Moorhen First

Another cold day, looking out of the kitchen window I saw a patient blackbird waiting in the apple tree. Gathering the food together I opened the kitchen window and as I threw the food onto the lawn a great gathering of birds hurried to it, they were a mixed flock of blackbirds, robins, bluetit, great tit, dunnock, pheasant, magpie, pigeons, gulls and the very first of all the birds hurrying across the lawn as fast as his big feet would allow was the moorhen.

Sparrowhawk in the Apple Tree.

Surprising number of birds in the garden today.

The bird tables and the hanging feeders have been alive with dozens of tits blue, great and long tailed. The daily visits at present from the 100+ strong flock of redwings and fieldfares, other birds seen are blackbirds ( male and female), thrush, pheasants, moorhen, pigeons, gulls, robins magpies, chaffinches (male and female), wrens, dunnocks and a sparrowhawk sitting in the apple tree a few feet from the window.

It was such a beautiful sunset this evening.

Redwings and Fieldfares

Amazed to daily watch a mixed flock more than one hundred strong of Redwings and Field fares feasting on the malus (crab apple) and the lordly cotoneaster tree fruits.

They fly from one tree to the other and also rest in the silver birch and the flowering cherry. Interestingly they don't seem to be able to eat more than a few berries at a time, so they constantly fly to the other trees mentioned where they sit for a while before returning to eat.

The fieldfare numbers in this huge flock far outweigh that of the redwings

Jackdaws and Goldfinches

Apart from all of the usual birds we see daily today I was pleased to see two not so usual groups of birds.

Firstly a very noisy flock of thirteen jackdaws and secondly a small charm eight strong of goldfinches.

Snowdrops

Noticed great swathes of delicate looking snowdrops around the garden, on looking in the lane I was pleased to see them in great profusion on the bank opposite.

The Hellibores (Christmas Roses) are also in bloom, it is such a shame that they hang their heads down as they have such pretty faces. I was pleased to see a new group in flower under a garden seat, these are self seeded and it is the first year they have flowered.

Primroses and Aconites

The garden is beautiful in places, there are primroses in pretty clumps and bright yellow globes of aconites in drifts. These brave little flowers give us heart and make us realise that spring is not so far away.

The Aggressive Moorhen and the Green Woodpecker

Milder weather and with it the rain, no need to empty ice from the various bird baths or to break the ice covering the pond this morning. The birds have been delightedly flapping and splashing in the pond all morning.

It has been an interesting morning for watching birds, there have again been flocks of fieldfares and redwings in the malus, silver birch and flowering cherry, but none in the still heavily berried cotoneaster.

Looking out of the side kitchen window I saw a wren, male and female blackbirds, blue tits, great tits, chaffinches, dunnocks, robins, pheasants, moorhen and green woodpecker.

The green woodpecker seems to now be a daily visitor to the garden, but I was disappointed to see the moorhen fiercely rush across the lawn and shoo the green woodpecker away. This was interesting behaviour, because until now the moorhen has fed with all the birds and freely wandered the garden mixing with them all showing no aggression to any other bird.

Fieldfares and Redwings

This morning I was delighted to see a mixed flock of fieldfares and redwings about forty in number, in the Malus and then glancing out of the back kitchen at the birch and flowering cherry trees I was amazed to see another enormous mixed flock of the same type, this time more than seventy birds, interestingly the cotoneaster which is still heavily laden with its bright red berries was nearby and none of the birds ventured to it. Eventually both flocks flew, the malus having been almost cleared of its fruit.

Hopefully they will return to empty the malus of it's fruit and feast upon the cotoneaster berries.

Frost, moorhen, blue tits and robins

A bright sunny morning, crisply white underfoot and with the pond and all bird bathing stations frozen solid. This has been the case for the last three days, and interestingly we have seen little of the moorhen, he arrives at intervals during the day to feed and then disappears until the next time he is hungry. I suppose with the pond frozen and the ground too hard for him to easily poke about in it, he goes back across the field to the river, where the water is still free and the constant movement probably means soft, muddy banks for him to prod for worms etc.

The blue tits are still very busy at their nesting box and the robins court endlessly, thrusting their red breasts toward each other and singing.

Song thrush and green woodpecker

We are woken each morning by the song thrush, he sings from the topmost branches of the ginko biloba tree, his  is a very bewitching song with its repetitions, clarity and beautiful tone. Such a pleasant way to wake.

We are being visited daily by the green woodpecker, he is the largest of the three British woodpeckers and he spends a great deal of time on the different lawns, but any careless movement from us near the window and he is gone. His vision is so much better than ours, it must be to do with the positioning of his eyes on the side of his head. I can't imagine how many millions of ants we must have in the garden because they are the food of the green woodpecker and by the length of time he is here and the number of times he returns , he must be finding plenty of them.

An abundance of birds and a nervous pheasant

A cold January day. Light to medium cloud cover, sadly no sun.

So many birds today, glancing out of the window mid morning I saw a pheasant, moorhen and a pigeon all feeding together. A pair of long tailed tits were bathing in an upturned dustbin lid, while blackbirds were lining up at another birdbath and the robin, a great tit, a blue tit and a female blackbird were all bathing in the pond.

Little wrens have been scouting for food on the bank, around the water's edge in the pond, and by the bird bath near the hanging feeding station. Four goldfinches were seen in a border across the lawn, I am always pleased to see these pretty red cheeked birds in the garden.

