WINTER COLD STAYING AWAY?

November has been quite mild so far, and there’s little indication it’ll change in the near future.

It appears the weather conditions have meant the bird feeders aren’t as active as they might be, although the garden is still seeing house sparrows, blue tits and great tits.

The odd robin is now making a regular appearance, while the blackbirds have been heard a few times in the nearby trees and bushes – obviously by their alarm call.

There was a fleeting glimpse of a flock of long tailed tits, while down the lane jays, magpies, blackbirds and a great spotted woodpecker have been seen.

I’ve not seen any further evidence of badgers down the lane, although recent sightings have meant I’m confident of seeing more in the winter months.

The other large mammal around the area has also made itself known this week. A fox has been heard for two nights running calling in the early hours, and quite near the house.

After a few years of little fox or badger activity, it’s been great to see it evidenced recently, while tawny owls have also come back to the area after years of absence.

Perhaps the more elusive wildlife is back to stay, let’s hope so.

WINTER IS ON ITS WAY

The cold of autumn has arrived, and it signalled the garden birds to descend on the garden; feasting on the peanuts and fat balls.

We’ve seen house sparrows, blue tits, great tits, the odd dunnock and a robin (for the first time in weeks).

There has been a number of jays around recently, and it’s great that they are now increasing their presence around the garden, while the local magpies pay almost daily visits.

No blackbirds have been seen for a while, so I wonder if the incident involving the tawny owl and blackbird at night a couple of months ago has impacted on this. If none are seen in the next month or so, then I might suspect it has.

A frost has lightly carpeted the lawn for the last two days, while the nearby trees and bushes are turning lovely autumnal shades of yellow, brown and orange – all apart from the evergreens!

This week feels the start of the change from summer/autumn to autumn/winter, and the early dark nights that we’ll have for the next five months.

Of course, the clocks going back doesn’t have any impact on the wildlife, but it does impact when we can help them with handouts – for me it’s weekends only.

In news from the lane, badgers have once again been seen, with two spotted on separate nights, a week apart but in the same area, exploring the hedges.

It happened around 8/9pm and is great news because we’ve not seen any badgers down the lane for years.

They were seen regularly, along with the odd fox and loads of rabbits, but it’s rare to see any of them now, which is not good for the rabbits because they were seen at least once a week; now they’re seen every six months.

AUTUMN BLASTS IN WITH STRONG WINDS

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Autumn has blasted us with a very big storm, and brought some very warm temperatures with it.

Storm Callum dragged warm weather from Africa with its really strong winds, creating summer like conditions in parts of the country and delivering huge amounts of rain for others.

The garden got the warm weather, plenty of rain and some good sunny spells.

The wind has mainly been a southerly, so as the garden is situated in the lea of a large hill and is northerly facing, it meant it wasn’t too affected by the blowy conditions.

However, it didn’t escape from all the winds recently. As these two images show, westerly winds have taken down the vast majority of the leaves – meaning I had to get the big brush out to clear the patio and path.

The third image is of the same date as the second image, but in 2015.

The pond took plenty of leaves and water, so is filling up nicely; although it has meant clearing a lot of the leaves out of the water.

I hope the pond will be full in the next month, but it’s already seeing wildlife jump at the chance to move to a ‘new pond’; the first being pond skaters.

The garden birds have spent plenty of time away from the garden, with many not coming at all while the milder October weather was around.

Today they have come back, and it’s no coincidence that the temperatures have taken a big dip, with night temperatures predicted to be quite cold this week.