‘Wood’ versus ‘Woodcrete’

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The very warm weather in March brought about a flurry of nesting activity in the JAB Shropshire garden with great tits starting very early in the woodcrete box on our tall ash tree.  This sturdy box, made from a mix of sawdust and cement, always gets a great deal of attention – it must be in a perfect position for both blue and great tits, but the larger more aggressive great tits usually win the battle and take possession. 

In spite of the very cold, wet and windy conditions of the last few weeks, the young great tits have fledged and one was seen this morning sitting on a small shelf in the shelter of the front porch of the house.  His parents were feeding him attentively but they continued to return to the nest box too, so presumably the first precocious youngster popped out before its brothers and sisters.  Great tits can have up to 12 or more young in a brood, but with the poor weather I doubt that the nest was that successful.  As this particular nestbox is visible from my office window, I will continue to watch with interest to see how many emerge.

Elsewhere in the garden, but still very visible from the house, another nest box is favoured by blue tits.  This one is made from a hollowed out birch log and has thick walls which, like the woodcrete box, means that the nest is well insulated from bad weather.  At the moment this one has young being fed and the parents race back and forth with beaks full of tiny invertebrates for the chicks inside.  We have no clue yet just how many young are in this box either, but judging by the fact that the very bedraggled parents are popping in and out of the box even when I am nearby in the garden, it must be quite a few. 

Hopefully both these boxes will be occupied again once their first broods have fledged.  It’s good to see that both man-made and more natural-looking nest boxes are used in our garden, and these two in particular, of the 12 or so we have, are used every year without fail.

Blue tits versus Wasps…..

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March and April are the months we associate with nest building, although some species start much earlier than this if the weather is kind.  But our nest boxes here in the Shropshire JAB garden start to get attention (and there is always some squabbling) from January onwards, especially amongst the great tits.  Actual building though, in terms of observing birds taking nest material into the nest boxes (and we have a total of 19 boxes of various types in the garden) doesn’t usually start in earnest here until late March.  The ‘woodcrete’ box in our ash tree is always in great demand (great tits) and is usually the first box to be occupied, while the ‘birch box’ made from a hollowed birch log comes second after a pair of feisty blue tits see off other species – notably house sparrows.  The hole in this particular box isn’t large enough to accommodate house sparrows but it doesn’t stop them sticking their heads in.  Their bodies though clearly don’t make it but it is not unusual to see a sparrow’s bottom emerging from the hole for long periods as they make the inevitable decision.

A couple of years ago we added to our box collection with a small wooden nest box with a counter at the entrance.  This could be fun we thought!  We would be able to tell if the box was being occupied from very early on – or even if it was used for roosting in the winter months.  The counter operates by counting each entry but not exit, so it is possible to see how many visits a pair of birds makes to build a nest and raise a brood – all very interesting!

Last spring the counter on the box zoomed up rapidly into the hundreds within a few days!  Observation (whilst hiding behind the hedge) revealed a wasps’ nest.  Rather disappointing.  The wasps were allowed to go about their business, the nest was removed in the winter and the box replaced.  Early last month the counter began to rise again – 60, 88, 110!  Something was happening on a daily basis.  As no birds were seen too-ing and fro-ing we set up a small video camera to record the action and solve the mystery.  We soon had an hour of film of a sparrow’s bottom, his head going in and out as his thought processes started to work.  ‘Can I get in?  I think I can!  Or maybe not.  Or can I?’  It took him a very long time and many visits to decide that our sparrow terrace – three homes to choose from – was a better bet.  Short of going on a very strict diet he finally realised it was not for his family.

But the news is good.  After resetting the counter we noticed once more the numbers rising.  The counter was soon in the hundreds and then the thousands, and a pair of blue tits was seen very regularly around the box.  But how many trips does it take to construct a blue tit nest?  Our counter is currently at over 5000!  Wasps v. blue tits.  Only time and more observation will reveal the answer.

 

 

 

Adrian…..

