IT'S SPRING, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT

So, as lockdown continues the wildlife is busy nurturing the next generation, all going on during one of the warmest and driest springs ever recorded.

In and around the garden the house sparrows in the garage roof have appeared to fledge, along with a few other house sparrow families around here.

They’ve also seemingly gone off for a few days, possibly to rest, as their presence in the garden is limited at the moment.

The robins are definitely around a lot and seemingly intent on raising another brood, albeit in the same area as the two previous failed nests this year – one due to cold and the other due to magpie predation.

Whether a third nest will be successful is something I’ll be able to keep a close eye on as lockdown continues.

It’s great to be able to work in the garden and be surrounding by the lives of nature that being in the office would mean I’d miss.

The swallows are still gracefully taking to the skies and I think the pair are on eggs, because I only generally see one at a time.

A nest of swallows at the farm down the lane appears to have fledged this week.

And talking of fledgings, the great tits fledged earlier this week, but did so just as I left the house to go to the office for a few hours.

They definitely stayed around for a couple of days, but I was unable to count how many. I think four or five given the calling made from the youngsters for food just after fledging.

One thing the lockdown has enabled me to do it explore the area around the garden a little more.

I took my girls on a nature walk one evening this week and we went in search of a great spotted woodpecker nest in a nearby small wood.

We knew it was there through the power of Facebook, but no idea exactly where.

Luckily, we found it thanks to the noisy chicks, and were really fortunate to be there long enough to see the parents come to feed them.

I’ve seen them feeding in my garden, but had never seen a nest or watched a parent feed youngsters, and it provided a great result for my next generation and me to ensure we go back to the woodland again.

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.

THE CALM BEFORE SPRING STARTS?

Well we’re all awaiting the Coronavirus impact, while nature carries on regardless.

The dawn chorus is getting louder every morning, and my walk to work is full of various birdsong, from blackbirds and robins, to blue tits and chaffinches.

The buzzard that had been hanging around in the area hasn’t been seen for a week or so, but a kestrel has replaced it.

I’ve seen the kestrel perched a few times over the half-flooded fields, mainly on hedgerows, and the smaller birds always keep their distance.

A few frogs have been seen on the road, unfortunately all squashed by vehicles on the lane.

I’m sure there are a few around, but I don’t think any will frequent the pond, mainly because I’ve not done much upkeep on it recently.

I will be getting in the garden in the next couple of weeks and will hopefully get some seeds planted.

I’ll stick to sunflowers and tomatoes, and also get some small plants for the borders to help stop the cats using them as a toilet.

The feeders are still going down quickly, with long tailed tits still seen almost every day.

The lighter mornings and evenings enable me to see bird activity, and perhaps even another glimpse of the robin taking nest material into the ivy, close to the place he/she chose last year.

Whether we have a nest this year, only time will tell.

FLORA GROWTH, AS SUMMER HEAT BUILD

The weather has started to become more like summer, albeit the forecasters are saying it won’t last – how unusual!

The bird life in the garden is slowly moving away, although another nest might see some action during July.

The secret robin nest has either fledged or not survived, because there’s been a distinct lack of activity in the area in the last few days.

It’s hard to tell which is true, but in the coming weeks I’ll have a sneak peak in the nest vicinity to see what’s happened.

I hope it’s been fledging.

There have been occasional visits from families of blue tits, great tits and house sparrows, however they are happening less frequently.

Only today a fledgling blackbird was moving around the garden looking for earthworms, and succeeding too.

The new nest, I say new because it looks like a refurb of the one I spotted during winter in the garden’s main tree, has had visitors – yes I think it’s the owners.

It’s a pair of woodpigeons, which makes it another first for the garden.

I don’t know if they’re going to lay eggs yet, or even if they have already done so, but two of them have been heard and seen quite often recently.

The birds of summer appear to be doing ok, with numerous swifts often overhead, particularly in the evening when they make a right noise, while the swallows are certainly enjoying the increase in insect food – thanks to the improving weather.

Finally the tomato plants are now fully outside and ready for warm, sunny conditions to thrive and produce some lovely fruit - hopefully!

CHICKS ON THE RUN?

The local population of house sparrows, robins, great tits, blue tits and the resident magpies have been making the most of the mealworm hand-outs in the garden recently. 

And it seems to have benefitted the great tit chicks as they are seemingly about to fledge.

They did hatch about a week before the blue tits, so it can only mean that the garden could soon be without the chirps from hungry chicks – unless of course the parents decide on a second brood.

If the great tit chicks are seen, then images will appear on this blog in the coming weeks.

Unfortunately the great tits nested in a nest box without a camera, after it was moved to a different box over winter, so there’s been no opportunity to see them.

