20th April

20th - Saw a thrush while out driving today.
22nd Reappearance of goldfinch in garden.
25th- First flower on apple tree and first strawberry flower.
Sunny today we went to Kingsbury water park. We saw blue tits, great tits, sparrows, pied wagtail, various butterflies,great crested grebe, tuffed duck, mallards, mute swan, Canada geese and black headed gulls mating.
26th- Showery Cole tit and great tit in garden.

Cole tit (Prus ater)
Sexes are both alike. Lays 6-11 eggs. Feeds on insects and seeds.
"This tiny son of life; this spright"... Walter de la Mare

Great tit (Parus major)
Our largest tit and familiar in gardens. Lays 8-12 eggs. Eats seeds and insects.
"Teacher, teacher, teacher,. That's your song"...Robin Ivy
April ends with a day of sunshine and showers.

April 17th

17th/18th - A beautiful weekend ,heralded by a glorious dawn chorus. lots of flowers giving colour to the garden: forget-me-nots, pansies, aubretia, celandine, violets and last be not least the blossom on the tree.

Sweet Violet(Viola odorata)The flower of Aphrodite.

Forget-me-not
There are 2 stories of how the Forget-me-not got it's name:
A Knight and his love were walking together when the Knight fell into the river. As he fell he threw a handful of small blue flowers and shouted forget-me-not as he disappeared under the water.
Or
When God was naming the flowers in the garden of Eden he missed a tiny blue flower amongst the blooms. When he sat to admire his work he heard a little voice saying Forget-me-not.

April 2010

 "The Cuckoo comes in April,
he sings his song in May.
In the middle of June he changes his tune.
In July he flies away."

1st Sun and showers.
2nd - 2 robins at the meal worms. The bushes and trees are all in bud.
7th - The crows are building a nest in a large tree at the back of the garden. I watched as they flew in with twigs of assorted sizes finding each a place on the nest.
The phlox is in flower- bright pink against the gravel.
Lots of bird song and butterflies around. I must learn to identify them.
Heard a Tawny Owl last night.
13th Sparrows collecting nesting material.
Male blackbirds fighting over territory.
The robin has come down to eat the meal worms while I sit still in the garden.

Robin(Enthacus rubecula)
Both sesxes are alike and very aggresive. They lay 5-6 eggs and eat insects, worms, seeds, fruit and berries.

March 2010

22nd Woke up in time to hear a beautiful dawn chorus which seemed to rumble all around, high close notes and far away song creating a cloud of sound. A mix of sun and rain today. First daisies in Dad's grass and blossom on trees.
"It's not Spring until you can plant your foot on 12 daisies" Not yet then.
23rd First aubrecia flower and the jasmine is also flowering in the ivy. The robin is visiting everyday for the meal worms.
29th Weather is wet and a cold spell is forecast. I have a few yellow flowers coming up they have self seeded. Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) from the buttercup family.

Lesser Celandine
There is a flower, the Lesser Celandine
That shrinks, like many more, from cold and rain.
And, the first moment that the sun may shine
Bright as the sun himself,tis out again!
W.Wordworth

4th March 2010

4th- Saw a wren in the garden today and a thrush down the road. I haven't seen a thrush for ages. The Blackbird is eating the meal worms by the beak full
8th Pigeon is carrying nesting material.
lots of "pairs" in the garden: blackbirds, robins, blue tit, great tit, long tailed tits, Cole tits, goldfinch, collared doves, pigeons and a gang of sparrows.

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) A group is called a "charm" I quite agree.
They lay 4-6 eggs and eat seeds and insects.
12th 6 Longtailed tits dashing around. It's madness for a while.
15th Found a juicy caterpillar outside.
17th First large bee of the season.
21st Wet weekend First butterfly of season, a painted lady I think. My daffodils in flower.

March 2010

 "March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers."

"For every fog in March there will be a frost in May."


"March comes in like a lion goes out like a lamb."

1st- Beautiful and sunny but cold. 4 Goldfinch in the garden. They have come back hurrah! Catkins on the Hazel and daffodils flowering. Saw a fox in the road, he was in good condition.
According to the met office it has been the coldest winter in 30 years.

8th Feb 2010

8th - Sparrowhawk in garden, couldn't get a picture his piercing eyes spotted me.
18th - The Goldfinch feeding at the table for quite some time. They are beautifully coloured and always look like they are chattering to each other. Mob of squabbling starlings also feeding scaring everything else off.
26th - Saw pigeons mating they think its spring.
29th - Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis)at the top of the road in flower.
On the 2nd Feb village maidens would wear them as a sigh of purity.