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The Shropshire JustAddBirds garden is in a pretty amazing place – right in the heart of the South Shropshire Hills.  Surrounded by countryside as we are, it is no surprise that this garden has had visits from a few special birds, particularly in the winter (snipe and woodcock) and the spring (wheatear, redstart and cuckoo).  These species are just on their way somewhere else, but it’s good to know that the garden provides them with a bit of a retreat as they go on their way.

Around us the fields and woodlands are used for shooting in the winter and both the pheasants and red-legged partridges that are introduced for this purpose have the sense to take refuge and find food in our garden all year round.  The partridges in particular are extremely cute and characterful birds – colourful, fun to watch and sometimes very friendly.

Two years ago one particular red-legged became friendly enough to approach us and even feed from our hands.  We called him Adrian.  Every morning he would be outside the back door waiting for his breakfast of black sunflower seeds.  Soon he brought a friend – a smaller female – who, while not quite up to Adrian’s cuddly nature, did trust us enough to come close to feed.  They attempted a nest in one of the long herbaceous borders, but sadly the eggs were raided one night.  This is a common problem for ground nesting birds and although we rarely see a fox here, there are plenty of carrion crows, magpies and squirrels – all of them perfectly capable of dealing with 8 tasty eggs. Adrianhung around for sometime in spite of the breeding failure – after all he had his own personal food supply!

At this time every year red-legged partridges appear in and around our garden.  The male’s breeding call is distinctive and carries some distance, especially when performed from the top of our chimney, or even the roof of the car!  Three have been seen in the field next door over the last few days and this morning as I opened the curtains, a pair were outside the back door picking up the spilled seeds from the bird feeder.

I am looking forward to having a pair of these beautiful, friendly birds in the garden again this spring.  And with any luck, our garden will provide a safe home for a dozen or so chicks!

A fuss of fieldfares…….

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Bird behaviour is a fascinating thing and although it may be a tad anthropomorphic, I also think certain bird species have personalities.  Chaffinches are docile and chirpy – they always look contented.  Blackbirds are cocky.  Song thrushes are aloof, and fieldfares are angry and miserable!

The colder weather has brought a wonderful flock of these gorgeous thrushes to the JAB garden inShropshire, and I love them!  Their colouring is very beautiful and they have a cosy, dumpy shape when they are sitting amongst the branches of my apple trees.  But put two fieldfares together (or in my case this week, about 130 of them) and war breaks out.

Clearly keeping food for oneself is top priority if you are a fieldfare.  Each bird does its best to defend an area of windfall apples for its own use – there is no question of sharing as far as this species is concerned.  Even where there are apples in abundance (our two Bramley apples trees produce far more than we, or our friends and relations and the freezer can accommodate) fieldfares can never be relaxed about the situation.  From my office at the moment a regular eruption of birds, where two fly up into the air, face to face with beaks snapping, is a regular sight.  We also have a plentiful number of blackbirds too (mostly males) and even this bold and aggressive bird is no match for a fieldfare.

This fieldfare influx happens for us every winter when the temperature drops, and I really look forward to it.  However, it does remind me of one thing.  Feeding the birds here, both from hanging feeders and a small table, really is a top priority all year round, but it’s good to remember that having natural food in a garden, in addition to special seed mixes and peanuts, does feed a wider range of species.  My fieldfares would show no interest in the soft bill food currently on my bird table, even though the closely related blackbirds do.  Berries and fruit, alongside your feeders, are well worth including in your garden to provide a good range of winter food for birds.

Crowbatics……

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Before I start, I must make it clear – I am a fully paid up and recognised member of the sub-species  “very (keen) amateur birder” …which amongst other things means that I can’t easily tell my rooks from my crows. This is, apparently, a common problem – and one for which @wildjennysteel (my tweeting business partner & bird expert) suggests the following advice “a crow in a crowd is a rook, but a rook on its own is a crow”.  Confused? Yes, so am I!

All this leads me to conclude that the birds in question are crows ….

