The weather recently has been interesting, cool for spring and seems to
be finally making its mind up that summer is a season we’re allowed in the UK.
With a few days of warmer weather of late, I’ve noticed plenty of
butterflies and bees around and this is encouraging as a sign that the weather
could actually be good this summer.
The blackbirds must have chicks as both the male and female are now
seen regularly in the garden looking for the odd worm, insect or piece of
fruit.
Both parents are also taking mealworms, which is good as I’d like all
parent birds to make use of the food offering I’m giving out.
Where the blackbird’s nest is, I just don’t yet know, but it’s another
one I’m eagerly looking for.
The blue tits are also making use of the mealworm hand-outs, although
they do seem to have found some caterpillars, which is good news for a whole
host of other birds too.
The caterpillars are very small so I think they’ve only just started
emerging in the last week or so.
I think the blue tit chicks will be fledging very soon as the
youngsters are being very vocal whenever the parents bring food.
One set of parents that seem to thrive on the mealworm hand-outs is the
robins. Both local families are in or around the garden within seconds of me
emerging from the house.
If I’m not around the garden and there are no mealworms, the robins
seem to wander around, knowing I could be watching through the windows, trying
to ‘force’ me to deliver a new batch to the feeding station.
The various house sparrow families are obviously still feeding up their youngsters
as they are another bird, along with great tits and dunnocks, which are making
short work of the mealworms.
I think I know where the nest sites are, but no definitive location has
yet been found. Perhaps the next week or two will help my search.
Finally I’ve seen both the male and female great spotted woodpecker
adults eating from fat snacks in and around the garden.
I suspect, just like the blackbirds, there are young chicks in their
nest and as finding food has been difficult, they’ve ‘raided’ the next best
food source, which just happens to be my fat snacks!
It’s really good to know they’re around and I hope they do stay, as
winter visits are frequent, but summer ones are not.
In the next few weeks I’m looking at making contact with a hedgehog
rescue group as I’d like to have these garden-friendly animals around our house
and the surrounding area. More news on this next time.
