SPRING HAS SPRUNG, DURING LOCKDOWN

The swallows are back, and almost exactly the same day as the previous three years.

The lack of traffic noise has led to bird song being much more audible and just a couple of days ago I heard the distinct call of swallows.

Then today I saw my first one swooping over the fields next to the garden. It means the first sounds was heard in the 8th April and seen on 11th April.

The current sates I've first seen swallows each year, since 214, are:

2014 - 19th April
2015 - 21st April
2016 - 10th April
2017 - 8th April
2018 - 7th April
2019 - 7th April
2020 - 11th April (heard first on 8th April)

It’s typical that during this lockdown we’re seeing really warm spring weather, particularly after the wet and windy last couple of months.

Of course, we’re going to see cooler weather in the coming weeks, but it’s been nice to enjoy the garden and also for a lot longer than usual with working from home.

Sadly not everything is perfect in nature, and this was demonstrated early one morning when I found three dead chicks, perhaps a week old, in the garden not far from the potential location of a robins’ nest.

It has been very cold overnight and a gently frost was on partly visible, so I suspect this had killed them and the parents had removed the bodies.

While it could have been a predator or local cat, the nest location would suggest a cat unlikely and a magpie would have difficulty getting into the thick ivy - the nest is circled along with one of the dead chicks.

What I have noticed since is the robins both being very active in the same location, both with food and the odd bit of nesting material.

I haven’t heard any chick noises, but this is definitely a watching brief, with the male robin (seemingly) singing loudly and often from a series of perches around the garden.

Above the robin nest a pair of blue tits has recently been seen mating, but where the nest is, is another thing.

I suspect they are using the previously unused single nest box that was under the now removed triple sparrow nest box, but await final evidence.

We’ve also found a frog residing in the pond, I say residing because it’s been in there for quite a few days.

I don’t think it’ll be mating and laying frog spawn, but perhaps next year we’ll get that.

Still it’s a good sign that the pond is supporting a wide range of wildlife and plants.

And the pond is looking colourful and is proving to be a great source of food for bees and butterflies – there’s been both orange tip and peacock on most days in the last week.

STAYING PUT, FOR THE TIME BEING

So COVID-19 has hit and confined us to our homes for the foreseeable future, which is not bad for those of us who like to admire the wildlife and potter in the garden – just once a day at the moment!

However, it does mean that we’re going to struggle to provide those extra morsels for hungry birds and other animals, as we come into a time when breeding success can be determined by those extra handouts.

At the moment there doesn’t seem to be much interest in nesting, apart from the recent robin interest in the ivy by the kitchen window, the odd fly by on the oldest nest box and the magpies in the conifer tree opposite the house.

It also means I can’t sort the pond out or get lovely border plants to help deter the cats from defecating in the garden.

It has given us time as a family to plant some seeds, with the usual tomato, broad bean and sunflowers being joined by, among others, the Californian Poppy.

A few of the seeds are already starting to emerge after a couple of days, but it might be this weekend when the more dramatic emerging happens.

Until then we continue to work from home, admire the wildlife when we look up from the computer, and hope spring can replace this cool weather with some proper warmth.

THE CALM BEFORE SPRING STARTS?

Well we’re all awaiting the Coronavirus impact, while nature carries on regardless.

The dawn chorus is getting louder every morning, and my walk to work is full of various birdsong, from blackbirds and robins, to blue tits and chaffinches.

The buzzard that had been hanging around in the area hasn’t been seen for a week or so, but a kestrel has replaced it.

I’ve seen the kestrel perched a few times over the half-flooded fields, mainly on hedgerows, and the smaller birds always keep their distance.

A few frogs have been seen on the road, unfortunately all squashed by vehicles on the lane.

I’m sure there are a few around, but I don’t think any will frequent the pond, mainly because I’ve not done much upkeep on it recently.

I will be getting in the garden in the next couple of weeks and will hopefully get some seeds planted.

I’ll stick to sunflowers and tomatoes, and also get some small plants for the borders to help stop the cats using them as a toilet.

The feeders are still going down quickly, with long tailed tits still seen almost every day.

The lighter mornings and evenings enable me to see bird activity, and perhaps even another glimpse of the robin taking nest material into the ivy, close to the place he/she chose last year.

Whether we have a nest this year, only time will tell.