And while the blue tit nest box does have a working camera, it has only produced limited clear video footage, up until today…

It looks like all eight blue tit eggs hatched and all eight are doing very well. Fledging will probably be early next week, but here’s a couple of pics of life today for them, including an early stretch of the wing and flight feathers.

Fingers crossed both fledgings can be filmed or pictured, and perhaps even one of two of them jumping on us, as they did a few years ago.

The robins and blackbirds could soon by showing off their chicks soon, although with a pair of magpies with young, they would be wise to keep well out of the larger birds’ pecking range.

With colour now emerging from all corners of the garden, it just needs some warmer and sunny days so us humans can sit out and enjoy it too.

EMPTY NEST AS CHICKS FLEDGE

This day had been coming for a while, but it seems only yesterday when I got excited about seeing the first great tit eggs laid.

In just 40 days the female has laid eight eggs, incubated them and with the help of the male, raised eight healthy chicks to fledging. A remarkable achievement and one I was privileged to witness through the nestbox camera.

The activity inside a nest, den or lair as wildlife brings up their young was rarely seen by anyone, but now thanks to tiny cameras and extensive digital equipment, it is available to those of us who choose to witness a wonderful part of the circle of life.

I watched the great tit chicks from 5.30am yesterday morning, but still missed the first two fledging. I could see them in the nearby trees and hear the adults encouraging the others to leave the nest.

Three more made it out, before another fledged as I got into my car. One landed on next door's outside wall before joining the family in the trees.

Below is a series of images taken from 6.00am during the fledging. The final image is of the chick clinging to next door's house - it's just above the white brick in the centre of the screen.

When I returned home from work in the evening the nestbox was empty and I contemplated another 10 months with little activity.

But in a final twist I noticed last night a bird using the nestbox to roost (see below). I think it's one of the adult great tits, but I can only speculate as to why she it there.

My thinking is there's a possibility of a new brood, but I'd welcome people's opinions and expertise as I don't know.

I will of course check over the weekend and update my blog accordingly.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

Two days after I thought the great tit chicks would fledge, they are still in the nest, almost bursting out of the entrance hole.

Yesterday (Friday) the chicks were once again very active early in the morning (see video) but the weather doesn't seem quite right for the to fledge. Either that or a comfy home with food brought by a waiter and waitress (mum and dad) is too good to leave.

The most amusing time is at night when the mother great tit tries to keep the chicks warm be lying on top of them, although she's merely balancing on their heads! (see below pic)

And so with a warm sunny morning I was expecting the chicks to fledge today, so took this picture (below) in case it was the last chance.

But as I spent time in the garden it became clear that the parents were continually feeding the chicks, who seemed quite content to be fed while enjoying the May sunshine peering into the nestbox.

I left them for most of the day, due to various circumstances, returning to find them being fed and tonight watch as they sleep on top of each other. Nine birds in a small nestbox does make amusing viewing.

Will this image be the same tomorrow or will it empty. Surely they must fledge but with a cooler, fresher day and wet and windy weather on Monday, could they stay put for a few more days? Stay tuned.

LUCKY SEVEN?

For the fourth day in a row another egg was laid in the great tits' nest, bringing the total to seven. I'm not expecting any more although I thought she would stop at five!

The activity is still following a pattern of the female doing the incubating and calling to the male for confirmation she can leave the nest safely to feed.

The eggs are often left for up to an hour, and although I was worried at first, I'm starting to trust their parenting skills and feel a bit more relaxed about the eggs uncovered for a short time.

I'm starting to put mealworms out for the parents and the first small batch was consumed by all manner of birds, who all swooped in to get their portion; either for themselves or their chicks.

I suspect the robins and blackbirds fed their chicks, while the blue and great tits fed themselves.

Images of the birds and other wildlife will be available in posts over the weekend as I make the most of an extended Easter holiday.

The only difference this year is not all my eggs are made of chocolate.

HOW MANY EGGS ARE THERE?

Another day and another egg from the great tit female as she broods the five eggs. As the honorary midwife, I've pencilled in a due date of 1st May, although I won't be helping with the births.

I'm so fascinated by the nestbox camera I'm often sat in the lounge just watching what is happening. This week I'll be mainly updating the nestbox activity, but will have a full round up of the other news over the weekend - when I can see them!

The female is often turning over the eggs to ensure they're incubated all around, a very fussy parent-to-be.

This morning she had left the nest to be with her partner and have a feed, but left her eggs covered with soft down and fur to ensure they kept warm - given this very warm weather at the moment she didn't need much fur.

Tomorrow I'll be comparing how the timings of nest building and egg laying have differed from this year to 2010.

