The Big Garden Birdwash

No, that's not a typo. Nor is it a reference to a large dodo having a bath in our garden. In fact there were no birds having a bath in our garden last weekend, which is why I've had to use this photo from Wikimedia:


Photo by NatJLN (20070610_bird-bath Uploaded by Snowmanradio) CC-BY-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It was, however, the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, and like most Birdwatch weekends it was wet and/or overcast. The garden was thoroughly washed on Saturday, and I expect the birds were too, but most of them were playing hide and seek as usual and not coming out to be counted. On Sunday it was grey and miserable and we hardly saw anything. I've posted before about why there are hardly any birds in the garden over Birdwatch weekend, making the Birdwatch a bird wash-out, so I won't say any more about that. In the end our count this year was 3 doves, 3 sparrows, 2 chaffinches, 2 bluetits, 2 great tits, 1 woodpigeon, 1 blackbird, 1 robin, and 1 greenfinch (no dodos - they were all hiding). The next day, of course, as well as all the above in greater numbers and a solitary (!) starling, we had long-tailed tits, goldfinches, and a wren - isn't that just typical?

Now January has thoroughly washed the garden, February has decided to ice it. All my sopping wet pots are freezing as I type, and I'm wondering which plants won't survive, as though I've never lost anything to cold alone, I've frequently lost plants to wet. I would also like to be able to get out and do some gardening at some point this year, so I'm hoping the cold snap will be brief. We're having to break the ice on the bird baths every day at the moment, so I expect the birds are hoping so too.

Wildlife Photography

I love looking at photos of wildlife on other people's blogs and websites, but sadly I have relatively few of my own. At the time when I bought my camera, if I wanted a compact I had to choose between one which took really good macros and one with a decent zoom lens. I went for the macros because I wanted to be able to photograph plants, but this means that most birds or animals tend to be too far away for me to get a good shot of them. One day I will buy a camera with which I can take photos of the birds at the bottom of my garden, but for now, not surprisingly, most of my wildlife photos are of insects.





I find bees and hoverflies fairly easy to photograph - there are plenty of them, both in my own garden and in the type of garden I tend to visit; once they've settled on a flower they don't move about too much; and they have nice chunky bodies on which I can focus.





Butterflies and moths are much more difficult - they often seem to be just too far away or just too fast-moving for me to get a really sharp picture of them. While as for dragonflies and damselflies - well, I might as well forget it! I just don't have the skill or the patience. In fact my lack of patience means I'll never be a real wildlife photographer - I can't imagine sitting in a hide for hours on end, or spending ages setting up tripods, selecting different lenses, and working out correct apertures. Most of my better photos of insects are just lucky snaps.



So I am full of admiration for the winners of this year's British Wildlife Photography Awards, especially the winner of the British seasons category. If you haven't already seen their photographs, it's well worth having a browse - follow one of my links and then click on each of the links to categories which you'll find at the bottom of the page. There are some truly sensational images.

Satin Wings

I don't see many butterflies in my garden (apart from cabbage whites), just a few passing through on their way elsewhere. When we move I must research and plant more butterfly-friendly plants, such as Asclepius tuberosa or some of the smaller and less invasive Buddlejas.



I got a close-up view of this red admiral on my recent visit to my parents', however. We went to a garden centre, and Mum and Dad went into the coffee shop while I wandered round the plants. Shortly afterwards Mum came racing (well, hobbling very quickly - she walks with a stick) out to find me, to tell me that a butterfly had landed on Dad's shoulder, and would I bring my camera. I thought it would have gone by the time I got there, but it was still sitting there, and obligingly posed for photos, first with its wings closed, and then with them open.



Strangely enough, VP posted a very similar photo on her blog last month, and was wondering why a red admiral should be attracted to a blue shirt. Dad's shirt was turquoise, but they obviously like that too, as it stayed on his shoulder for several minutes, and only flew away after he had left the cafe. He was most frustrated - everyone else got a fantastic view of it, but it was just out of his line of sight! I'll have to send him the photos.

What Do You See?

Last year, I blogged about the RSPB's Nature Count. They are doing it again this year, so please visit the RSPB website for more details - all you need to do is spend one hour, any day between 4-12 June, counting the birds in your garden, and then enter the results in the form on their website. There's a handy recording chart which you can download and print out if you want, to help with your count, as well as lots of bird ID photos. They're also asking you to tell them about other wildlife visiting your garden (you don't have to see them during the hour of your count), including snakes, bats, and newts, as well as the usual suspects such as hedgehogs and frogs.



