Feeding Time

The blue tit eggs have hatched in the nesting box on the pergola. Mum and Dad are very busy feeding the youngsters with lots of juicy caterpillars. I don't know how many little ones there are. It would be nice to have a nestcam. The incubation period is about 2 weeks and I think they have probably only just hatched in the last few days.

I have never yet seen them fledge. I think they must take their first flight out of the nest very early in the morning.

There are not many birds around at the moment. I think they are all sitting on their nests. The bird feeders have hardly been touched recently.

However, great excitement the other day when I saw a bullfinch. It landed on my office windowsill but had disappeared before I could get the camera out.

Yesterday, I caught my first ever glimpse of the cuckoo. We hear it every year but I have never managed to spot it. This year it has been exceptionally vociferous. It is calling from morning till night. I managed to find which tree it was sitting in but still could not spot it until it flew off. Again no possibility of a photo.

The amazing weather continues. It is not quite so warm but still very sunny. I don't recall getting any rain at all in April, which is very unusual, although there may have been a shower during the night on Saturday. It cannot have been much because the ground was dry when we got up. However, the cars have a layer of yellow pollen all over them and there were water droplet marks in the pollen - but not enough to wash off the pollen.

Finally, for this week, the hares seem to have taken up permanent residence in the garden. They are coming closer to the house and we see them every day - at least two of them. Even when I go outside to take a photo, I can get to within a few metres before they run off. I particularly like the photo below.

A Very Slow Start to Spring

I don't remember the last time we had such a late spring.

Although there were signs a few weeks ago, the weather has not been good and things are progressing very slowly in the garden. Usually by this time in March, the trees are starting to show green, but not this year.

Nest building is, however, in full swing. This little blue tit has taken up residence in one of our nest boxes. The long-tailed tits have been picking cobwebs from around our windows to line their nests and last week I saw a little goldcrest picking fluff from one of the garden lamps.

The daffodils are now flowering, several weeks later than usual, but the weather is not being kind. Not too cold but lots of rain. We change the clocks tonight and will lose an hour, but the evenings will be much lighter. I hope that the weather will allow us to enjoy them.




The deer are still hanging around the garden most days. I think they can find more food here than in the woods, until everything starts growing again. They sit in the woods during the day, watching us from a safe distance, and come out in the evening to graze in the garden. It should not be too long until the babies are born.