Cyn's Nature Notes: May 2011

Tuesday 17 May 2011

May Thoughts

May is here at last, with bluer skies and warmer days, though some are still made cold by a fresh wind that tugs washing on the line and whips colour into cheeks. It has been a dry month, with hardly any rain, the lawns are more brown than green. But everywhere else we look is so freshly green and lush; gardens are filled with flowers, weigela, lilac, clematis, honeysuckle, and aquelegias, while aubretias still course like a waterfall down garden walls.

On so many trees are tiny new catkins already stretching out, lengthening and ripening, ready for the wind to help them shed their pollen. Traveling country roads at this time of year, we pass acre upon acre of green fields, hedges and trees, their branches hanging heavy with their fresh green leaves. Willow trees look so pretty at the moment with their long weeping branches brushing the ground, or by rivers dabbling their tips in the water. Here and there amongst all the greenery an odd field of brightest yellow rape shines out like a spotlight on a darkened night.

The garden is alive with the sight and sound of bees, hoverflies, butterflies and day flying moths. Caterpillars can be found now and slugs are abundant. Fledgling robins, flutter wings showing hungry golden gapes to the world while they beg for food from their parents. Thrushes, blackbirds, blue tits, great tits, dunnocks and chaffinches are greedy feeders and collectors of food to take back to their nestlings. No matter how much I put out for the small birds I still find the ones who take the most are the pigeons, magpies, crows and new to the garden, jackdaws. We also have been honoured by the presence of starlings.

The little female fox has not yet brought her cubs to the garden, but she still comes nightly and carries away tightly crammed mouthful after mouthful of food, occasionally stopping to feed herself, before dashing off with another mouthful for her cubs. Two other foxes visit, both male, and never at the same time; one is slightly larger and darker than the other, he moves easily and slowly, and he always lays down to eat. The other younger, paler one is restless, looking constantly about him, starting and jumping at sounds, then rushing away and hiding in the shadows of bushes, before slowly sloping back to timidly feed again.

About this Blog

When we moved to our present home in December 1987, I was very ill and bedridden. My garden was a life-saver, although it was very different then. The first thing I did was to put up bird-feeders, and long hours were spent lying indoors in a recliner. This was when I discovered many things. Do you know the underside of every blue tit’s tail is differently marked? Gradually, over the years, the garden changed. We put in shrubs and plants that would not only enhance the garden, but would also be good for wildlife. The first rabbit we saw was so joyful for us. The deer eat the flowers, prune the apple trees, eat the marrow, and are wonderful to watch. Foxes have been a major part of our wildlife. We have fed them each night for more than 20 years. They are such a delight, especially in late summer and early autumn when there are youngsters. They behave like puppies and are great fun to watch.

I love all wildlife: the mason bees that nest in the brickwork of the bungalow, the hornets that last year made their home in the roof above our bedroom, the bees currently nesting in the roof above the bathroom. On a hot evening, if you stand quietly in the bathroom, you can hear this amazing sound: it is very rhythmic and reminds me of the waves at the seaside. It is made by the beating of the bees’ wings as they fan their nest to keep the temperature at the right level -- how many people have heard that sound? I feel so privileged.

Obviously, I feed the birds. When I open the window in the morning I call “Come on Bobby and Blackie”, and one followed swiftly by the other they fly immediately to the bird table. Each morning, on rising, I make my way to the kitchen and find the squirrels already sitting on the window ledge waiting to be fed. Winter brings the moorhens and spring time the mallards. Our pond is a poor effort from a human point of view, but wild creatures see it differently. On summer days, the grass snakes spend long hours in the pond: eating the fish, froglets, toadlings, newts, and any other living creature they can swallow. Although I hate to see the pond emptied this way, I do enjoy the snakes and feel they are an important part of the balance of nature in the garden. Watching a dragonfly nymph climbing out of the pond, up a plant stalk, and then over the next few hours gradually transforming into a beautiful dragonfly -- these are contented hours well spent.

It has been my pleasure to write and publish a nature column each month. I am always delighted to hear how much pleasure this brings to my readers. I have often been asked if I have written a book, so I am making more of my writings and photography available through this web site and blog.