I started noticing them a few years ago. My office of the day was the converted end of a wooden garage – nicely lined and insulated with all mod-cons (ipod dock and coffee machine). Working days would witness a trek across from the house to the ‘office’ and the start of a day’s work. Mid-morning fidgets would herald a walk around outside, weather permitting. It was then that I’d notice my crows conversing about my presence. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m no Dr. Doolittle. But as I walked from the office door into the garden at the front of the house the call from the crow on guard in the Silver Birch would ring out “caw ….. caw, caw …..caw” – a distinct pattern.

As I reached the front the call would be taken up – same pattern – by the crow in the beech tree opposite. And so it would go on – the chatter following the progress of my fidgety perambulation. It reached the stage where I’d try appearing from different doors – to see if their guard was down. It never was…  I concluded that these crows were worth watching (well – they’d taken the trouble to watch me) as they’re clearly brighter than I am. No wisecracks, please ….

On to “crowbatics” a new word worthy of the antics of my watchful friends. Have you ever watched these birds on a windy day? They revel in the skills they have to swoop and roll, dip and dive – sometimes with the wind, sometimes head into it. The most spectacular is the coordinated barrel-roll – two of them will enter a shallow dive with the wind. Without any signal that I can see passing between them they will, as one, begin a slow corkscrew through 360° around a centre pivot. One will be rolling clockwise and be at the height of the roll upside-down – the other, rolling anticlockwise will be at the bottom and on his way around. A manoeuvre worthy of the Red Arrows! On their own they will fly up and choose a point to feign a killer dive – pulling up at the last moment – and clearly something of great satisfaction and joy to the crow. They’ll fold their wings back – as though they’ve been shot – and fall, twisting and diving only pulling out at the last minute with a ‘had you fooled’ flick of the wings.

And there you have it – watch out the next time we have a windy day for ‘crowbatics’! But be careful – you never know when they’re watching you, or what they are saying ……

A cure for manflu??…………..

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During a recent bout of ‘man-flu’ my husband commented on the fact that everyone who was unwell in any form, should feed their garden birds. He didn’t feel like doing much for a couple of days, so sitting on the sofa, watching the birds on a small feeding tray outside our back door, not only gave him something to do but amused and educated him in equal measure.  He completed my BTO Garden BirdWatch totals for the week and his observations on the comings and goings of our garden birds was fascinating.

This episode reminded me of a friend who developed an idea to create Hospital Wildlife Gardens.  Her idea was born whilst she was in hospital in Oxford, and the whole event was made more manageable by the arrival of a robin in the garden outside her window.  Her time there passed more quickly and was more agreeable on account of her new friend.  Her idea was well received and hospitals in the UK, America and Germany shared her interest in the concept.  Watching wildlife is therapeutic!

So if over the next few weeks you find yourself with a cold, a tummy bug or even ‘man-flu’, try feeding your garden birds close to a window.  Not only will your illness seem less absorbing, but you will feel better more quickly and you will be helping your local birds at their most difficult time of year.

Saxon Burials in Warwickshire, or Cedric’s Big Day!

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I’ve hinted before that in the process of building the extension to the house and creating the wildlife garden we’ve had a few interruptions.
One of the more significant, in so many ways, came about a year ago. Stevie, our stonemason and his team were removing and excavating an old patio area in readiness for digging footings for what will become the morning room (oh how, with a minor adjustment of spelling, we got that room name spot on!).  A knock came at the back door …. “Err, I think we’ve found something that you need to see.”

A heart stopping moment – is there subsidence, has the ground has given way, you’ve crashed the digger – all sorts of disaster scenarios raced through my mind.  The sight of what was clearly a skull nestling in the recently disturbed ground was possibly the last thing I expected to see! What to do? A call to Building Control (the deity of any building site) gave us two options – recent (police!) or ‘old’ (archaeologist). I opted for the latter – it seemed safer … we’re too rural for Brookside drama.

County Archaeologist Stuart confirmed, once on site after only two hours waiting (mercifully), that these were indeed old bones. Hoorah!  I think??