I've looked back on my blog last year and despite being delayed in the Canary Islands by the volcanic ash cloud incident, I'm able to give fairly accurate timings of when things happened.

Below is the five eggs as they were at 7.30pm tonight, after the female briefly left the nest. Will I find more in the morning? Tune in tomorrow night to see!

NEW LIFE

I went away for a week, that was then delayed for a further five days due to the Icelandic volcano, and I've come back to a garden full of new life with more promised.

A very quick update on the main points:

1. The robins appear to have small chicks as both parents are dashing to and from the nest with live meals including worms and the mealworms I've provided. I'll not be going near the nestbox and hope to get images and video from afar. The robins are friendly so hopefully they'll allow me to work in the garden while they feed and then fledge their chicks.
2. The great tits have taken over the blue tit nest box and are busy building a nest. I did think they were feeding chicks but on closer inspection it appeared to be horse hair, or something similar.
3. The usurped blue tits look to have chosen a new nestbox and could be building a nest. It's close to the front door so I don't want to disturb them too much by constantly looking. But if this is true then we'll have three new families in the garden this spring.
4. The tadpoles in the pond have grown and most appeared to have survived the transfer from Yorkshire, so I'm really pleased.
5. The garden and surrounding trees and bushes are now coming into leaf, with blossom brightening up the place. There's been plenty of bees around the garden and I'm hoping for a spectacular spring and summer of wildlife watching.

On a final note today has seen the return of the swallows. A lovely sight as they glide serenely over the house and farm buildings. I suspect they delayed their return and followed me back on Saturday. ;~)

THEY'VE FLEDGED THE NEST

A fully-fledged family

Like any proud parents the blue tits rightly proclaimed the emergence of five chicks after nearly three weeks in the nestbox.

I too felt proud of being able to provide the parents with extra food and, above all, a safe place to bring up their brood.

It's sad to see them go and I'll miss the daily alarm calls from the parents and the chattering of the chicks in the nest, but the next journey of their lives is now solely with mum and dad, and the big wide world.

I'm putting together a video of their nestbox lives which will be up over the weekend.

While filming the baby blue tits in the canopy of the tress (see video below) , waiting for the parents to bring them food, I also 'bumped' in to one of the local robin pairs. They too were introducing their chicks to the outside world and I'm confident of seeing more of them in the coming weeks.

Another set of parents with newly-fledged chicks is the dunnocks. The youngsters are seen foraging around the undergrowth, in much the same way their parents do. They too should stick around for a little bit.

The swallows are now loving the warm weather and can be seen all day scything through the air, grabbing mouthfuls of insects. They can mainly be seen around the house at dawn and dusk.

The blackbird chicks must have hatched as the mother has been seen today looking for food.

Back to the blue tits and the parents were looking rather tired and haggard, with their moult starting to take place.

They will now stay away from the spotlight and not emerge until they have grown a new set of feathers.

So a bitter-sweet morning for me as the blue tit chicks appeared to wait until I'd seen them before flying off to explore the area with their parents.

It's sad to see them go, but also a happy moment as they will hopefully come back later on in the year and rely on handouts during the cold winter months.

The next year one or more pairs will set up home again in my garden; this time I'll be ready with at least one camera nestbox.

I'll be continuing to feed mealworms to the birds and fill up the peanut feeders again. Fingers crossed I get some unusual visitors - a cuckoo, greater-spotted woodpecker or even a goldfinch.

Must also add that this year's Springwatch is very good so far!

QUIET EVENING

Have the chicks fledged?

Not very much action tonight from the blue tit nestbox, leaving me to consider the fact I have missed the chicks fledging.

If I have I can rest assured I have helped provide a safe nest site and regular food handouts for my second blue tit family in two years.

I hope the parents or maybe a youngster and his/her new partner will return next year and occupy my new camera nestbox (yet to be purchased).

Of a late spring evening it's a joy to watch the swallows swoop, glide and perform unbelievable high speed twists and turns, all while catching insects.

I'm hoping the female(s) is/are on eggs as there did seem to be less birds around this evening. That could be put down to the rainy weather.

The video below is of a lone swallow from the weekend when the weather was a little better. A very graceful bird and probably my favourite.

BANK HOLIDAY BONANZA

Barbeque feeding session

What a weekend, well at least weather wise! Summer is officially here and as my partner, Sarah, planted the hanging baskets and window boxes, I was busy making sure the blue tits weren't going to fledge without me noticing.

While it was an interesting experience, it proved that wildlife doesn't confirm to human activity and won't rush along a fledging just to coincide with a bank holiday.

What I did learn was that blue tits are great parents, ignoring all manner of activity in the garden to continue providing food for their chicks in the nestbox.

