SPRING HAS ARRIVED IN FORCE

Spring is now well underway with temperatures suddenly reaching 16c in the garden, and accompanied by bright, sunny skies.

The dry and warm(ish) weather has resulted in a deluge of bird song during sunrise and sunset. The rock garden and pond area are now flourishing, as this picture shows.

 

I’m pleased that the robins can be heard almost above all the other bird song, or even most other local noise in the morning or evening.

The one in the garden has now found a mate and it’s nice to know they’ll be using my garden should they be successful in having a nest of chicks in the coming months. Unfortunately I don’t think they’ll be using my robin nest box, as the honeysuckle hasn’t quite grown enough to conceal it well.

One resident that has been back in the garden is the great spotted woodpecker, although he is very shy and disappears at the slightest noise.

While the birds continue to flock to the garden and make the most of the handouts, I’ve not seen one in either nest box that has a camera.

Given the closeness of the camera in the sparrow nest box I think it could put the birds off, but a piece of straw that is in the tit nest box had been moved around for the last few days, suggesting that visitors have been in, just not seen by me.

Neither nest box is occupied overnight so it has been a waiting game to see if March can bring the start of nest building, but today it did! I’m not sure which tits are building the nest, but my hunch is blue tits.

 

One lovely sign of spring is the sight and sound of a bumblebee. I found one on the winter rose plant, which has grown year on year since being planted in 2010.

The picture isn’t the best for identification purposes, but it’s from an upside down position and show the bee feeding on early nectar.

 

If anyone has an idea on the type, please let me know.

NESTBOX CAMERA IS BACK WORKING

The start of spring may still be delayed, but I feel it has begun after the nestbox camera started working today and revealed something very exciting.

After a phone call to the guys at Spy Camera CCTV, I tried once last go at fixing it and somehow it worked. Whether it’ll work for long is another question!

The camera revealed inside the nestbox a nest in the first stages of being built. I’m not sure which bird is doing the nest building but I’m hoping to catch it in action soon.

 

I suspect it’s a pair of blue tits and can’t wait to see if they continue to build it – I suspect it may be delayed due to the weather and lack of a spring, but perhaps this is a sign that wildlife knows spring is on its way!

The other nestboxes aren’t being used yet and while I still have hope for the new sparrow ‘hotel’ the other two are very unlikely to be used this year.

One other exciting development was the sighting of an animal I’ve never seen before around my house – a stoat.

With a number of farms nearby, including a chicken one, I’m surprised I’ve never seen a stoat or weasel around, but given that I first thought this stoat was a leaf blowing in the wind, it’s not surprising.

It was too quick for me to get a picture, although now I know one is around I’ll be on the lookout for it and possibly others in the future.

WINTER IS BACK, BUT FOR HOW LONG?

So spring has been put on hold, which teaches me yet again that March is the most unpredictable of months!

Frosts, cold winds and even a bit of snow have descended on my garden and the surrounding area. Can someone tell the swallows to stop off for a few days and delay their return? 

It sounds like we’re going to have another blast of winter for most of this coming week, so make sure you keep the birds feeders topped up and water unfrozen.

I spent most of the weekend pruning trees and bushes, to give the ground opposite my garden a chance to have some light and bring more colour to the dark and brown ground.

The trees and branches were then used to create a traditional fence, thanks to the input from my neighbour Neil who spent some hours doing this with me, while we both spent a few hours at night picking splinters out of our hands – even though we were wearing protective gloves!

 

We were followed constantly by a pair of robins, the same that frequent my garden and I presume have paired up for the year. Where they will nest is anyone’s guess, but if it’s not in the robin nestbox I have in my garden, I know it’ll be nearby and we’ll see the fledgling robins in due course.

Two other main things done this weekend – apart from topping up my fat snack, seed and peanuts feeders – was putting up a sparrow nestbox and planting some early potatoes.

With all the house sparrows about I thought it a good idea to provide them with a communal nest site, to prevent them from going under the eaves of the house.

 

I know it might be a little too late this year, but at least it’s up and ready for whenever they need it. The nestbox replaces one that was for blue tits and great tits, which seemed to be infrequently used for roosting, but never for nesting. I’ll find another place to put this in time.

 

The garden borders were readied for plants and vegetables over the last few weekends and now the first planting has taken place I’m sure there’ll be plenty more in the coming weeks.

 

By the end of March I hope to have seedlings in place so April can see the emergence of my mini greenhouse.

Of course this will be when the weather has picked up to spring like again. I’m just hoping it doesn’t end up like 2012; otherwise it’ll be another washout!