Cyn's Nature Notes: Spring weather, garden birds, ducks, pheasants and a fishless pond

Sunday 16 March 2014

Spring weather, garden birds, ducks, pheasants and a fishless pond

Again we have a beautiful day, there is a cloudless blue sky and it is mild and sunny. There is a breeze which keeps the temperature down, but even so it is seventeen degrees celsius.

The garden is alive with birds, the roof ducks are back and each morning they fly in, wait by the patio window or under the side kitchen window to be fed. After feeding they go to the pond to drink and swim and then up to the roof, where they spend all day, only coming down to feed and visit the pond.

The pheasants are always around the garden, the male is constantly standing on tiptoe, stretching his neck, flapping his wings and squawking at the top of his voice, I guess this is a show of male dominance, although the female pheasants take no notice of him when he does this.

Blue tits and great tits are nesting in the boxes, a trio of dunnocks are flirtatiously chasing each other, the long tailed tits are busy collecting the mossy growth from the trunk of the old bendy apple tree. There are so many chaffinches, more this year than ever before, and the bullfinches are back --- a sure sign of spring.

Unfortunately the heron has emptied the pond of fish, we said last year that if this happened again we wouldn't restock, however we miss the fish and have decided to go and buy some more.

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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.