My Garden and Other Animals

It's been a rather crazy, chaotic and hectic couple of weeks both in the garden and in my personal life so this delayed blog is a mere sampling of some of the activities that occurred in April.

That one time I had all my pigeons in a row...

Whilst pond works have been ongoing, the other occupants of the garden have not been holding back in getting on with their annual activities. From early in the month blackbirds and wood pigeons have been vying for the best landing spots to reach the black ivy berries along the back wall. This is harder than it looks as there's no firm surface for them to stand on. The ivy has been encroaching [somewhat] with the clematis montana and the forsythia, somehow growing outwards to form a shelf. Unfortunately, this 'shelf' has a weight restriction but there is a lack of signage [oops] about this hazard. Thus, the pigeons fly directly at the shelf, landing in a rather inelegant spreadeagled fashion, reduced to grabbing whatever berries are in their reach before tumbling off again. Until I moved the small cold-frame/greenhouse back into its spring position...Unfortunately I'd decided it needed an airing out before putting plants in it...and the pigeons took full advantage of the situation...sigh.

Bird-brained

The feral pigeons have decided our roof is the place to be. It started by hanging out on the south-facing roof to catch the early morning rays...but now they're playing hooky under the solar panels. I'm not sure where this individual [above, right] was planning on taking his wish-stick...but we're keeping a close eye on the roof space and unfortunately are having to look into the [weirdly expensive] option of installing anti-pigeon netting. It would be awful if one got stuck in the wiring; and if nothing else, when they're running around on the roof it sounds like there's a poltergeist in the attic!

Trying out the slightly crazy 96p digital zoom on a newish camera

The sparrows have been enjoying using the dry earth on the bund at the back on the pond as a replacement dust-bathing location....I feel they may be upset when I put plants in. They've also been tweaking moss out of the lawn and [interestingly] the leaves of small rose campion plants. Presumably for nesting materials, the rose campions have slightly furry leaves. We've got sparrows nesting in both roof spaces again, with several starlings taking the house over the road.

Don't skip leg day

I was doing a spot of gardening in the front one afternoon when there was a commotion amongst the birds. The starlings had a very high-pitched alarm call, very unlike their usual 'squelchy' call. I couldn't see anything obvious aside from a couple of crows flying around rather agitated. Turned out it was a juvenile sparrowhawk who had downed a feral pigeon in the garden over the road.

Yes, I went and watched it. It was incredible the hawk had managed to take it down, as the pigeon was much heavier than it was. The hawk then saw me and flew around the corner of the house with its prize. Unfortunately, the pigeon must have been too heavy for it to fly off with, so it had had to drop it on the ground by a garage. It also wasn't actually dead at this point and did make a valiant effort to escape [losing a few feathers in the process]. At one point the hawk left the pigeon and stood posing on a wheelie-bin. A short time later, there was considerably less pigeon and more sparrowhawk. A truly impressive kill for such a small/young bird.

Masters of camouflage...

Squirrel Observation: When they encounter something uncertain or new - say you've moved the pots around on the patio; they approach the new feature commando-style [crawling flat to the ground] with their tail raised in an almost comically question mark shape. If it deeply upsets them, the tail flicks and flails around in a very agitated manner. We seem to have four [?] squirrel individuals currently; including Sassy 2 [who has quite a short tail this time of year], Sassy 3 and two younger nervous ones [I think the twins from last year's brood].

Finally had some hedgehog sightings! This little character seemed happy to model for us in return for some food and a drink from the bird bath. He then staggered off towards the back of the garden, carefully circumnavigating around [the long side] of the pond, before stumbling off next door. We were really pleased to see they coped fine with this new hazard - as it was a key concern that the pond location was directly in the commuter route.

Making the most of the lovely sunny warm weather we were having, I decided to put the comfy chairs out one afternoon. Encountered this little guy in what we had presumed was a secure, airtight box... It was quite a palaver to get him out, but managed it in the end.

The spring bulbs are almost over, but there's plenty of colour still around!

[Top row: Ivy berries, skimmia flowers, amelanchier, cherry blossom, pink and white fritillaries] [Bottom row: Pieris japonica, Japanese quince, tulips and some crazy multi-flowered narcissus]

Mining bee, Peacock butterfly, 7 spot ladybird

Some interesting wee beastie to the front garden. There have been SO MANY ladybirds this year. I don't know whether it's been the warm winter or the fact that I've got a large pile of dead stems/sticks and the like positioned strategically in the front garden...but they are everywhere and it is great! I'm not sure what exact species this bee [above, left] is, but I believe it to be a type of mining bee [sp. Andrena] which is a new find for me!

Bee Bum in apple blossom