FROSTS BITE HARD AS WINTER DARKNESS CLOSES IN

The first hard frosts since February hit the garden recently, although one bird has been very vocal during the cold spell.

Walking around the garden and down the lanes around the house, I’ve listened and seen a number of robins defending their territories.

The robin, whose territory includes my garden, has been very vocal recently, and it only needs me to be in the garden for a matter of minutes before he’s close by, hoping to catch a quick and easy meal via my presence.

Life in the garden is definitely tough at the moment; the leaves have fallen from the trees (apart from the evergreens), the ivy has stopped growing and the food in the bird feeders is reducing quicker than any time in the last eight months.

I’ve spent some time walking up and down the lane recently, and there’s often a flock of redwings and fieldfares knocking around, sometimes with blackbirds on the outskirts of the group.

It’s great to see birds that are not around in the summer, the winter equivalent of our summer swallows – albeit I slightly favour the swallows!

One thing that has surprised me is the strawberry plant producing fruit (only two though) in the last week.

Each strawberry was not quite fully red, and didn’t look particularly appetising or edible, but it shows the capacity of the plant to produce in the colder months.

As we head towards Christmas, the darkest days of the year approach, so the wildlife will be paying particular focus on the weather conditions, as will us humans.

THE SOUND OF THE NEXT GENERATION

The gardens, fields and woodland around my garden are now very green, with a number of plants already flowering – clematis and strawberry are just two.

Recently there has been some very mild weather, particularly at night, which has meant there has been a huge growth in the flora.

Many of the plants I’ve grown from seed are now either in bigger pots on window sills, in the greenhouse or outside.

The only danger to the ones outside is the forecast frost this weekend and cooler weather – slightly strange for the start of May!

In other news the swallows have been performing their usual aerobatics and almost constant singing – which I thoroughly enjoy as it’s my favourite sounds of summer.

While the bird cameras have failed to deliver live footage of nesting birds, the bird boxes have proved very popular – all but the one with the camera in!

The tit nest box with the camera that has a failed power lead has got house sparrows nesting in there; although I’m not sure if there are eggs, chicks or just a nest in there at the moment.

In the triple sparrow nest box the camera box (which had a house sparrow nest last year with no camera) has nothing, the middle box is being investigated by a pair of blue tits, while the other box has house sparrows, WITH CHICKS.

I first heard them yesterday and after patiently waiting for nearly an hour for a parent to come back with food, was able to confirm the nest box used and the sound of chicks.

For me it confirms the camera has put off the birds, although I’m still hopeful that by keeping it in there the birds will get used to it and not be afraid of nesting there next year.

It does show that if you provide nest boxes in the right locations (height, size and direction the hole faces) then birds will readily take advantage.

The next question as we start to properly enter the breeding season is; how many broods will we have this year?

I’m predicting at least two, and I’m fairly confident the robins and blackbirds are either on eggs or have chicks; I just don’t know where the nests are – a task for this weekend.

Until then I’ll be making contact with a hedgehog rescue centre to rehome any, primarily to help rid the garden of slugs and snails – both are causing a bit of havoc among my growing sunflowers!