trees starts to pay off as the seeds are taken by birds and mammals and deposited nearby, either through accidentally dropping or through passing through the digestive system and landing with ready-made ‘fertiliser’.

The sunflowers in my garden are proving irresistible to the great tits, while the blue tits are also enjoying the harvest, but having less success with the larger varieties of seeds.

The cooler and wetter weather of recent days has meant sightings of butterflies and bees have dropped to virtually zero, but I’ve seen an increasing number of spiders located in the house.

One such spider, which I thought had not ventured this far north in the UK, was the Noble False Widow, which has been causing increasing amount of concern among the general public.

It’s the less venomous cousin of the Black Widow spider, but is still capable of inflicting a nasty bite when is feels threatened.

To be honest I felt threatened when I saw it in my kitchen, so promptly took it far away from the house.

I knew it was a Noble False Widow because the day before I saw it I’d read about these spiders in a number of papers and researched images online.

The distinct pale pattern on the dark rear abdomen was clear to see and before I thought about a pic, I simply took it away from the house – next time I’ll get a pic, although I hope there’s not a next time!

With the swallows long gone and another six months of waiting to see them arrive back again, I’ve started to notice a number of jays near the house.

I always had them down as shy woodland birds, but in the last two years I’ve seen them on the hard shoulder of motorways, inches from high speed traffic, collecting things.

I’ve also noticed an increasing number of them on the road leading to my house, this week appearing to stuff a food supply in the soft road side verges.

They are clever birds and it appears we have an expanding population of them which is forcing some to come to the less wooded area around my house.

Finally the weather ‘forecast’ for this winter seem to be snow and very cold, which could help rid us of nasty bugs, but also increase our heating bills. No point worrying about it now, if it does happen let’s just try and enjoy it.

WEATHER WARNING OR JUST WEATHER?

So the first snow of the winter arrived tonight as I arrived home from work. Only about a couple of millimetres, but at least something that should show the animals that will walk around the garden and surrounding areas at night.

I took my torch and filled a couple of the bird feeders to ensure some food for the small birds when they wake up in the morning. I’m unlikely to see them enjoying it as I’ll be away before first light and home after dark.

At least the weekend is here and Saturday should tell me how much the food was appreciated.

I’m expecting the feeders to have been more or less emptied, although that does depend entirely on how much snow does arrive.

The forecast suggested we’d get a fairly large amount, although I get the feeling it won’t be too much, certainly not enough to stop me being away all day.

Having snow in the garden is a great way of seeing the pattern of footprints, working our who they belong to and try to work out which order they went in to find out how each animal goes about its food search.

I sometimes use this knowledge to place food, or help cultivate an area. One of the key things I did in the autumn was fill the borders with dead leaves and cut grass to provide a layer of protection to the soil, a habitat to those small animals that live in and around the leaf litter and soil, a food source for birds and small mammals that eat those small creatures and fertiliser for the soil when spring comes around.

It has worked in previous years and I can tell be the fact the leaves are scattered around that the birds are finding food in there. The only thing I’d like to see is the birds, particularly the blackbirds, putting the leaves etc back!

So what will tonight bring? I hope snow and a few inches, but thing this is something others will enjoy and I will have to gaze at the news images and video and wonder what it would be like.

A WASHOUT

So 'Flaming June' has turned out to be flaming wet and a disaster for many of our birds with chicks, including the ospreys on Springwatch.

The decision by the Dyfi Osprey Project to feed the remaining chick has my backing as it helps continue the revival of such a majestic bird.

For those that want to read all about how the final chick was saved, click here; you'll find it very moving and a superb tribute to the people involved.

Ospreys are one of my top birds, along with the swallow and peregrine falcon. None have nested in my garden, so a do have soft spot for blue and great tits, plus robin, who all have raised broods in my garden.

I only hope that the final osprey chick now gets enough food and calm, dry weather to fledge.

The weather has also effected wildlife in my garden as the birds, bees and small mammals struggle to keep warm and find food.

I've tried to help with live mealworms, which have been gobbled up by the blackbirds, tree sparrows, house sparrows and great tits.

I suspect the blackbirds have chicks, possible the same parents that had chicks earlier this year.

This afternoon I'll be taking part in the Big Garden Weigh-in with my daughter as I continue teaching her about the local wildlife and how to help them with food and shelter.

It's always good teaching the next generation and I hope she takes up an interest in nature.

As the week ahead shows a continuation on the cooler weather, further rain if forecast, which doesn't bode well for the ospreys or much of the other wildlife trying to breed and bring up their next generation.