Although pleased to see them, I was dismayed to see only two long tailed tits and four goldfinches because at this time of the year, we are used to seeing them in flocks.

Bluetits have been in and out of boxes, a pair of robins caught my attention by their loud singing and when I glanced out of the patio door there they were, not a foot from me and about six inches from each other, red chests proudly pushed out, heads thrown back, beaks open and singing vociferously.

The pheasants are back and forth all day for hand outs and are to be seen almost any time from the window, by visually searching amongst the borders. The young powder blue backed pheasant, who is my favourite is still nervous around the emperor, despite the fact that there is now no difference in size and even the length and breadth of their tails is similar. Sadly this started some years back when they were tiny handfuls of fluff, for some reason as a youngsters he was ostracised by his siblings and mother. He was constantly pecked and driven away by all, he took to existing by following his family at a distance and skirting the edges of  their normal lives.

 He learned to come for food when the others weren't around, I felt sorry for him, always on the fringes never part of the family, I worried for him on cold nights, when I knew the others would be cuddled together, probably close to their mother, but each morning there he was, waiting patiently under the window and so it has remained and if I look out and he is not there in the morning, I only have to call to him and he will appear from some part of the garden and come running across for his breakfast, and I feel thankful that none of the foxes have managed to capture him.

Winter growth and a promise of spring

A walk around the garden today showed plenty of evidence that spring is not too far away.

Pretty primulas and primroses with their delicate enticing smell, large flowered hellibores both pink and white with their freckled faces shyly hanging down, clematis Freckles which is hardly ever out of bloom, viburnums, their pink buds opening to white clusters of flowers, and two bright yellow flowers, mahonia and winter flowering jasmine.

Mahonias are excellent garden shrubs, their leaves are mid to dark shiny green and look great when the flowers are in bloom, and later the added bonus of pretty bunches of dark blue berries. These shrubs are very tolerant of almost any condition and don't mind how hard they are cut back, and a bonus is that for some reason in my garden the chaffinches love them.

As I walk I realise that the lawn is still daisy spangled.

Daffodil plants are three inches high and not so tall but clearly visible are snowdrop leaves, everywhere I look there are fat buds on trees and bushes, the promise of a pretty spring soon to come.

Squirrel, Magpie and Blackbird

On New Years Day I reported watching a squirrel digging a hole and hiding food, watched by a magpie, who when the squirrel moved away proceeded to dig the cache up, eat some and then replace it in a hole, before hiding it by covering it with leaves.

This morning I watched a male blackbird near the pond turning over leaves as he hunted for food, suddenly he came upon the food hidden by the squirrel, raided and carefully hidden by the magpie.

Great was my joy when the found the food and remained in the spot until he had finished it.

A Wild Day

The wind is strong and wild and the rain is lashing down, the garden is almost empty of wildlife. A brave robin ventured out for food and a solitary pheasant also, apart from that I saw nothing until at lunch time I noticed the moorhen perched precariously in the bare and strongly blown branches of the old bent over apple tree.

The birds must have had a tough time last night it being so very wet and windy. I feel sure some must have succumbed to the bad weather which is continuing even as I write this, also their very absence leads me to wonder about their safety. Birds are such tiny creatures with a much higher metabolic rate than us and therefore burn their food calories much faster, which means they are unable to go too long without replenishment, consequently I find their absence from the bird tables, fat balls and peanut holders a cause for concern.

Birds bring gardens alive and without their presence the world would be a sadder, duller place.

Strangely the fox didn't finish his food last night, this is the first time I have known this to happen, I shall wait with interest to see what happens this evening.

New Years Day

New years day, cloudy but mild.

The cotoneaster is seeing the new year in with its boughs heavily laden with last years berries, this is the first time I have ever seen this and it saddens me to realize it is due to a reduction in the number of our feathered friends.

The leaves of the cotoneaster which other years have by now turned glorious shades of red, orange and yellow, some with brown speckles or edges, are still in the most part green, this is obviously due to the weather.

The first bird I saw this morning was a pretty goldfinch, bathing in a bird bath. I looked in vain for his mate, because where one is the other is never far away.

A few years back we would have flocks of these charming little birds in the garden, but like so many others their numbers have greatly dwindled. Interestingly their collective name is a charm of goldfinches.

Later I was amused to see the magpie up to his old tricks, playing out the you hide and I watch and seek game with the squirrel. The poor squirrel who is so smart in so many other ways never has a clue that the game is being played by the magpie, who will quite blatantly hop down and watch, from not a foot away.

This morning the squirrel was very busy hiding his reserve food in a hole he dug near the pond, while the magpie ever alert watched. This time there was a difference though as the magpie uncovering the cache, instead of flying off with it or gobbling it straight away, proceeded to eat a little then carefully placed the rest back in the hole and covered it with collected leaves. Which of the two, magpie or squirrel will ultimately retrieve and eat it I don't know, but it will be interesting to see. Although I will have to be quite lucky to be looking out in that direction at that point.

I would like to wish each of you a very happy and healthy new year. I am hoping for as healthy a new year as possible it will be two years in May since my cancer was diagnosed and I feel so very lucky to still be waking every day. Long may it continue.

Many thanks to my wonderful oncologist and her caring nurse.