We get plenty of birds and other wildlife visiting our garden, but this year for the first time we have found a birds' nest. We were halfway through cutting back the Forsythia when we found this tiny nest - we almost didn't see it as it was so carefully hidden among the branches. We quickly checked to make sure there were no eggs or chicks in it - as there weren't we finished our pruning, but left the nest and the branches immediately around it, just in case it's this year's and might be used again. I also snapped a quick couple of photos of it (standing on a chair and holding my camera at arms' length above my head, so they're not the world's best shots!). It's beautifully constructed, but we couldn't find any clues as to which bird made it - can anyone identify it for us?

Who's Been Walking In My Garden?

Among the usual bird tracks in the snow in our garden this week, we've found some footprints left by a largish mammal. It walked across the front garden, went through our neighbours' open gate, and at some point managed to get into our back garden, though I'm not clear how it did this - the ground is far too hard to dig and the garden is enclosed and only accessible to animals which are small enough to slip under the gate or agile enough to climb over the fence.



The prints were definitely not left by a dog, cat, or fox, all of which have completely different shaped feet (with four pads at the front, not five - see this guide to identifying animal footprints). They seem rather big to be a hedgehog (and I certainly hope there are no hedgehogs out of hibernation at the moment), and they're both too big and the wrong shape to be a rat or a squirrel.



Could we possibly have a badger? Another footprint ID guide suggests that we might, though if we do I have no idea how it got into our back garden. If we do it's good news and bad news - unlike many gardeners I'd be absolutely thrilled to have a badger visiting my garden, even though they do rather a lot of digging, so that would be good news. The bad news is that we're a long way from any of the sort of countryside with which I'd normally associate badger setts (although badgers do live in a variety of areas, the Badger Trust say that they tend to favour woody copses, sandy soil, and hills - none of which are present at all round here!), so if it is a badger, it must be very cold and hungry to be venturing so far from home. I'm wondering whether to start buying peanuts or dog food to put out, making it peanut butter sandwiches, or scattering a handful of sultanas before I go to bed at night.



Is there anyone reading this who knows more about animal footprints than I do? Is it really a badger, or is it something altogether more prosaic?

Buzz, Flutter, Flap

I don't seem to have time to write much at the moment, so here are a few more photos from our holiday.





As well as the gardens I've already mentioned, we visited two National Trust gardens: Acorn Bank while we were in Cumbria, and East Riddlesden Hall in Yorkshire on our way back.







All the gardens we visited were fluttering and buzzing with butterflies, bees, hoverflies, and other insects - it seemed to be a good time of year for them.





We also saw plenty of ducks, and in the field opposite the lovely cottage we stayed in there was a flock of guinea fowl. I really fell for these birds. Apart from their tiny pheasant-like heads, I thought that with their plump grey bodies and friendly, curious dispositions, they bore a strong resemblance to my beloved dodos.





Unfortunately they were difficult to photograph, as they dashed about so much - apologies for the poor quality of the shot above, which was taken out of the cottage window - it's the best one I could get.

Whose Poo?

I'm a bit overwhelmed with things to do at the moment, so between that, assorted health problems, and the hot weather, I'm not having as much time as I'd like for either blogging or reading blogs - sorry if I owe you a visit, I will be over eventually.

The next thing I was going to post here will have to wait until I get more time - in the meanwhile, this is just a quick question for any wildlife experts out there ... though anyone of a sensitive nature may wish to stop reading now.

A couple of weeks ago this was left on our patio during the night:



It looks like bird droppings - as you can see it has the normal mix of white (bird urine) and brown - but it's huge! - I put a ruler alongside it before taking the photo so you can see quite how huge. Apart from birds and insects, the only other visitors we get in our garden are frogs, field mice, hedgehogs (whose poos are obviously much smaller), and cats (much smellier), so I'm fairly sure it was left by a bird, but which bird?!

It's far bigger than anything left by the usual bird visitors to our garden, even the enormous wood pigeons and the sparrowhawks. It's bigger than anything I'd expect to be left by the crows, seagulls, and ducks we occasionally see flying over. Our pet dodos are house-trained, and we don't have any emus or albatrosses living wild in the UK. Could it be heron? - that's the only bird which flies over which is anything like big enough to leave such a dropping, but even so, it would have to have been one very sick heron, surely?

Any budding Chris Packhams out there who could ID it please?

Love Nature?

The RSPB are asking people who love nature to count birds and other wildlife in their gardens during the coming week, 5-13 June.



To make your nature count, follow the instructions from the RSPB site:

* Grab a piece of plain paper or download the recording sheet to record the birds you see.

* Watch the birds in your garden or local park for one hour on any day between 5 and 13 June.

