Nature on your doorstep

A small post today. I don’t seem to be out and about much despite the lovely spring weather. But I have had the joy of a lot of wildlife in the garden. We have regular visitors of the usual small birds to the bird feeders, robins (we have one that has learned to hover to get at the seeds), green finches, a variety of tits and also more sparrows than I’ve seen in a while. The ‘less than neat’ borders in the garden attract the ‘rummagers’ of the bird world, so we have blackbirds and the occasional thrush.

The robin gets into the undergrowth too, and some plump wood pigeons patrol our lawn. The bid baths (various odd water filled objects, with and without stones in for the smaller birds to perch on) have been popular with even a large crow having a splashy bath in the week. I have seen fewer magpies around lately, but they may be nesting. We have two or three jays visiting regularly though so we are still a popular garden with the corvids.

 The squirrels are still enjoying their allocated feeder and seem happy to leave the bird feeders alone as long as we keep their feeder (next to the kitchen window) full of peanuts. The way the squirrels press their little hands and faces to the window when the peanuts run out is hilarious, it’s as though they are both checking we are OK while also being slightly annoyed, I can almost hear the “hello!? Anyone there? The nuts have run out!”

We also have a variety of foxes that turn up for table scraps and food that DH puts out each night. They used to visit even when we had the dogs but now that the terriers are gone the foxes are even bolder. They are happy to come right up to the back door for food, sitting waiting in the middle of the lawn watching my husband fill the bowl. You can see how quickly canines could be tamed. I realise many people see foxes as vermin, but I have to admire their tenacity and flexibility in a world taken over by humans, roads and buildings.

So not many nature walks recently – but quite a lot of wildlife watching while doing the washing up! I’m hoping to go and look at the bluebells in the local woods this weekend, though it will feel strange to be up there without the dogs.