WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER & AUTUMN IN THE SAME MONTH?

We’ve not yet finished April but we’ve seen weather representing all four seasons already.

Hail and a little snow started the month, before spring(ish) conditions followed, then last week summer took over, while autumn came along today and looks like staying until May – or until winter starts the sequence again.

What’s been lovely to see, up until today, has been the swallows dancing in the air, chattering and making plans for breeding, plans that may be on hold for now!

The nest building in the garden continues, with the blue tits and blackbirds making their choices of nest location well known.

The male wren has been entertaining the female at his nest in the previously unused nest box.

It’s been difficult to assess her feedback, although she has been spotted a few times so perhaps this nest ‘sale’ is still under discussion.

What’s been very distinguishable is the dawn chorus, and what a lovely sound the birds are making around the garden.

Wren, blackbird, blue tit, house sparrow, robin, dunnock, goldfinch, chaffinch, swallow, chiffchaff and great tit all providing a cacophony of alarm bells from the first chink of light – at the moment 5am is late for some birds!

The big question for the birds is will there be enough food for when the chicks arrive, particularly for those that have laid eggs recently, as the colder weather isn’t beneficial for the usual spring gluttony of caterpillars.

One thing I do is order mealworms, and the first batch is due to arrive this weekend, so it’ll be interesting to see which birds fly off with big bunches of them first.

NO AUGUST HEATWAVE AGAIN?

Summer is definitely here in meteorological terms, but the actual weather is not living up to what the calendar says.

Apart from the odd few days of warmth it’s been fairly mediocre and often cloudy and damp.

The garden hasn’t been growing as quickly as normal, particularly the tomatoes and sunflowers – the latter suffering some damage in the strong winds recently.

The birds are not regular visitors, with only the odd dishevelled looking adult robin, fledgling robin chick, blackbird or swopping swallow seen.

They will be expected to ‘improve’ their attendance in the coming weeks, as the adults finish their moulting.

It feels as if autumn is waiting in the wings and summer knows this, and has given up on delivering something like summer weather.

Only time will tell, but time is running out for some proper sunny and warm weather.

NEW LIFE IN THE GARDEN

There seems to be new life everywhere in the garden, with caterpillars being very much appreciated by the newly hatched great tit chicks.

The chicks hatched earlier this week and have been fed very well by the parents, who are both bringing in a plethora of young bugs, many of them caterpillars.

The chicks are growing quickly, although the camera is still not working properly and progress is being calculated by the increased level of the chirping from the youngsters.

I’m not going to try and fix the camera until the breeding season has finished, but I’ve lost hope of the other nest box with a camera being occupied.

Ironically that camera is providing some clear live video. It’s similar to last year, when the only section of the triple sparrow nest box that was not occupied, had a camera in it.

It would seem that the birds are camera shy in this garden!

A number of sunflowers and broad bean plants have been planted outside, with a defence in place against the numerous snails and slugs – still no sign of the hedgehog from last year.

The skies are being filled with the songs of two particular birds – the swallow and chiffchaff.

I can’t work out if there has been a fledging of swallow chicks already, or if the fields around the house are a good feeding ground for swallows from around the area. I suspect it’s the latter.

Either way it’s a lovely sound to hear.

It’s the same with the chiffchaffs and the odd male blackbird calling in the evening from regular posts.

If only the weather could be as nice as the songs carried over the airwaves.

NEW BIRD SPOTTED AS SPRING STARTS SLOWLY

An amazing sight from the garden has meant the lack of activity in the nest boxes and delay in spring taking a proper grip has not been too bad.

The small brook that almost borders the garden, had signs of life last summer with a small shoal of small fish.

It was presumed that they would go or not survive, but it appears this is not the case. And the presence of these small fish has not gone unnoticed!

The amazing sight of a kingfisher perched on a branch of a small tree overhanging the brook has been brilliant.

I don’t expect it to be a common visitor or even see it again, but just the one glimpse is enough.

Of course spring is not in ‘full bloom’ yet and I hope this is the reason why birds are not spending time in the nest boxes. It is unusual though that not one bird has spent a night in either nest box.

Time will tell, but with an Easter weekend of strong wind and heavy rain, I don’t expect things to change much as we approach April.

And April should herald the arrival of my favourite bird – the swallow.

CRANE FLY NUMBERS ROCKET AS AUTUMN APPROACHES

I think one of the house sparrow nests has another batch of eggs, or even young chicks. I thought the adult birds had finished for the season, but I’ve noticed frequent entries and exits over the last few days, which suggest they’ve not finished breeding yet.

Another bird I’m surprised to hear and see is the swallow. Another large group has appeared in recent days and I’m wondering if this is a group that’s stopping off for a refuel, or a local crowd who have yet to start the migration to warmer climes.

The garden is now becoming a lot more cluttered with small birds now, with blue tits, great tits, robins and dunnocks all popping along for food or song a number of times a day.

One of the robins from this year’s broods has been taking up a prominent position around the garden of the last couple of months, particularly when I, or my family, are in the garden.

It thinks nothing of coming to within inches of me when I’m working or sat on the garden furniture.

And now it is proudly showing of the first signs of the traditional red breast, which I expect will be in full colour within weeks.

I really enjoy it when a robin calls my patch his home and I hope he/she is able to keep this territory and raise a family if their own next year.

One thing that has been unusual is the amount of crane flies or daddy long legs as some call them. I’ve seen hundreds around the garden and at night, when a window or door is open, there can be more than 20 individuals in one room alone.

I don’t know why this year has been very good for numbers, but it’s certainly helped some of the spiders as they’ve gobbled up quite a few.

With wet and windy weather predicated for the next week, I expect this number to decrease rapidly.

