Blue is the Colour ....

.... I had chosen to use as a theme when I was ordering Spring bulbs last Autumn.

Hanging basket:



with Winter flowering Pansies still going strong along with Russian Snowdrops and Hyacinths.

Planter:



more Pansies, Hyacinths and Russian Snowdrops along with a few Muscari.

As it was about 1C with a bitter wind my hands were feeling more than a bit blue when I took those photographs this morning.

Bugs, Blooms and Frog Spawn

This morning I made my daily check of the pond to see whether any frogs had appeared. No, still no sign of any. I did get a clear view of one of the resident newts for a couple of seconds so I am now certain that at least one survived the winter. It was in view too briefly to get a photo though.

There are a few fish in the pond and I spotted a couple of fry which cannot be all that old as they are about 2.5cm long. Just as I was watching one of them it suddenly started darting about very haphazardly. Closer inspection showed that it had been caught by a Water Boatman which was intent in making a meal of it. That took me by surprise as I hadn't thought of Water Boatmen as being carnivorous. At least not until I checked with Wild England.





I had been looking out for signs of 'minibeast' life in the pond and this was the first I have seen this year. By Summer there will be lots of Water Boatmen and Pond Skaters about.

Despite the thermometer showing 9 degrees my hands were getting frozen holding the camera so I had a quick tour round the garden and came back in for a well needed cuppa! On the way I could see that the catkins on the Corkscrew Hazel are now fully open and that a clump of Muscari were looking at their best.





A couple of days ago there were scores of small flies appearing everywhere and I thought I was photographing one on the inside of the kitchen window ... until I looked at the results. So - one unidentified bug, size about 9mm:



Later:

Well knock me down with a feather!! I thought I heard croaking a couple of days ago but saw nothing. I have just had another look in the pond as the Sun had come out again and there it was. A nice big dollop of frog spawn.

In the main pond:


As the fish in the pond normally dispose of the tadpoles before they are big enough to survive I had prepared a nursery pond in an old water feature with plants and water from the main pond. I have now transferred a lot of the spawn along with sludge and water from the main pond. Next job will be to build a secure area in the main pond for the tadpoles as they hatch. Easier said than done. I tried last year but all the tadpoles managed to escape into the main part of the pond and I don't think any reached maturity.

In its temporary home:


Nest Box Update:

What are the Blue Tits up to? Bits of moss in - bits of moss out. Bits of straw in - bits of straw out again. Feathers appearing - feathers disappearing. Gradually there is more moss appearing in one corner of the box. They are certainly still active in the box - just so much dithering!

Present state of affairs:

Buds, Birds and a Body

Now I've got your attention I'll come clean. The body is made of metal and you attach lenses to it. It was time to try out the new camera body. Outdoor lighting at this time of year can be poor a lot of the time but I managed to catch the odd sunny moment.

The first thing which caught my eye was the beautiful red and yellow of the Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles) which starts to flower in March and last year continued right in to Summer.



Then the succulents which keep a bit of colour in the garden all year round as well as being drought tolerant and the first of my Grape Hyacinths to start opening.

Sempervivum , Muscari and an indoor pitcher plant



There were quite a few of my usual feathered visitors around including what is becoming a regular visit from Rooks and when they arrive bird food can vanish at an alarming rate.





There was the usual gathering of Starlings and a visit by one of the Blue Tits.



A female Blackbird obligingly posed on the fence for a few portraits.



As did this Chaffinch which sat for a while on the cables to my shed.



This was my favourite shot of the day. To me it looks as though the Chaffinch is asking, "Please may I take this Sunflower seed?"



Of course any camera session here has to include at least one shot of the hairy monster - Bobby. He was enjoying a brief few minutes of warm sunshine.



Also visiting was the usual furry monster in the shape of a Grey Squirrel. Lovely to watch their acrobatics as they leap from place to place at an amazing speed but a nuisance in the wrong place.



On the whole I was very pleased with some of the results of my practice session with my 'new body' (something I could really do with to get rid of some of the aches and pains). Brighter lighting conditions later in the year should give me better depth of field and practice at concentrating more on what is in the viewfinder should help also. The one thing I did notice was far less 'noise' in the out of focus backgrounds which makes the pictures look cleaner so I concluded that it was money well spent.