The ensuing dig confirmed that there were the bones of at least two individuals. Being as close as we are to the site of the Battle of Edge Hill (1642, before you run off to Wikipedia to check) we all (including the ‘pros’) imagined that the story would unfold around that event.

Sensitised as we now were to the presence there was a frisson of excitement when, three weeks later ….”Stuart – we’ve found some more ….” 

Newly excavated, the best of what turned out to be a total of four individuals was quickly named Cedric …… that’s him in picture. With great care they were all removed and sent off on travels that have taken them the past year to complete. First to Glasgow to be dated – and a major surprise – they date from 650 – 820 AD making them Middle Saxon, and not the civil war era.

From there they embarked on a journey to York for an examination that would tell us that as a group they consist of two adult females, a young male and a juvenile. The bone and bone lesions tell us also that they lived a poor life – with traces of disease and malnutrition.

It’s ironic that as we move on in our project and consider what seed plants we should add to our plantings, and JustAddBirds food we should put in our feeders to feed the birds in our garden, Cedric – 1,400 years ago was probably wondering which of the birds he could see would make good food for him and his kin.

Cedric & Co are back in a safe place now – and mercifully would have no concept of the media storm they have triggered. Local, national and international press have been intrigued by the story – as have radio and television.
And as they all absorb the story that Cedric & Co have provided, our thoughts turn to protecting the many souls who are undoubtedly still here. Ours was an accidental find, and knowledge of habits of these middle Saxons from other parts of the country tell us there are certainly more in close proximity in what is undoubtedly a Saxon cemetery, but we will work hard to make sure they are disturbed no more.
How many times in the past forty eight hours have I been asked how it feels to live above so many bodies …. but I think the question should be addressed differently – ‘how do they all feel about us living above & disturbing their resting place?’

From our Shropshire Garden – Feeding the birds makes me happy…….

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Even though I am a city girl ‘gone wild’ my natural affinity with the great outdoors came as no surprise when I moved to the wilds of Shropshire 6 years ago.  The countryside was always my preferred environment, and my parents were very much ‘country people’ in the peasant sense.  My mother especially, was born and brought up in a small village ten miles from Oxford and her large family lived there in a tiny house for generations (probably since dinosaurs roamed the south of England!), working on the land as farm labourers.  My father’s family also came from the countryside of south Oxfordshire in the bit formerly known as Berkshire.  Cities never suited me, and living in magnificent isolation in South Shropshire with one farmhouse being the only building visible from my home and garden, is as good as it gets without living in a cave on a Scottish island.

Creating a garden for wildlife here, especially for birds, was second nature to me as a professional ecologist, but the value of gardens to wildlife – either rural or urban – never ceases to amaze me, and should remind us all of the adaptability of at least some of our native species and the ease with which we can encourage amphibians, mammals, invertebrates and birds to share our gardens, if we have the will.  I have dug large ponds, planted native hedgerows, sown (and cut by hand) wildflower meadows, planted insect attracting flowers by the hundred – all grown from seed – and done many other things to make the best wildlife friendly garden I can, all the while ensuring that its person friendly and beautiful too.  These activities have taken time – six years so far – and of course it has worked.  This garden is a small oasis in the midst of farmland.

But over time, the one thing that to me has made the most difference to the wildlife attracting capabilities of this garden, with the smallest amount of personal effort, has been feeding the birds.  If I had the time and ability to count the invertebrate species here now, I know it would run into thousands, whereas our bird species total 70.  But whereas I will never see (or appreciate) the majority of the invertebrates, I see and enjoy the birds every single day.

Feeding my garden birds means I make a difference to the survival of many species around my local area, but perhaps it is almost as important to remember that it also makes a huge difference to me, my well being, and ultimately to my outlook on life.  Feeding the birds makes me happy.

From our Warwickshire Garden – Curious Cows…….

