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.

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.