Today is really warm; the garden is filled with spring flowers including hundreds of daffodils. Birds are already collecting nesting materials --watch out for tiny long-tailed tits as they search for cobwebs round the edges of windows. I have already seen both dunnocks and pigeons mating and watched robins busy with their courting ritual, note how much brighter birds colouring is now the mating season is here. Last autumn I added another three nesting boxes to the trees and bushes in the garden.
The woodpile dropped considerably during last winter, so we are topping it up from a reserve pile, which I noticed this morning appears to have blackbirds nesting in it already, I have decided to plant an evergreen clematis to grow over it, to flower at a different time to the everlasting sweetpea, clematis and honeysuckle already there. Woodpiles are invaluable in wildlife gardens as they not only give winter shelter to small creatures such as toads, hedgehogs and hibernating butterflies, but also provide a much needed breeding ground for insects. These sunny days are bringing out the bees and butterflies, so far: Whites, a beautiful Brimstone and a solitary Red Admiral -- was this a little early for the latter I wondered? This week I also heard the first frog croaking in the pond.
The pheasants continue to visit us for extra sustenance as do the garden birds, although I have noticed more territorial squabbles amongst the robins and blackbirds of late. I shall continue to feed the creatures that visit the garden, even though winter is coming to an end, as they expend a tremendous amount of energy in nest building, egg laying and chick rearing.