EASTER BRINGS SIGNS OF SPRING

Settled weather over Easter has helped to raise temperatures and increase the chances of birds completing their nest building, including the house sparrows in the ‘blue tit’ nest box.

The slightly warmer conditions seem like a starting gun for people to look for the arrival of my favourite summer visitor, the swallow.

Last year I noted the arrival of the swallows, which have nested for many years behind the house, on the 18^th April. So I’m hoping the weather warms up over the next few days and accelerates their arrival.

The flora is now showing signs of spring, with blossom being replaced by green leaves and buds. Soon the trees and bushes will have a dense coat in which birds and bugs will feed and shelter.

This is when understanding bird song becomes important, so I’m trying to learn the sounds of the birds in the garden while I can still see them on the fairly bare branches.

During the recent wet weather I’ve seen plenty of snails and slugs around the garden, so I’m going to have to be careful when planting out the flowers and vegetable I’ll be growing from seed.

This year I’ll be limiting the amount of things I’ll be growing in the garden, so I can concentrate on harvesting the best crops. I think it’ll be broad beans, carrots and tomatoes.

So this week I’ll be looking skywards and listening for the unmistakable sounds of swallows. 

IS WINTER STILL DICTATING OUR WEATHER?

This weekend has certainly brought some lovely sunshine and provided some great conditions for wildlife to prepare for spring and summer breeding seasons.

But the temperatures are still not providing much ‘spring warmth’ and the birds are not rushing to complete their nest and bring the next generation into the world.

The house sparrows in the blue tit nest box are still adding to the nest every day, but it’s not about to be completed any time soon.

I still have no idea who has added nesting material to the triple house sparrow nest box that has a camera in it.

The focus of the camera has been ‘changed’ because of the amount of dried grasses and small twigs that have been placed inside the box.

I still cannot make out if a bird is roosting in there at night, but the female house sparrow is definitely in the blue tit nest box every night.

Given the activity and frequency of the visits from a variety of birds, I suspect all are currently in the midst of building nest, bit waiting for nature to bring warmer weather before completing the nests and laying eggs.

There has been plenty of flying insects this weekend and that is something the summer bird visitors to the UK will be very interested in.

It also makes me think of my favourite bird, the swallow, and how I’m now counting does the days until the family that regularly nest within a few yards if the garden, is back again.

That’s when I and the rest of wildlife will know that spring has finally arrived.

NEW ARRIVALS AMID SUMMER SUN

Little did I realise when I wrote my blog post last week that my imminent new arrival was exactly that.

A day after posting the latest update the garden saw another arrival, this time of the human variety and our second daughter.

Bizarrely a rose that emerged at the time our first daughter was born suddenly emerged again this week.

 

The rose plant hasn’t really grown in six years, but occasionally produces a lovely flower. Nature has a funny way of showing us things and while it’s likely to be coincidence, I’d like to think the garden was in some way saying congratulations.

With warm weather continuing to bathe the garden, the plants are reacting with growth spurts, albeit once I’ve provided enough water.

The blackbirds, house sparrows, tree sparrows, blue tits, great tits and robins are now fairly regular visitors to the garden, with most still appearing to have young, either in the nest or having recently fledged.

I’ve not seen many youngsters recently, but I’ve heard lots of chattering in the trees and bushes with parent birds appearing to be flying rapidly between the food sources in my garden and the fledglings in the canopy.

The swallow numbers have continually grown and this is most evident during the period just after dawn and early evening.

With shorter tails it’s easy to identify the youngsters from this year, but with plenty of them and the speed in which they all fly together, counting how may there are is almost impossible.

I've also seen a few house martins around and occasionally swifts – both of which I've seen in previous years and I know nest nearby – so I'm hoping this is a good sign that breeding has been good for them this year.

The slug and snail invasion is showing no sign of slowing down. The casualties mount up daily, although I do try and put live ones in our recyclable green waste bin so they can be ‘relocated’.

I’m hoping to have my first crop harvested this week, which will be the broad beans. It’s hard to tell when they’re exactly right to pick, but I’m looking forward to creating some dishes with them as a key ingredient.

IS AUTUMN ON ITS WAY?

Another quiet week in the garden, with only updates coming from the flora – mainly the sunflowers.

There are now nine sunflowers that are over 6ft tall and in the coming days I expect that number to increase.

I’ve already started collecting some tomatoes and runner beans from this years’ crop, and with potatoes, carrots and parsnips, along with plenty more tomatoes and runner beans, it could be one of my best years for crops.

There are three different varieties of tomatoes, Italian Roma, Gardener’s Delight and Cherry, in my garden and I’m going to choose the best tasting one for growing next year.

I’ve already started collecting seeds from this year’s blooms – poppy, sunflower and sweet pea – so next year I can grow without the extra help from packet mixes.

The summer looked like turning into autumn at the end of this week, but looking at the weather forecast it looks like we could be in for at least a few more days of lovely summer weather.

Only one concern for me, and probably many others, is the lack of rainfall. The ground is drying very quickly and I’m watering the plants almost every night – which is obviously working.

The visits from the birds have been rare this week, with only a fleeting glimpse of a female blackbird.

I’ve not seen any robins for at least a month and the blue tits and great tits must be among the birds having a great time in the surrounding countryside.

The swallows have been swarming most evenings, but I get the feeling that it’s mainly the young from this year and that most of the adults have headed off back to Africa.

The swallow is probably my favourite bird and I always get very excited by its arrival in spring/summer. It’s one of my favourite sights and sounds of nature and my heart always sinks when I know they’re heading south and I won’t see them for seven or eight months.

One day I’ll have a house with a barn or similar type building that will attract swallows and I can watch them more closely again, just like in my childhood. One day!