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For those of you who know, it’s no surprise that some of our usual garden housekeeping tasks have been largely ignored this year. What are known in polite circles as ‘the building works’ – or how to knock your house down and re-build it with maximum fuss – have been the sole focus of the households’ attention, seemingly since time began. To be fair – the intervention of two old-fashioned winters and the appearance of four Saxon skeletons have played their part in adding to “The Fuss”.

Back to the garden – part of the overall plan is the creation of a wildlife haven, and contrary to popular belief they do need to be thoughtfully created, not left to their own devices. We’re doubly lucky – we have a dedicated & talented gardener in the household, backed up expertly by #WildJennySteel (her Twitter name, not her real name – but between us, the description works!). The annual ‘surprise’ purchases from Chelsea and Malvern – in the form of sacks of bulbs – have been delivered. They demand that attention is diverted from the stonework and slating to attend to much needed garden maintenance – clearing away the remains of this year’s growth and making plans (and room) for next spring.

The area of particular attention is a clay bank formed when the basement excavations were dug nearly two years ago. With a site philosophy of ‘minimum waste, maximum recycling’ the clay we could cope with formed the clay bank. The rest – and we’re talking about 500 or 600 tonnes – did leave site, but that’s another story (but it does include water buffalo…).

The bank was sown with Ox Eye daisies in the first year. This year we planted alliums amongst them with great success.

Which brings us all the way back to the bulbs – and the need to prepare the bank for the winter, and clear the ox eye ‘straw’ to plant more alliums. Already the self-set seeds from this year’s crop are showing themselves. To allow the planting the straw has to be cut & gathered, chopped and composted.

A balancing act the pride of any circus act should do it as the bank is steep and slippery …. but you must know the author to understand the hazards involved when he, a swing scythe, a wet clay bank and plenty of loose straw all come together ….. but, mission accomplished and no accidents!

We now have a clear bank, ox eye straw gathered – and the new alliums planted and ready for their display next year.

All of these antics were closely monitored throughout by three of Tim’s curious cows …. And no doubt will be the cause of much discussion amongst them back in the byre.

 

From our Shropshire Garden – Keeping Lists

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Whether I like to admit it or not – I keep lists.  Sometimes it’s just a shopping list or a list of Goldfinch on a peanut feederjobs to do, but that kind of list is temporary and transient and often not very exciting.  The most important lists in my life are bird lists, and like so many other people who are interested in bird watching, I have several.  A recent trip to Menorca produced a ‘holiday/Menorca’ list but sadly added nothing to my ‘life list’.

The most important list I have though is the ‘garden bird list’.  This has increased from about 10 species when we first arrived here 6 years ago, to a wonderful total of 69 species – so far.  To be allowed on the list the bird in question must put its feet IN the garden, either on the ground, the fence, the hedge on in a tree rooted in the garden.  Those flying over have a different list known as the ‘Birds seen FROM the garden’ list.  The latter includes snipe, green woodpecker, golden plover, lapwing and Reeves pheasant – all gorgeous birds but sadly not allowed on the ‘in the garden’ list.  If only their legs had been a little longer…..

So what has made the huge difference between our original 10 to the current massive 69?  I like to think I am personally responsible for all the other 59 as a result of several things including hard work (creating a large pond accounted for grey wagtail, several species of duck including teal, moorhen and grey heron) and the management of the hedges certainly gave shelter to and encouraged our yellowhammers.  A wildflower meadow made a brilliant habitat for voles which accounts for not only our regular kestrel but a recent barn owl!

But ‘Aha’ you may think,  ‘I don’t have the space for ponds and meadows and tall trees; I have a pocket handkerchief of a garden.’  In which case it is wise to start to think of your little garden as part of a much larger habitat all around you – maybe gardens that do have trees, and ponds and grass that is never cut.  Together smaller gardens can make up a fantastic habitat for some of the species that may not visit your bird feeders.  And there it is – the other really important way to make your garden a good place for birds.  Of the 69 species we have seen here, 39 came to our feeders and bird table.

So a good garden habitat can increase your bird list, but good food in your bird feeders is something we can all do, no matter how big or small your garden.