Cyn's Nature Notes: Spring flowers and foxes

Friday 8 March 2013

Spring flowers and foxes

It is a grey misty morning and very cold. Yesterday it rained, the first rain for some time with the result that today everything looks so much fresher and greener.

Filled the bird table this morning, three blackbirds and a robin were waiting , great tits and blue tits quickly turned up. The miniature iris planted last autumn are blooming and along with the crocus, snowdrops and primroses they make the border at the end of the garden very pretty. Many narcissus are standing tall, their buds fattening up. The poached egg camellia, is covered with many hundreds of buds and is a promise of much beauty to come. The viburnum bodnantense is still flowering as it has been for many months it is a great shrub for winter gardens, has a wonderful perfume and doesn't mind being hard pruned to keep it small enough for small gardens.

While watching the foxes feed last night I couldn't help noticing how heavy the little girl looked and I feel she must be pregnant, I look forward to the autumn when we shall have the treat of watching her cubs at play. We have followed these foxes from when they were tiny cubs and the two fox regulars who never miss a night feeding here are the only two left from the last litter who played in the garden. It would seem to be true that very few foxes make it to adulthood. It was sad to see one of our regular foxes killed on the road nearby recently,she had grown into a beautiful adult, a few months earlier I had seen the same thing happen to another of our night time visiting foxes. I think traffic probably accounts for more fox deaths than any other method of their dying.

The badger continues to visit although we don't spot him as easily as the foxes, because his/her visits are not as regular.

I was sad to hear of the proposed deer cull as these creatures have given us so much pleasure, perhaps ours will be lucky and escape the cull.

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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.