MORE FLOODS AND COLD NIGHTS, AS BIRDS RETURN TO THE GARDEN

The weather already in November has meant the lane as become a river twice, which is astonishing because I’ve only seen it like this about six times in the 12 years we’ve lived here.

It did the same last month and, given the amount of rain we’ve had, any downpours will simply tip the water levels well over the limit again.

The moorhens living around the pond and stream have been seen quite often recently, presumably trying to escape any potential danger from the fast-flowing water.

In the garden the leaves from the surrounding deciduous trees are covering the lawn, so I hope the worms and other small creatures can make full use of them.

The birds feeders are now seeing a number visitors, with blackbirds, wrens and dunnocks all being seen quite often.

I’ve heard the tawny owls calling on a couple of nights recently; it’s great to know they’re around, but I just don’t know if they stick around for the rest of the year.

There has been no sight of foxes, badgers or rabbits recently, but I’ve spotted a rat and plenty of grey squirrels at the top end of the lane, not too near the house.

If the weather manages to stop producing rain, and settle down for a bit, I hope to see and hear a little bit more of the wildlife.

The pond has now cleared up, so the water is crystal clear. Unfortunately, the oxygenating plants have perished, so in the spring I’ll get some more to help any wildlife that wants to utilise the ‘facilities’.

We did have a small tortoiseshell butterfly in the house, seemingly trying to spend the winter, but constantly being woken up by the house warming when the heating went on.

Then when I found a box to house it in the garage, it seemingly found a new place and hasn’t been seen in a week. Hopefully we’ll see it again in spring.

SHIVERING WILDLIFE GETTING A SOAKING

Is it autumn already? The weather has been distinctly autumn-like following the hottest recorded temperatures for June in more than 40 years.

The blue tit chicks have paid occasional visits to the garden in the last couple of weeks, and so far it appears most have survived.

I’ve not seen a bird of prey around for a while, even down the lanes, so perhaps the sparrowhawk and kestrels are focusing elsewhere for the time being.

There’s been no sign of any robin chicks yet, although the adults are still regularly spending time in and around the garden.

Both blackbird parents are in the garden daily and, thanks to the wet weather are often tugging worms out of the soil – winning most of the battles.

There’s still no word on whether the house sparrows are sitting on eggs in the blue tit next box, but they are still hanging around there like they own it.

One noticeable visitor has been the crane fly, well actually hundreds of them. Many of them are coming in the house, which is not the best place considering the amount of spiders knocking about.

However it does mean they avoid the increasing amount of swallows, whose first ‘batch’ of 2017 youngsters.

Will July bring warm and summer-like weather? Let’s hope so.

HAVE THE BLUE TIT EGGS HATCHED?

Recent weather has been favourable for the bird trying to raise young this spring, albeit with quite cold nights.

The great tits have been busily feeding many hungry mouths in one section of the triple nest box, while the blue tits have been incubating their clutch of eight eggs.

And just two days ago they hatched, although the exact number of hatchlings is yet to be determined because of issues with the camera.

There are a number of house sparrow nests nearby, but it doesn’t appear that they are using any of the nest boxes in the garden.

They have all been receiving regular supplies of mealworms, which have attracted other great tits, house sparrows, robins, magpies, and the recently returning blackbirds.

A pair of blackbirds has been seen recently in the garden, taking a number of grubs, worms and mealworms off to feed their youngsters.

The garden is literally coming alive with spring life, including the first crane flies of the year and hundreds of flies and bugs.

It’s a great place to be in the spring and summer, watching the wildlife make the most out of the weather and being totally focussed on the breeding season.

Long may it continue and also long may the camera keep working so we can see the young blue tit chicks growing.

IS AUTUMN SET TO BE WARMEST ON RECORD?

The autumn warmth is showing little sign of fading, which could help make this year’s autumn one if the warmest on record.

Fog, mild nights and the odd wet and windy day have all served to delay migrating birds and the arrival of birds in the garden to feast on the offerings.

The latter because there is seemingly plenty of natural food in the surrounding countryside, which is good to know.

Despite reports of flocks of goldfinch being seen in increasing numbers in garden around the country, the garden in front of the house has hardly seen any.

I know they’re close by because I see small flocks when down the lane, but the amount of forays into the garden is minimal. Perhaps when the colder weather arrives it’ll signal the arrival of more goldfinches in the garden – I’m hoping so!

The hedgehog has still not made an appearance and I doubt we’ll see it again, but I do hope it’s found an area to forage and keep warm.

One thing the weather has brought this autumn is all the leaves from the trees and bushes. It’s good news for the garden as it provides food for worms and other small animals, along with nourishing natural food for next year’s growing flora.

One day last week a sparrowhawk was chastened by a group of jackdaws, before taking shelter in the garden.

It’s wonderful to see such a beautiful bird near the house, natural behaviour of other birds towards it, while appreciating the terror an bird of prey causes smaller birds.

A SLOW START TO AUTUMN

It’s definitely autumn, but someone might remind the season itself as the usually autumnal weather isn’t really taking affect.

The worms in the garden are finding the leaves blown to the ground, on the odd windy day, quite useful, but we’re nearly in November and the traditional conditions of strong winds and heavy rain have stayed away.

It does mean that while the summer visitors (swifts, swallows and house martins etc.) have long gone, the autumnal migrants – both to the UK and the garden – are not exactly here in big numbers.

Perhaps the new series of BBC’s Autumnwatch will herald the arrival of normal autumnal weather.

The garden is looking fairly bare in terms of bird numbers and variety; even the blackbirds, robins and tits (great and blue) are infrequently seen.

