Tuesday 21 March 2017

Dunnock in the spotlight

Nine times out of ten when I look out into the garden there will be a dunnock scuttling around the pots and plants. The sparrows arrive, and leave, the garden as one tight group but the dunnock rarely seems to take flight, preferring to wait out whatever has spooked the other birds tucked behind some greenery. This small unobtrusive bird spends most of the day clearing up underneath the feeders with the occasionally forage in the flower beds.

This afternoon, when I looked out and watched, it was competing for the spare seed with a particularly large wood pigeon who bullied until the dunnock hopped up onto a perch lit by the last afternoon rays. For a few minutes it sat taking up the fading warmth, and I like to think it relished its moment to be the one to shine.

Dunnock

Wednesday 15 March 2017

Blossom blossom everywhere

The temperatures in Cambridgeshire have been edging towards mild (for the time of year of course) and the blossom is bursting out almost before our eyes. The almond tree in the garden just a week ago was in tight bud but over the past few days as the sun has shone for longer they have opened out in a froth of candy floss pink attracting the early insects. Against the blue skies they look pale but as the evening light moves round and lower the tree catches the last rays and the colours deepen and take on the hues of the sunset.








Honey bee nest

After a morning of data crunching I took myself off for a lunchtime walk to refresh my tired brain - just a mile or so around the woods in the sunshine - just what was needed. Brimstones on the wing, birds singing and bees buzzing - spring definitely feels like it has arrived today. The bees in question were both bumble bees and honey bees and the honey bees had a nest! At the edge of the meadow just past the church is an old tree. It looks a bit past its best with numerous boughs missing, splits in the bark and woodpecker holes but on close inspection it is full of life. Today amongst the blue tits and great tits flew the bees. I heard them first, scanning the tree before seeing them congregate around an opening about half way up the tree. The photos are on my longest zoom, for obvious reasons, so not the best quality, but you can still make out some of the worker bees with their golden cache of pollen as they make their way into the nest.





Sunday 12 March 2017

How many sparrows?

Despite their recent decline in some areas, our garden sees lots of house sparrows. They flit in large groups from a tall hedge which borders our driveway and across the back gardens. Often they stop in our honeysuckle for a rest and to regroup. One or two may take up position first and then a few more will follow and gradually the numbers rise. There always seems to be one or two birds on the top tendrils on look out duty and then suddenly one will spook and they all depart back to the safety of the hedge. We also have them roosting and nesting in an old clematis at the front of the house and the neighbours over the other side of the road have put a communal nesting box up as the birds also roost in their ivy.

Generally ground feeders, the sparrows that visit our garden have learnt to take from the feeders hanging in the tree. They can hang on for quite a while feasting on the seeds, nuts and fat balls.

These little brown birds can get a bit overlooked sometimes in the hope that something slightly more exotic might land but when you watch how they interact with the others in their gang and how they chatter almost continuously I think they deserve a bit more attention.

Female House Sparrow

Male House Sparrow

Stop over on the honeysuckle

Friday 10 March 2017

Blogger of the Week!

Well that was a surprise on logging on to Twitter! I have been given the accolade of Blogger of the Week by BBC Wildlife Magazine. Chuffed! Their Discover Wildlife website has a special area - Local Patch Reporters for people to blog about what wildlife and nature they see. There are some fabulous blogs there so why not follow a few, or maybe start one of your own.


Tuesday 7 March 2017

Voles everywhere!

We've had voles nesting in the shed, under the neighbour's step, recently they've been in a hole in the wall where the cat flap is (we don't have one now but more on cats in a minute) and either a vole or mouse in the hay that is covering the hedgehog house! Today, however, I spotted two on the garage roof feasting on some bird seed I had chucked up there! The side of the garage is covered in ivy. I assume they are nesting in there, rather than just using it to climb, as there was bird seed on the ground also - an easier option I would have thought, but then maybe they hope they are out of reach of the neighbour's cat who may as well have the word 'killer' tattooed across his forehead!

Vole