Today’s Treasures – the Bird Table in Winter

Today’s Treasures – The Bird Table in Winter

One of the wonderful things about wintry mornings is the increased activity on the bird table.  The birds really seem to appreciate my efforts to fill up bird feeders and thaw out the bird bath.

The robin, resplendent in his bright red winter waistcoat sedately pecks at the sunflower seeds.  A rival arrives – as often happens on cold frosty mornings – and is crossly chased away.

A blue tit perches on the edge of the birdbath and takes dainty sips of fresh water.  Belinda and Bertie raised a family of blue tits this summer – it was fascinating to watch them feeding their tiny babies on the bird table.

The nutchatches – Nigel and Nolly – creep around the tree trunks then take turns taking peanuts from the feeder.

Then the Twits – a flock of long-tailed tits that always arrive in a flurry of chirps and fluttering wings – take over all the bird feeders, scrapping for perching space.

The great tits Colonel Twist (due to his having a wonky tail) and Lady P (Penelope) wait patiently for the Twits to fly off before resuming their feeding.

A blackbird scurries along to the bird seed sprinkled on the ground and busily tucks into a grain feast before the hens arrive and clear up.

Woody the woodpecker loves peanuts and can often be spotted in the garden with his undulating flight and unusual cry – and peck, peck, pecking on the dead pine tree looking for insects.

There’s a selection of finches – goldfinches with their little red and yellow heads and chaffinches, and, when it’s been really cold, we are sometimes honoured with the presence of a bullfinch or the odd visit from a siskin, or brambling.

Unwelcome visitors that thankfully are seen very infrequently are kestrels and sparrowhawks.  In the summer the little birds are safe in the leafy green cover of the roses and honeysuckle; in the winter the branches are bare – except for the ivy which offers welcome cover as well as berries to eat.

There’s no knowing what the cat will do next – but I believe he is actually watching the little mouse that lives in the rockery and uses the bottom of the bird stand as a tunnel, popping in and out collecting seeds.

Published in the February edition of the Whitchurch Gossip

Today’s Treasures – Spring is Just Around the Corner

Today’s Treasures – Winter is over and Spring has just begun

The celandines are sunning their golden faces, coltsfoot flowers are lifting their heads and opening their petals to the wintry sunshine and the frogs have finally woken up in the pond.  The dawn chorus is back – the liquid notes of the blackbird serenading the sunrise, soon joined by all the other birds waking up and flexing their wings – they feast on the seeds on the bird table then they are off making nests, flying to and fro with beaks full of moss.

The robin has inspected the bird boxes – and investigated the apple tree – and now seems to have settled on building his nest in the Pampas grass – whilst the blackbird has made a big song and dance about building in the hedge – and finally decided on the ivy climbing over the weigela.

If we didn’t have so many cold, wet, windy, dismal, days in winter – we wouldn’t look forward quite so much to spring.  It’s such a relief when the first snowdrops poke their heads through the frozen ground – then the primroses and hyacinths brighten up the winter borders, closely followed by the daffodils – crowds of them, fluttering and dancing in the breeze – as Wordsworth so aptly described them.

The cherry blossom is out in candyfloss clouds of pink and the first tiny crimson buds are showing on the apple blossom.  Bees have woken up from their winter sleep and are busily investigating the spring flowers.

The scent of the first new mown grass is full of the promise of hot sunny lazy summer days full of sunshine.

Winter is over and spring has just begun …

 

 

Published in the April edition of the Whitchurch Gossip

 

Today’s Treasures – Spring is just around the corner … or is it?

Spring is just around the corner … or is it?

The snowdrops are out and the frogs are hopping around the pond looking for mates, primroses are in bud and daffodils are peeping tantalising flashes of yellow ready to blossom into sunshine flowers. Then, just when you think Spring is finally on the way, the #BeastfromtheEast arrives and we’re in the middle of a snowstorm again.  Only in England!

But it won’t be long before the primroses are out in profusion and daffodils and tulips will be swaying gently in the breeze. The birds are already dressed in their Spring colours and singing their Spring songs joining in the dawn chorus – and they know that the snow will soon be gone.

The hens don’t mind the snow, they are always eager to rush out into the fresh air and scratch around outside.  The Spice Girls (our ex-battery hens – see previous post) have settled in and have become part of the family – at least two of them have – one didn’t survive the move and another managed to get lost somewhere – but Ginger and Meg (Nutmeg) now rush out to greet me every morning.  They seem to be so grateful now they have settled into a ‘normal’ lifestyle.  They still haven’t got many feathers (I tell them they will freeze in this snow but they take no notice) but their feathers should grow back eventually.  They still don’t perch at night – they settle down in one of the nest boxes whilst the other hens roost in the rafters. But apart from that, they act like ordinary chickens and are part of Dillon’s flock (he’s the cockerel and definitely rules the roost).

When it’s cold and snowy the wild birds seem so grateful for the food on the bird table.  I always thaw the water in the birdbath if it’s frozen and put extra food out.  I watch them for hours – the long-tailed tits arrive all of a flutter, twittering to each other, the tiny wren, and of course the robin, showing off his best red waistcoat.  We’ve seen lots of different birds this winter – even a bullfinch graced us with his presence for a few days.

Published in the March edition of the Whitchurch Gossip

A Frosty February morning

A Frosty February morning

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Yesterday the frogs were gathering in the pond and Spring was in the air, today we wake to a winter frost.  I’ve had to thaw the water out in the bird bath this morning for the robin and the nuthatch has been patiently waiting for me to get up and put some more peanuts out.  It is a really beautiful morning though.

Better than all the rain we’ve had, although there is an old saying:

“If in February there be no rain, ’tis neither good for hay nor grain.”

which I found in a Country Wisdom & Folklore Diary www.talkingtreesbooks.co.uk

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Snowdrops

Snowdrops

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The very first flowers of Spring.  Our very first visit to the cottage each year was to pick some snowdrops and I remember those journeys looking out of the car window searching the fields wanting to be the first to see the new lambs.  That feeling of looking forward to Spring returns with the snowdrops.  Mum used to say:  “If you have good health, you can change everything else in your life.”  As I am getting older, I have good days and bad days and I really make an effort to make the most of the good days – those days when you get up in the morning and feel like changing the world.  But however you feel, whatever your health, you can always enjoy the little things in life, using your senses to the full, listening to a robin sing, watching blue tits on the bird table – and the scent of flowers – did you know that snowdrops have a very delicate, fresh, green smell?