Starlings and Mistlethrush

A strange morning, the garden was almost bird bereft, by ten thirty we had seen only a robin, a blackbird and one squirrel, by the afternoon it had changed though and in the interim we had been lucky to watch a mistlethrush make repeated trips to the end of the garden and then fly back along the back of the bungalow with a beak full of worms, I'd like to think he is nesting somewhere in the shrubs growing there.

We were also pleased to see a pair of starlings in the garden a few times recently and even more pleased when three turned up today. It is a real pleasure to watch these busy, gregarious birds bustling about their business.

Hertfordshire to Berkshire

A cold cloudy day with intermittent heavy showers of rain or hail, and only the briefest glimpses of sunshine. The brightness of oil seed rape escapees singing out from the verges brightens the day and gladdens the heart. There is much cow parsley already grown above waist height in these damp conditions and looking very pretty with its delicate lace like flowers. Other verges have been mown, and are now sprinkled with tiny white daisies, and flat to the ground newly opened golden dandelions.

Trees are heavily leaved now, and even the oaks one of the last trees to leaf up are showing a brownish, mossy green covering, which thickens by the day. Elder, hawthorn and horse chestnut are all bedecked with their blooms. Here and there are laburnums with their bright yellow hanging racemes, which suddenly don't look as bright when a field of rape comes into view. Years ago there was never any evidence of wayside laburnums, now however more and more are springing up in roadside hedges and I find them very attractive and a good addition.

We are also seeing much more of the pretty pink and white blossom of verge side apple trees, no doubt inadvertently planted by travellers throwing apple cores from the windows of their speeding cars. These are good because even if humans never get to eat the fruit, it is a welcome addition to support the wildlife living thereabouts ---birds, mice, voles, shrews, foxes, badgers, and I'm sure many more. An apple core dropped on our lawn will within minutes have attracted not only birds, but also, mice voles, shrews and if put out when we are about, all other creatures except for birds will stay away and within a very short time ants will have covered the core.

As we turn onto the M25 at the M1 junction, there is a huge growth of pink campions followed by several patches of dark blue bluebells, judging by the strength of their colour I would think they are our traditional bluebells. These are very special and so much better than the foreign ones which seem to be taking over. Our English bluebells are perfumed and one of the joys of an English spring is to find a bluebell wood, walk into the centre and gaze around. The perfume linked with the nearness of each individual pretty flower and fading into an amazing blue haze in the distance is something everyone should endeavour to achieve, even if only once in their lifetime as the sight and smell will stay with them for ever.

On the right hand side of the car just before the A422 Maple Cross turning is an eye catching verge of deep yellow gorse bushes (Ulex Europaeus) over hung by yellow laburnum trees (Laburnum anagyroides) --- very pleasing. Gorse is very flammable and years ago was collected and used for firing bread ovens, it also is extremely prickly, bad for humans but good for birds who choose to nest therein, and is also much loved by bees.Laburnum is a beautiful tree but every part of it is poisonous, so some people refrain from planting it in their garden. These two, gorse and laburnum seem to me to be ideally suited to motorway verges, where they do no harm but are beautiful to look at, and provide food and shelter for wildlife.

A crow flies over, this is the first bird we have seen on this journey. I feel the more plants and bushes that spring up or are planted on roadside verges, the more wildlife will move in and these areas will become important wildlife sites.

On the left just past this, I am glad to see along the far side of the verge a newly planted hedge. I still grieve for the miles and miles of hedges that were torn up many years ago and the more that are planted now, the better it will be for wildlife. We are passing a long stretch of ox-eye daisies (Leucanthemum Vulgare), there are so many on the verge it looks as if there has been a heavy fall of snow. These wonderful large headed and tall wild daisies were my mother-in-law's favourite flower, we planted them in her back garden  and over the years they migrated not only to other parts of her garden but also to her lawn where they sprang up in profusion if not kept in check!

We are once again passing a stretch of gorse bushes, they are golden yellow and the bees must love them ............. I wonder about the pollution from car exhausts that must be in and on them, and if it harms the bees in any way.

We are now on the M4 and the hawthorn bushes are so thick with blossom they make captivating viewing, these hawthorns their branches hanging heavy with blossom are on both sides and also on the right are large, bright yellow patches of oil seed rape.

Bypassing Slough we see a pigeon and two mallards flying across the motorway, followed almost immediately by a flock of seagulls.

The river Thames, so wide and always picturesque is swollen as we pass and it threatens to over spill its banks and spread on to the surrounding lush green fields.

Coming off the M4 at the Winnersh triangle, I'm surprised to see a long stretch of pale blue, which as we slow, I realise is forget-me-nots (Myosotis), very unusual on a roadside verge and most enjoyable. I wonder how they arrived there.

Pineapple Broom, Goldcrest, Greenfinches and Blackcaps

My eye was caught this morning by our tiniest bird a goldcrest, he was hopping restlessly about in the pineapple broom. These tiny birds are easy to spot once you are aware of the restless way they move, and with binoculars this can easily be confirmed if you pick up the bright golden line on the top of their head. From the pineapple broom he flew to the old bent apple tree, where I lost sight of him.

The pineapple broom - Cytisus Battandieri, is an interesting shrub to have in the garden, it is now very tall. I was advised against buying it because they need shelter and are best grown against the wall of a house for protection. Mine forms part of a border and has conifers, one either side, each one grown and shaped around a seat.
I was lucky I saw this one rejected and looking very sad at the end of sale time, half out of its pot and laying on its side, totally dried out and surrounded by weeds. At the price it was a brilliant bargain and worth taking a chance on, so home it came to be stood in a bucket of water, after a few days the weeds were gently removed and it was planted in a large hole, well filled with home made compost and water. It slowly sank its roots down and grew used to being in the earth, decided it liked it and grew and flourished. Each year we are rewarded with soft grey/green leaves and amid them are cones of the brightest yellow flowers, which delightfully smell of pineapples, and in the summer and autumn the flowers attract scores of tiny black beetles, which is good in a wildlife garden.