The house and tree sparrows are hardly in the garden at all, which has all meant the bird feeders do not have to be topped up very often.

Snow and ice are ‘predicted’ by some weather forecasters, but this seems to be the case every year.

If it does come true (that’s a very big IF) then the garden and the feeders could see the odd unusual visitor.

Three birds are on the list to be seen this winter – long tailed tit, redwing and fieldfare. The former usually visits in flocks every winter, but the other two have never been seen in the garden.

They have been spotted nearby, so this year there will be some keen eyes focused on the red berries and fat snacks, just in case.

Finally, Spike the hedgehog has still not been spotted, although it’s too early to put up ‘dead or alive’ posters.

IS THAT AUTUMN KNOCKING ON THE DOOR?

It looks like summer is about to end with a whimper, although nature doesn’t appear to be complaining too much. 

The house sparrows have had seven broods between them so far, with the most recent batch fledging in the last few days.

There must be a flock of 25-30 now hanging around the garden, most of which are youngsters learning feeding technics from adults.

The robins are appearing dishevelled, with the odd youngster scouring the garden for tiny morsels while the adults skulk in the bushes, barely recognisable with their red breasts looking very dull.

One or two young blackbirds are now see two or three times a day, picking up plenty of worms and the odd slug, which they thrash around the garden, wiping off the slim.

The odd great tit is now putting in an appearance, but blue tits are scarce. I expect both will be back soon in numbers after they finish their moult.

Finally the swallows have signalled their own end to the summer season by starting to gather on telegraph wires.

I counted nearly 30 this week, which is certainly up there with previous record years, and with many more flying around I’m hoping the local population will show an increase in parents next year.

I’ll be sad when they finally go for their warm winter ‘holiday’ as they are such an elegant bird with a beautiful voice.

But I know they’ll be back next year and perhaps I’ll be able to provide a nest site suitable. I’ll be working over the winter to build one and see how they react next April.

HORSE MANURE, HARVESTING AND CATS

Another trip to get horse manure – this time three heavy bags of it – and I was ready to get started on the garden again.

The only negative was being struck by an energy-sapping head cold, which meant I was shattered last night and tonight after spreading all that manure.

I harvested the last of the carrots and potatoes, leaving only the parsnips left in the ground. With the colder nights starting to bite, it won’t be long before they come up to – hopefully they’ll last until Christmas.

Once again this weekend I’ve been turning the soil over in the planting areas, trimming back the dead plants and generally giving the garden a good platform to over-winter in a good condition.

This time I wasn’t followed around by a robin, which did surprise me given the huge amount of worms that I was ‘working’ with.

The bird population doesn’t seem to be visiting the house in any numbers I thought they would be, apart from the seemingly combined flocks of house and tree sparrows.

The blue and great tits have been making the most of the remaining sunflowers, foraging on the seeds.

I’ve not seen a blackbird for a few weeks, although I have heard them, while the evening often brings a large number of birds, including chaffinches and goldfinches, to the area with trees and bushes – which also contain one of my bird feeders.

I do wonder if the natural food supplies or the plethora of cats in a couple of the houses here are to blame for the lack of activity from the birds. I suspect it’s a bit of both, but hope that when the colder conditions begin, the birds do make the most of the food I provide for them.

Some of the cats – from a house that doesn’t look after them properly – seem to be making more of an effort to get into my garden around the feeders. I’m making sure that when I see them they are chased away, which doesn’t make too much of a difference.

Perhaps new tactics are required, which frustrates me because why should I, or any other nature lover, have to work at deterring cats from their garden?

It’s a dilemma that many people face and one I think needs addressing overall, particularly in my garden.

Let’s hope the natural food supplies keep the birds with enough food, before they have to dodge the cats to get food from my garden.

CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS THROUGH FLOODWATER

As we near the end of 2012, it can be remembered for just one thing, one thing weather wise anyway – rain, rain and floods.

It has been a truly monumental year for rain as almost every part of the country has felt the force of floodwater and the devastation it causes to us humans, but what about the wildlife?

I know from personal experience how wildlife has suffered with the great tit family of eight chicks dying, not long after hatching. The wet weather meant caterpillars were washed away or hadn’t hatched, therefore resulting in starvation for the chicks.

The failure of the great tit family in my garden was not the only one, as I heard of many small bird families across the country feeling the same affect from the weather.

Obviously either side of the food chain would have been affected as the failure of small insects breeding was partly responsible for the small bird families not having much breeding success and therefore contributed to larger birds and birds of prey not having as much ‘food’ for their young.

All in all 2012 has not been brilliant for wildlife, but before we write it off as a failure, we must take it into context.

Nature has a wonderful way of balancing itself out over a period of many years and while this year might not have been great for a number of reasons, the overall picture can’t be viewed for many years to come.

Perhaps 2013 will provide a bumper crop of insects and in turn a larger number of small bird chicks that fledge. Only time will tell and that is something we must all look forward to.

As for my garden, the recent wet weather has ensured a plentiful supply of worms for the blackbirds and robins, while my peanuts, fat snacks and seed mix has given the great tits, blue tits, tree sparrows, house sparrows and dunnocks enough food to supplement the natural bounty.

I’ve only seen fleeting views of chaffinches, goldfinches, while the jays are seemingly taking up residence in the trees and hedgerows of the lane.

Christmas has no effect on wildlife, it’s just another time of the year, but if we all gave a little thought and made sure there was enough food and water (there might be enough of this) for them, we all might benefit when it comes around to the spring and summer as bird song lightens up our light mornings and long evenings.