* Record the highest number of each species you see at any one time (not the total number you see over an hour as you may get the same bird visiting several times).

* Look out for blackbird, robin and song thrush chicks (see the identification photos for help). Please be careful not to disturb any nesting birds.

* Only record the birds that land in your garden – not those flying over (with the exception of swifts and house martins as these are most likely to be seen in flight).

* Even if you see no birds during your hour, please let us know and answer the other questions. It is still valuable information!

* When you have completed your count, please submit your results and answer a few questions about your garden, the birds you recorded and also the mammals that visit your garden. You don’t have to see these in the hour you spend counting birds. We’d like to know if you ever see them in your garden and if so, roughly how often.

There is more information on the RSPB site, so please do go and have a look, and if you are in the UK, make some time this week to join in!

Still Here

I haven't had much time to post lately, so here are a couple of pictures from my Spring collection to keep this blog going until I'm less busy. Like me, they're still here, at least for now! Although we've had some heavy rain in the last couple of weeks, it's been very mild and there are late bees buzzing about our garden and the last few ladybirds looking for places to hibernate.

The Plight Of The Honey Bee

Bees are a popular topic in blogdom at the moment. I was in the middle of writing this post (it tends to take me several days to write anything) when I checked out VP's blog and found that she posted something similar today - and that Fluffius Muppetus is hosting a blog carnival on the very same theme! Sherry was talking about bees a couple of months ago, and a quick google revealed that other bloggers have been discussing them for a while now, with more posts last year here, there, and everywhere.



My main reason for posting this was to draw attention to the Soil Association's petition to ban neonicotinoids, a group of pesticides which are thought by many to be a major factor in the recent alarming decline in numbers of bees in general and honey bees in particular. Although VP has now already mentioned it, I think it's worth posting again here, just in case anyone missed it over there. Please add your signature if you live in the UK - it will only take a few seconds of your time, and the more signatures they gather, the more likely their campaign is to succeed.



I suspect that anyone reading this is aware of the importance of bees to our flower gardens. They also play a vital role in providing us with enough food: it's estimated that around a third of the world's crops are pollinated solely by bees, and up to three-quarters are pollinated partly by animals including bees. A world without bees could be a world not only without honey, but also without apples, pears, raspberries, plums, cherries, strawberries, almonds, cashews, cucumbers, and chocolate, among other things.



So what else can we do to help bees? Well, for a start we can plant plenty of bee-friendly flowers. They don't necessarily have to be native species or wild flowers, so long as they have easily-accessible pollen. Single flowers are usually best. Try to plant a range of species which will provide pollen throughout the year, not just in the summer - I've seen bees in my garden as early as mid-January. Winter flowering heathers are popular, as are daffodils; hardy Geraniums (cranesbills); lavender; sage; rosemary; sunflowers; foxgloves; sedum; and many others - so you don't have to plant lots of thistles!



If you can avoid using pesticides in your garden, this will also make a big difference, as few pesticides target only one species - if, for instance, you buy something which is marketed as being an ant-killer, it will also kill your bees (as well as your ladybirds, lacewings, and other beneficial insects). If you don't feel you can avoid using them, try to use them only when and where there is a problem, rather than spraying them about indescriminately. For more information about pesticides generally, have a look at the Pesticide Action Network website - if you are not in the UK, this page should help you find one in your own area.



Other things you can do to help bees include putting a solitary bee house up in your garden. You can buy ready made ones from places like The Organic Gardening Catalogue, Wiggly Wigglers, or Green Gardener, or you can make your own. You could also try to shop more in the Co-op - they have already banned the use of neonicotinoids on their own land pending further research, and they are campaigning in other ways to help bees - click on the link to find out more. Other companies campaigning for bees include Haagen Dazs - a perfect guilt-free excuse for eating plenty of ice cream this summer!



If you want to try your hand at bee-keeping, or just find out more about honey bees, the British Beekeepers' Association is a good place to start. For more information about bumble bees, the Natural History Museum website has a bumble bee identification guide.



And please don't forget to sign the petition!

Starling's Diary

11.40: Human puts something in bowl ...


11.45: Ooh, yummy mealworms ...


11.50: Must invite the family ...




11.55: Maybe throw a party ...


12.00 noon: Where'd they all go?


Editor's note:

A big thank you to my guest blogger, starling no. 356.

I won't be able to post here for a while myself as a) the computer is playing up, and b) I'll be staying with my computer-less parents next week as we've got builders coming (am leaving R to deal with them). As I have comment moderation turned on, this may mean any comments won't appear immediately as well - please don't let this put you off posting any though!