Cyn's Nature Notes: A Frosted Blackbird

Friday, 1 January 2010

A Frosted Blackbird

It’s very cold outside, the sun comes up moon white every morning into a silvery sky, last night’s sunset was surprisingly red, so perhaps today the sun will shine and gently warm some of the creatures living outside and enduring this freezing spell of weather.

It’s 9am: the thin white sunlight brightens the snow on the lawn and in the fields, while deepening the shadows. A pair of squirrels is busy collecting food from the bird table and storing it in the woodpile, a jay sitting on the lower branch of the birch tree, watches them, as yet he has made no attempt to sabotage their winter store. My guess is that he is the one that has already been eating food straight from the bird table, and is now marking where his next meal will come from. Another squirrel is sitting fatly, his fur all puffed out, on the bird table. He has eaten his fill, stored much, and is obviously not interested in the rest of the food, other than to guard it from the birds with a view to keeping it for himself.

A skein of Canada geese just flew noisily above the garden, I love the way their calls announce their coming, making it possible to fully enjoy the sight of their flight formation. The fieldfares are here at last! Only four but such a welcome sight, yesterday I watched a solitary redwing feeding in the same overgrown but many-berried cotoneaster that feeds the fieldfares today.

Early this morning, I watched two blackbirds tussling over food on the bird table; one of them was lightly brushed with frost and must have had a very cold overnight perch. I wondered at the metabolism of birds and knew that if that was us subjected to these sub-zero temperatures we would likely have succumbed to hypothermia, but here less than fifteen inches away was this striking black and bright yellow-billed chap, perky as ever and fighting for his rights on the food table.

Happy new year, not only to you but to all my garden friends outside who give so much pleasure and ask for so little in return.

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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.