DOES ANYONE REMEMBER WHEN IT WASN’T STORMY?

It’s fair to say that I’m struggling to remember when the last time we had some calm weather, given we’re experiencing storm after storm hitting the UK.

And, if there hasn’t been a named storm, then we’ve been hit be continual low pressures or the windy edge of a high pressure.

The fields are soaking, and large ponds of water are now forming and not draining at all.

Even the stream alongside the lane regularly breaches the banks when we’ve had a few hours of rain.

These videos are taken one day last week, then below are two mages taken the same time, on the following day.

To see all that in one go, here’s a collated image. What’s not shown is the water on the lane is gradually damaging the surface and there’s not a day goes by when the lane doesn’t have large puddles dotted along it.

 

The wildlife is not appearing to be affected by the weather, well from what I can see and hear.

The dawn chorus has been getting stronger each day recently, although the storm and wet mornings have limited activity.

During the day we’re now hearing more territorial songs from the robins, blue tits, great tits and also the odd chaffinch.

The breeding season is largely dictated by the day length, but I do wonder how the storm will affect it long-term.

If the butterflies and moths, which lay eggs that then turn onto the caterpillar food for the small garden birds, get impacted by the storms, then how will the birds cope?

That will also impact some the birds of prey in the area, but we can only wait and see how that all plays out.

If the stormy weather continues for a while, then our summer migrants might also be impacted; so swallows, house martins, swifts and cuckoos.

Again only time with tell, until then we’ll continue to batten down the hatches and hope the water levels gradually drop.

WETTER THAN AN OTTER'S POCKET

In my last post it was all about Storm Ciara; this time it’s about Storm Dennis and the resulting impact from the combination of both storms.

To say it’s been a bit rainy and windy, would be a huge understatement. During particularly heavy rain and strong winds, the wildlife has been virtually invisible in the garden.

The birds have definitely made use of the feeders though, with the peanuts and fat snacks being devoured quicker than for many months.

The garden, roads and small streams are soaking, with the streams regularly overflowing onto the road.

Sadly, the nearest stream has been dredged and the small fish are no longer being seen when I walk by, which means the chances of seeing a kingfisher again are negligible.

I’ll keep checking just in case they’re under a nearby tunnel, and see just how the weather conditions impact the newly dredged stream.

The storms, and continued strong winds, have taken their toll on the flora, including the large old tree that was knocked over, that I mentioned in the last post – knocking out phone and internet for ten days.

The tree was a nesting and resting site for a few birds, with great tits nesting in the ivy-ridden trunk for a couple of years.

Perhaps when looking elsewhere they’ll see my nest boxes and take up the offer of a breeding site opportunity.

Despite the constant stormy conditions, the dawn chorus is starting to gather pace, with the robins (who’ve been singing almost constantly through winter), being joined by wrens, song thrushes, blackbirds, blue tits, great tits and the odd magpie with their crackling calls.

I’m sure nesting will start soon for the smaller birds, while the likes of the magpies and nearby crows, are already constructing nests in larger trees.

STORM CIARA CLAIMS GARDEN VICTIMS

Storm Ciara, the most ferocious storm to hit the UK in almost a decade took a swipe at the nest boxes, ripping the triple sparrow one from the wall.

It’s not nice seeing things that you’ve taken time and money on, being destroyed so brutally.

However, I think it might be nature’s way of saying that nest box isn’t working for the birds and needs to be moved.

Where it needs to be moved to is another thing, perhaps I’ll wait until we move to a different house – in however many years that is!

The only major other news was that a large tree was blown over in a neighbouring garden, taking out the phone lines and removing the internet and the ability to upload this blog post! The irony.

The long tailed tits are now regulars in the garden, feasting on the peanuts and fat snacks.

I even managed to get within four feet of them to grab this image – it shows that even a bird with various colours can still be well hidden in the garden!

There are three birds in this image, but only one is really visible to the position of the other two.

The blossom on the trees is starting to come out, slightly ahead of last year, but I suspect it’ll be hit hard if (and it’s a big if) we see a cold snap and freezing conditions.

The birds are thinking it’s spring, because there’s plenty of singing going on, and it’ll be interesting to see if they choose one of the nest boxes in the garden.

With the camera systems not working properly, and little time to fix them, I’ll use eyesight to detect presence – which worked ok before cameras were fitted.