We finally have a hint of summer with temperatures rising after weeks of rain, wind and cold weather. Everything is looking quite green but nature seems to be a good couple of weeks behind at the moment, late blooming plants, late birds, late butterflies, it all has a knock on effect of course.
Not with the Starlings though, we had our first fledgling Starlings on the 11th, at the last count we had about 50 descend on the garden, about 90% were juveniles, this is the most we've counted so they are doing quite well. This includes our gutter Starlings which seem to have fledged without issue this year. We had fledgling Sparrows on the same day and a few more since but nowhere near as many as the Starlings. Since then the only other youngsters i've seen are Blue Tits in the woods. There are plenty of nests everywhere though so maybe we'll start to see more soon.
After seeing a single Swift on the 10th it's taken till this week before the usual number are around and screaming up and down the street. There seems to have been an influx of them now thankfully and i'm seeing them all over town when i'm walking to work. Unfortunately the Swallows that are usually at the farm are not there and there are very few House Martins yet.
Visits from the smaller garden birds - Tits, Goldfinch, Dunnock - have dropped considerably as usual at this time of year. We've seen our first Bats swooping over the garden and Hedgehogs - upto 6 - are visiting every night, there's even been the odd Fox passing by the garden (we won't talk about the night two of them woke us up screaming right outside the bedroom window!).
We have again this year adopted the no mow policy for the front garden, it worked well last year although my husband was a bit worried people would think he was lazy so now we have a sign!!
The patch down the side of the path is pretty much left to it's own devices and although the photos don't do it justice all the purples look fantastic and have been popular with the bees. Once the lavender flowers later in the year, it flowers for the whole of summer and the whole strip just buzzes.
The woods are full of birdsong and nests at the moment, lots of the boxes are in use along with lots of holes in trees, we've seen Blackcaps, Chiffchaff, Song Thrush, Mallards and all the usual birds.
Mallards
We have finally made the jump and dug out a new pond, I say we, my husband did all the hard work I just now have to finish off the planting in and around. I'm excited to see what it brings!
I am glad that the starlings have had a good season, a bird that is unreasonably maligned in my opinion. I have just finished reading "Mozart's Starling", a great read if you are looking for a way to wile away a rainy day. Good luck with the pond. It looks terrific. I suspect that new residents are waiting in the wings.
ReplyDeleteYes and numbers have dropped here a lot in recent years. I've added the book to my list, it does seem like a good read. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the pond, we've already seen the Hedgehogs drinking from it!
DeleteIt so good the starlings are flourishing, I see the same on less swallows here, as many species have significant drops in numbers, it's not good news. Your not cut yard is an excellent idea, and I think any thing we can do help birds survive is well worth the effort. I love your new pool, it's terrific looking! Happy weekend.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sondra, yes the Swallows here have been very late, only today have I seen three locally.
DeleteGreat news about the starlings and the number of hedgehogs. The new pond looks good - hope you get lots of exciting new vistors :) At least now finally the weather has gone warmer and drier and hopefully nature will slowly catch up. I haven't seen a swift yet although I have seen House Martins and Swallows.
ReplyDeleteThe Swifts appeared en mass at the end of last week thankfully! Though no House Martins and only today i've seen 3 Swallows. But yes good news with the Starlings, especially as the gutter ones have a new nest!
DeleteLovely photos. We've had lots of Starlings and their young descending on the garden feeders and pattering on the conservatory roof, they have made a bit of a mess too:) Your pond looks wonderful and it will be fun putting plants in and around it, I hope you get some interesting residents. One frog and five newts in our pond today. Not seen any swifts yet, last year we saw quite a few over the fields nearby:)
ReplyDeleteThank Rosie, they do make a mess,that's the downside!! I'm looking forward to seeing how the pond goes, i'd love to get Newts and I know there is the odd frog around the garden already!
DeleteLovely photos, everything looks so green and full of life. we too have had good numbers of Starlings in the area this year helped by the neighbour over the road feeding them on mass! over 60+ squabbling at 5 in a morning was wearing a bit thin, most have moved on now though. I could do with a sign for my drive as it has many wild flowers growing through the gravel, some might say it looks a mess (Dad)!
ReplyDeleteThank you, the front garden especially looks full of life at the moment - perhaps your Dad might think it's a mess too though :D The sign was from Amazon and I think they have them on etsy too, we made the pole ourselves. Luckily the Starlings are late risers here but we do get constant Sparrow chatter outside the bedroom the from dawn onwards!
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