Cyn's Nature Notes: Birds of my Garden

Sunday, 1 June 2008

Birds of my Garden

The garden is very lush at the moment and filled with flowers and their perfume is such a pleasure. Today is cool and overcast. It’s 12:35pm and already we have had visits from blackbirds, thrushes, dunnocks, blue, great, cole and long-tailed tits, robins, starlings, magpies, pigeons, wrens, bull, gold and chaffinches, one of our two pairs of mallards, and then, to my joy, the white duck flew in. By the time I had reached the kitchen window to feed her she was already underneath, head held high, beak reaching eagerly upward. Satiated she hastened to the pond for a good wash and then was off. We hadn’t seen our white friend for a few weeks, so we were particularly pleased to see her today.

My pleasure knew almost no bounds when a few minutes later a brown female mallard appeared at the patio door asking for food. On going to feed her I opened the kitchen window and to my delight found a female pheasant with her babies standing waiting to be fed. The babies were so tiny – the smallest pheasant chicks we have ever seen and not able to hurry without falling over their own feet. They must have been very recently born.

People often find it strange that I feed magpies, jackdaws and crows, but they need to eat and feed their young, and by providing food for them I hope they will not raid as many nests. Having said that they have raided both blackbird and thrush nests in the garden already this year. Although I must admit the sight of magpies in their fine attire, proudly strutting across the lawn as if they own it always makes me smile.

I am glad to report that both the thrush and blackbird have subsequently successfully bred. For those of you wondering about the 12 ducklings in our garden last month, the news is not good. The mortality rate is high and sadly all these ducklings were victims of predators. Their numbers lessened each time we saw them, and the same happened to the pheasant chicks; survival for these creatures is very difficult. Ducklings on the river are again very few this year.

This year we have seen some surprising sights. We have watched a magpie and a crow picking off ducklings and a mother duck fight with a crow – even though she had no young she flew across the lawn and attacked it. We also watched a magpie repeatedly attack a young rat, eventually picking it up and flying off with it. The young rat was very strong and put up a good fight before succumbing – it was still struggling when carried off. (Please note: we do not usually have rats in the garden, but living near the river, we do get the odd one passing through occasionally.

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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.