Later in  the day we saw a pair of greenfinches, these used to be a common bird in the garden, but not any more. We were also entertained by a pair of blackcaps, who looked as if they were seeking a nesting site.

Return of the Agitated Male

Surprisingly the other mallard returned today, he is still a little jittery, in that he is constantly splaying his tail and slightly spreading his wings and performing non-stop grooming. He is clearly recovering from whatever was ailing him, I was surprised to see him because I had given him up for dead.

He stayed about half an hour, the time was spent quietly with our usual mallard. The female was absent, probably on the roof.

Pleased to report that the fish have endured another winter and have been out in force enjoying the sunshine.

No-Tail the Bully

No-Tail the pigeon's first partner of many years still comes here daily, sadly she is constantly harassed and harangued by both No-Tail and his new partner.

It is sad to watch her being bullied by the other two, and driven out of the garden, as she  has spent many years living here and clearly still feels her home is here. Despite being made to feel so unwelcome, she still returns daily, often three or four times.

Missing Dog Fox

Sadly the dog fox is still missing, and at this stage I have to accept that he is not coming back. A while ago he  was missing for a few nights and eventually turned up with a broken back leg, by the time of his second disappearance his leg was healed and he was able to walk normally again. I hoped that this experience may have made him more wary on the road, it seems not as the road is the most likely reason for his not now being around.

The missing fox was distinctive as he had a very large white end to his tail. Lately we have seen a new fox a few times who is very similar to our missing one, except that his tail is dark to the end, with no white and also shorter. I briefly wondered if he was the same fox and had lost his tail end to car wheels, however close observation with binoculars proved this tail end was natural and  had never been damaged. So sadly I have to accept our missing fox is dead.

Hungry duck

The female duck is again eating ravenously, she comes to the window several times a day for food, if we do not notice her then she flies up and lands on top of the roofed bird feeding tables by the window, and peers through into the kitchen. Her next move is to go and check out the lounge patio doors to see if we are there, should we not notice her quickly enough, she climbs on to the step and with her beak taps on the window!

To feed her I soak bread in water, and drop it from the side kitchen window, breaking it up as I do so, I then give her half a cup of bird seed. Sometimes, it is the seed she is after and then she ignores the bread and stands looking up at me with her head cocked onto one side, if I am too long reaching for the seed she flies up to the roof of the bird table looking in through the open window, while she waits.

I wonder if her voracious appetite is because she has another nest and is laying more eggs.

Pretty Garden Acers

The acers are coming into leaf, I sometimes wonder if they should have a place in a garden that is primarily for wildlife - should I not have planted hawthorn or something else that would be much more wildlife friendly? Yet when I see them in all their stunningly fine, summer and autumn leaves, I know why they are here. They are just so very beautiful,

One is a deep, burgundy red, with finely divided leaves, it has grown slowly and strangely, and although it is fifteen years old, is but two feet tall, however and here's the strange part it is almost four feet across. The second one is a breathtaking bright orange colour, it was bought for fifty pence (along with  two others at the same price, which did not survive), it was in a very poor state when I bought it, less than a foot tall and leafless, but in the time I have had it (about ten years) it has reached five feet tall and stands proudly at the back of the border, glowing brightly even on cloudy days.

The third came from a dear friend who was going to get rid of it, and I must admit it did look dead and I didn't give it much hope. However here we are, some time later and it is stunningly beautiful, mostly cream with pink touches and I'm so glad to have both the acer and her friendship. The fourth acer is slowest to break bud and is only just showing red leaf tips, it is the largest of my acers with wonderful summer colouring and amazing autumn shades, it means a lot to me as it was a present on our golden wedding anniversary from my brother.

Nesting Blackcaps

The blackcaps are busy looking for a nesting site in the garden, I thought they were usually settled by now, but perhaps I am mistaken.

Blackcaps ( Sylvia Atricapilla) are neat looking little birds,about the size of a robin, and as the name suggests they have a little cap on their heads, brown on the female and black on the male. When we first lived here we used to only see them in the summer, but a few years ago we realised that it was winter and they were still here, now they are here all the year through and are a very welcome addition to the winter garden. They eat both berries and insects, I hope one day to see them at the feeding station, but it hasn't happened yet.

Blackcaps are warblers and if ever you hear them sing it will stop you in your tracks, often have I laid aside what I was busy with, just to stand or sit and listen spellbound to their beautiful rich song.

They lay their eggs around this time of year, in a neat cup shaped nest near the ground in thick undergrowth, their eggs are beigeish in colour and they lay four to six. The eggs hatch in about eleven days and the nestlings fledge in the same length of time.

Do listen out for these little birds and if you are lucky enough to hear what might be them, then stand still and look around you, following the sound, they are usually to be spotted in a tree or bush and are well worth trying to see. They are easily recognisable with their grey plumage and either black (male) or brown (female) cap. Good luck.

Abandoned nest

Sadly the female duck has abandoned her nest on the garage roof. We noticed that she didn't return to her nest this morning after eating, drinking and bathing. Using the binoculars I looked toward her nest on the garage roof and was dismayed to see how dishevelled the area was, the most apparent eye catcher was the amount of soft, downy feathers covering a quite large area. I suppose magpies or some larger bird came and raided her nest.