The Season's Moving On

Once the rain had stopped I spent some time dead heading over a hundred tete a tete miniature daffodils as most have now finished flowering. A messy job. The wet remains of the flowers kept sticking to my hand. Still a pleasant job though, being outdoors and serenaded by a Blackbird and a Dunnock.

As I worked round one of the flower beds I spied the next set of flowers to appear:



A Fritillaria Meleagris (a snake's head fritillary) with its white cousin in the background.

Easy Come, Easy Go

For quite a few years I had a small clump of Snake's Head Fritillary growing in the rockery. Suddenly last year they failed to appear and seem to have vanished without trace. About the same time a white Fritillary appeared out of nowhere in the front garden:



Now it has been joined by some Snake's Head variety:



Neither of which have I planted.  It is possible mice have been burrowing under the rockery and eaten the bulbs or they may have been eaten by Scarlet Lily Beetles which I have seen in the garden in the past. As for the new ones in the front garden - I can only think that birds have self sown them.

This and That plus a Couple of Redheads

Very cold (-1) on the morning walkies but the day improved with lovely sunshine and beautiful blue skies. On the way back from a quick shopping expedition I called in at the local garden centre and bought a new bird feeder. I like the ones with a cover - helps to keep larger birds and the rain away from the food. This feeder I will use for mealworms and suet treats. I wondered how long it would be before the first brave bird gave it a try. It didn't take long before a Blue Tit gave it the once over.



After lunch we went for a short walk round the village. It took us about an hour to cover not much more than half a mile. Me stopping to photograph and Bobby to investigate all the interesting smells. Even though the temperature was not very high it was really nice to be out without having to wear a heavy winter coat. There was a gentle breeze so the warmth of the Sun wasn't being spoilt by an icy blast.



One reason I went out was to get a new set of photos for the panorama at the top of this blog. It was hazier than I expected but I got a new set anyway.

Looking in peoples gardens to see what was blooming it was nice to see a clump of Fritillary.


A Prunus (possibly cerasifera Nigra) tree in blossom


and some lovely red tulips along with pansies in a wall basket.


Along Old Mill Lane the lichen on the Ash Tree was illuminated by the bright sunlight


Finally, on the homeward leg, I spotted the two redheads.....


... which were taking advantage of the brilliant sunshine.

Nestboxes Update (Monday)

More moss is appearing in the Blue Tit box. There are times when it looks as though the bird is thinking of building a nest on top of the camera. It keeps going to the top of the box and I sometimes see bits of nest material fall down.

More flutter activity in the Blue Tit box



Today is the first time I have seen a bird in the Robin box. Not a Robin but a Great Tit which spent a while investigating every corner. Maybe it was just looking for insects to eat.

More Garden Blooms and Birds

It was so windy this morning I just had a quick look around the garden. The Snakes Head Fritillary has been opening its flower heads and I was determined to get a photograph before the wind wrecked them.



The only other new colour in the garden so far was the blue of some rather skimpy Hyacinths but at least it is some extra colour.



On the birding front there have been the usual regular visitors like this male Chaffinch taking a Sunflower seed from the lawn. He had better make off with what he can as I will want some of his Sunflower seeds soon to get plants started. I just adore their cheerful yellow faces in the Summer and he can have some extra home grown seeds in the Autumn.



My favourites - Blue and Long Tailed Tits


Yesterday there was a visiting Jackdaw glimpsed briefly through a rain splattered kitchen window.


A few days ago I loosened the horizontal sections so that they would move round with the weight of a large bird on them. The idea being to make it more awkward for them to take too much food. It makes no difference. They are too intelligent and persistent to be put off by simple ruses like that.

Always a cheerful sight - a container with a line of miniature Daffodils. The miniature varieties always seem to last longer in poor weather conditions and stand up to March winds much better than their full size cousins.