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.

YOUNG FLEDGLINGS EVERYWHERE!

Due to the imminent arrival of a new baby in my house, I’ve been pretty busy ‘feathering the nest’ in anticipation.

During the last two weeks there’s been lots of activity in the garden and in the surrounding area.

The first brood of swallows fledged and within days were gathered in a big family group chasing of a bird of prey. I didn’t have enough time to see it before the bird disappeared, but my thinking was either a merlin or kestrel. It was too big for a buzzard and I’m not sure if hobbys are around this area.

Two more fledgings in the garden with both the tree and house sparrows with their second broods of the year.

Unfortunately one of the fledglings jumped out this morning and fell straight into a bucket in the garden. It was dead by the time I reached it at 7.30am and probably suggests it left the nest fairly early this morning when it was first light, about 4am.

The blue tits and great tits appear to be either busy with another brood or still keeping up with their first lot. Both sets of parents are looking a little ragged and it won’t surprise me if they stop coming to the garden soon, particularly if they have no second brood.

The female blackbird has been absent for many days now, while the male is always in full voice at dawn and dusk, and often lots of times during the day. It leads me to believe that another brood is on its way.

All of the flora is looking good with the first emergence of ladybird poppies and the foxgloves in full bloom. The bee rush on the escallonia bush has subsided as the flowers start to diminish in number, but the foxgloves are providing another good source of nectar and pollen in the garden – just at the right time.

Only one negative was the return of the snails and slugs, mainly on the potato plants. The numbers were soon reduced, but only time will tell if the potatoes are ok.

The hanging baskets will feature next week as the birds head off to explore the big wide world and moult.

BEES IN ABUNDANCE

This week I’ve been fascinated by the bees in the garden. There has been an almost constant hum of noise around the escallonia bush, with at least 15-20 bumblebees and the odd honey bee making the most of the nectar on offer.

I recently trimmed the bush back, after previously allowing it to grow for a couple of years. It has flowered every year, but not to this extent.

 

Here’s an idea of how it’s grown from 2008, 2009 and present day.

 

I’ve so far been able to identify three types of bees visiting the escallonia; the red tailed bumblebee, buff tailed bumblebee and early bumblebee.

 

If anyone can identify any more than please let me know.

Finally for this bee-fest, here’s a video of the escallonia. Next week I’ll have an update on the flora, including the vegetables I’m growing.

 

 

GROWING CROPS, FLEDGINGS AND SNAIL WAR PART II

Tonight is the start of BBC Springwatch and I'm really looking forward to this annual extravaganza.

The house sparrow family in the tit nest box with the ‘broken’ camera, have fledged this week and both parents have been busy feeding the youngster.

The garden has become a very popular feeding station for the house and tree sparrows, so much so that the great tits, blue tits and robins are often out-competed for food by the gangs of sparrows.

In two days they went through two full feeders of peanuts, 250g of mealworms and two fat snacks. It was literally a feeding frenzy from dawn until dusk.

I did think about checking the nest box camera and buying, then fitting, a new power cable, but I’m going to leave them until I know the breeding season has finished.

I’m guessing the mother house sparrow will soon be on eggs again and I don’t want to disturb her.

This is something I think the tree sparrows are already on with, so maybe the sound of another hungry brood of sparrows will be heard in the garden again soon.

The swallows appear to be almost complete with the nest building and ready to start laying eggs and incubating. Updated on the first fledgings will on here soon – I hope!

Both the robins and blackbirds haven’t been seen for a week or so, which I suspect is down to the fact they’ve got fledglings and/or are sitting on a second brood of eggs.

I know the nearest robin family is nesting close to the garden and in the same area as a wren family, how much I’ll find about where the nests are, is something I’ll know more of later this summer. I plan to explore the area around the stream in the hope it’ll be a much drier than it is now and not get wet!

The slugs and snails, though fewer in number, are still after my plants, so dose number two of the pellets came into force overnight. The marigolds have been the hardest hit and just when the sole survivor looked to be growing again, another attack came and bypassed the pellets.

Last night that mission failed and the casualties are now stricken around the marigold and a couple of other plants.

 

The carrots are starting to grow while the potatoes are doing very well. Hopefully they’ll help in breaking up the soil in the garden area of the joint land and yield better crops in coming years.

Until then let’s have some sunshine, more fledglings and big juicy crops.

SUMMER HAS ARRIVED, JUST AS THE SNAILS ARE 'LEAVING'

Those damn snails stretched and broke my patience after eating numerous new plants that I’d put outside, meaning about 40 per cent had been killed or brutally attacked by snails and slugs.

Enough was enough and I bought some eco-friendly pellets to protect the remaining and newly planted greenery.

