Beech Leaves and Partridges

Since I finished my April challenge, the weather has not improved - grey, cold and showery. The plants and creatures are completely confused about the weather. The apple blossom finally came out weeks after the cherry and pear, but there are no bees or other insects around to pollinate.

The leaves are appearing on the trees and I love it when everything looks so fresh and green. I just had to take a photo of these pristine beech leaves before they they are nibbled by insects.

The birds are very busy feeding their young but there has been one casualty of the mating season. I have posted photos before of cock pheasants fighting. They are really quite vicious with each other. Well a couple of weeks ago, one of the pheasants was hopping around completely lame in one leg. Lo and behold, a day or so later, we saw another pheasant hobbling around with a sore leg! I have no idea whether they were fighting each other or whether there was another pheasant that has attacked both of them.

The pheasant that was only slightly hurt seems to have recovered, but "hoppy" as we now call him, is still in a bad way. He can hardly put any weight on the bad leg and hops everywhere. When we see him, we put extra seed out for him, but sadly I think his days are numbered.

There has been a bullfinch around on several occasions landing on some plants just outside my office window. Unfortunately, I have not managed to get a photo.

The couple of red-legged partridges below have been in the garden for a few months and are inseparable. I guess they are nesting, but because we normally see both together, I guess she has not laid her eggs yet. I find them very strange looking birds with their bright red eyes. They are very nervous and don't hang around for long when disturbed.

We are eagerly awaiting sightings of the roe deer fawns this year. We normally see them during the last weekend of May. I hope this year will be no exception!