Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Lockdown Diary: Wednesday 13.5.20

I woke to the sound of a Blackcap singing gently outside our bedroom window, this morning. It was not belting out a full song, which made me think (in my drowsy state) that it may possible that Blackcaps are nesting nearby. Or garden is full of breeding birds at the moment, so it seems. I have already mentioned the squeaky baby Great Tits and juvenile Robin, but we also have an active Magpie nest in a tree at the end of our pond (a nest which I am particularly proud of!), and Blackbirds, Collared Doves, Woodpigeons, Goldfinches and Wrens seem to be behaving in ways suggesting they have nests in or very near our garden (though I haven’t found these, yet… ).
My pride in our Magpie nest is partly because they have chosen our garden rather than nextdoor’s overgrown leylandiis (which are a terrible source of shade for our garden), in which they have nested in the last couple of years. This year’s nest is in an Alder I planted as a ‘whip’ in 2001, which has since grown to about 15-20 feet and been rather overwhelmed by Honeysuckle. If I find the right angle in the garden I can just see a square inch of Magpie feather in the dense bundle of sticks at the top of the tree, with a garland of Honeysuckle flowers around it!
Why have I not talked about Ferry Meadows CP? I came down to find I had a flat tyre on my bike, so spent the early morning mending the puncture (classic thorn job) rather than ‘exercising’. Maybe later…

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