As Sarah planted out the baskets, right underneath the nestbox, the blue tits made the initial alarm calls before realising she meant no harm and continued to feed the ever-louder chicks.

Even when we had a bbq for the neighbours and ate at a table underneath the nestbox, the parents continued to feed the chicks and inadvertently provide a small garden spectacular for me, Sarah and our guests.

I did help the viewing by handing out mealworms, but Neil and Fiona, Holly and Jonny, along with Andy, Sarah and me, watched in awe as the blue tit parents continued to feed the chicks.

Tomorrow I'll be putting up video footage, provided by Neil and Fiona's camera, of various wildlife activities, including that of the ducks and swallows.

Back to the blue tit chicks and I'm confident they will fledge this week, unfortunately I think I'll miss the fledging - unless they hold off until the weekend!

The wonderful weather coincided with the return of Springwatch. I thoroughly enjoyed the first programme and hope it continues to provide amateurs like me notes on how to provide a good habitat for all wildlife and watch them without disturbance.

Lots of footage tomorrow including that of a make blackbird's evening song.

DEMANDING CHICKS

Mealworm, caterpillar, mealworm

No cuckoo sounds so far this weekend, but we're only half way through it so plenty of time to go!

Spent a lot of time in the garden yesterday planting out baskets, mowing and putting sunflowers around the borders. Fingers crossed they bloom and attract seed hunters later in the year.

As for the blue tits, they seem to be getting along quite well with a constant supply of food from the parents. Be it a mealworm or two, courtesy of me, caterpillars or other delicious grubs.

I was hopeful the chicks would fledge this weekend, but it seems it could be midweek, when I won't be able to view the spectacle.

Next door have introduced some feeder to the garden and this has attracted the local birds. I'm confident with plenty of shelter, wild food, nestboxes and human-presented food the local bird population will continue to grow and stay around for years.

Some of course will fly away to warmer climes for the winter, which includes the beautiful swallows. They treated us to a spectacular aerobatic display yesterday morning and evening as they competed for food and nesting areas.

They've obviously chosen the same building as last year, the year before and probably for many years before. I'm aiming to get footage of their display today and put them on my next blog.

I know they're nesting because I saw, on a number of occasions yesterday, one on the floor collecting materials for a nest.

I'm looking forward to the newly hatched chicks fledging and learning their aerobatic skills in August, before sadly gathering on the telephone wires in September and going off on their winter holidays until April.

I can see them outside the window now so fingers crossed I get some good footage.

Of the other birds, the blackbirds seem t be on eggs, as the male is the only one seen at the moment. I gather the mating I witnessed early on Thursday may have been successful.

The robins must be showing their chicks around the local neighbourhood, although I get the feeling another pair is 'operating' in the area and could be on eggs.

The tree sparrows appear to be pairing up for mating and the great tits must have chicks they are feeding frequently.

The dunnocks appear to be feeding fledglings but as usual with new families, they disperse after fledgings and take a tour of the area as the parents moult.

I'll publish a full list of the regular wildlife in my garden in the next post.

Oh finally, I was treated to a display from swifts last night, amazing aerial skills and squeaking. I don't think they're nesting too close to the garden, but I think I will see them a lot more during the summer evenings.

And I'm really looking forward to Springwatch starting tomorrow!

CUCKOO, CUCKOO

A new sound to the airwaves

A morning feed of mealworms for the local birds was in sunshine today, the first time for a while. As usual the blue tit parents were the first to appear and gratefully nipped in to take up to three mealworms to the ever-growing chicks.

A sunnier and warmer day seemed to put the chicks in to vocal overdrive as I could clearly hear them even before getting out of the car when I arrived home tonight.

As I was chatting to the neighbours and filling up the feeders with mealworms, a familiar sound came through the airwaves - cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.

A clearly audible cuckoo was casting his voice near the house. One of the birds they usually 'ask' to foster their chick is the dunnock and we have plenty of them in the hedges and bushes around the garden.

I suspect one set of dunnock parents may be bringing up a cuckoo chick over the coming months, with or without their permission. I'll update any further sounds from the cuckoo when heard.

I spent some time this evening filming the blue tits, one of the videos you can see below. The warning call and the sound of the chicks can clearly be heard, so turn up the sound!



The parents are now looking a little dishevelled and will no doubt be thankful when chicks fledge and start fending for themselves.

That process may be another couple of weeks away, so I'll continue to feed small amounts of mealworms each day until the summer.

One more sight from this morning, which greeted me as I set off for work, was a mating pair of blackbirds. They will surely be on eggs soon and then feeding chicks in a few weeks; no doubt be glad of the mealworms I provide.

More updates over the bank holiday weekend and, with sunny and warm(ish) weather promised I hope to have video and photographic evidence of more local wildlife.