In one night I estimate over 40 snails and slugs fell victim to the pellets, while several more have done the same in the following nights. I also ‘rehomed’ about 20 in the last couple of days so I’m hoping the attack on my plants will soon be over.

I took delivery of a box of mealworms this week and they’ve been readily accepted by a number of house and tree sparrow parents along with a great tit family.

The tree sparrow family have already raised one brood and I suspect the second one is not too far away, while the house sparrow youngsters are very noisy when food is being handed out.

Unfortunately the issues I’ve had with my nest box cameras has meant I can’t see inside any nest boxes this year – very frustrating, but great to know nature is carrying on as normal and that new types of birds are utilising the nest boxes.

Here’s one of the house sparrow parents waiting to fly to the tit nest box to feed its youngster. They’re getting used to us slowly, but still create lots of noise when near the nest!

 

I managed to track the great tit on its feeding forages between the place I put the mealworms, to the nest. It’s located behind the house in the garden of the farm house behind. About twenty foot up an old oak tree, hidden away in thick ivy is a number of great chick tits in a cosy nest – feeding on mealworms.

I’ve not seen the robins for a few days, while the blackbirds have also been scarce, apart from the males singing from roost posts at dusk.

The swallows are obviously enjoying the recent weather and the plethora of insects. Their song and aerobatic flight is a joy to watch and listen to. It may only last for a few months, but it’s still my favourite part of summer.

So the next week will bring wet, but fairly warm weather which is great for the growing plants, although it gives the snails and slugs the perfect conditions to try and destroy my plants!

This time I have a better defence, or so I think…

In the meantime here’s some of the broad beans and one of the foxgloves are getting on. Don't ask me why but they won't face the right way!

 

SNAILS, SLUGS AND SUNFLOWERS

It feels like it should be April rather than May. Sunshine and heavy showers this week are providing excellent conditions for the flora to grow, although given the temperatures each day haven’t been high, significant growth may have to wait until it gets warmer.

I think the tree sparrow chicks in the triple nest box have fledged this week, but there are more that have hatched in the tit nest box with the broken camera.

It’s very frustrating that I can hear the chicks, but can’t see them particularly as it’s a new species that has nested in the one box.

I’ve tested the power cable and it would seem to be beyond repair, but until I can get in the nest box to test a spare cable, I just won’t know.

In other news it appears the swallows are once again nesting in the horse stables; a place they moved to when the small outbuildings at the back of the house didn’t suit anymore.

The wrens and robins are very vocal at the moment around the garden, particularly when a cat is around, which leads me to believe that they both have young chicks.

It may just be my garden, but there has been a huge amount of snails this spring. Most of them have been devouring some of my young plants, with the sunflowers being affected most.

I’ve been gathering about ten a night and they have all been ‘re-housed’ in the garden waste bin, along with grass cuttings and plenty of twigs and leaves.

Not sure if they appreciate the new home, but as long as they’re not eating my sunflowers I’ve not got much sympathy for them – I won’t kill them unless it’s absolutely necessary.

There is some promise of warm weather coming in the next few weeks, so I’m hoping to get the tomatoes outside and watch all the flowers and vegetables growing rapidly.

Perhaps even the onions will emerge and give the garden its first harvest after three years of trying!

THE GARDEN IS SPRINGING INTO LIFE

The first May Bank Holiday has delivered the sounds of new life, lawnmowers and people groaning about bad backs from too much gardening.

I can lay claim to all three having spent most of the weekend in the garden and watching the emergence of new life.

The triple sparrow nest box with the camera that is working has tree sparrows in and they are very nervous when any human is around, even though I was in the garden all day they still gave warning calls whenever they were near the nest.

I suspect the chicks are about ten days old – so about a week from fledging – as they are quite noisy when the parents bring food in. I managed to get one image (which is blurry so haven't put up on here) of the adults over the whole of the weekend due to this nervousness – although the chicks still got many feeds.

In the other nest box, in which the camera isn’t working, I suspect the house sparrows are on eggs as they don’t have frequent visits with food like the tree sparrows, but I have seen them going in and out of the nest box.

The robin family must have young and there is a wren chirping away near to the garden, which I think means there is a robin and wren nesting in the banking by the little stream.

I’ve not seen much of the blue tits or great tits, but they do visit for food.

The dunnocks are rarely seen, while the blackbirds must be feeding youngsters as both parents have been seen collecting worms.

In the garden I’ve planted a number of sunflowers, while the runner beans and broad beans are in two locations with a climbing frame for them to grow up. The tomato plants will soon be in the greenhouse, while the final potatoes have been planted.

The first potatoes should be harvested in early July and as you can see from the image below, the rows of different growth can be seen – the far side were planted first.

Finally the swallows lighten up the skies with their calls and seem to be pairing up. Every night I see a pair on the telephone wires by the garden, singing and frequently feeding by swooping low over the garden.