Swallows

After last night's storm, today, 22nd March 2023, we awoke to a beautiful blue sky and sunny day. Sat on the power cables outside my office was this little visitor with a great deal on his mind ad intent on announcing to the world of his arrival. As far as I am aware this year is by far the earliest visit by these absolute marvels of stamina and inuitive mavigation. I cannot help but wonder at the size of these beautiful creatures and the skill they demonstrate in finding their way, firstly to their southern hemisphere home in South Africa. Somewhere they have never visited before and would have no knowledge of it'e very existence, and secondly, the skill in finding their way back to the very area they had been born in for next summer.

House Martins

Today, Holy Saturday, 8th April 2023, a little pair or House Martins joined me on Manor Farm. We have been saved the storms which had battled the Swallows on their journey from Africa. Not sure when they put in theor first appearance , but I first noticed them at about 10:00 am and byt that time they were already chasing and chattering at each other. Clearly none the worse for their arduous journey from their winter grounds. So many adventures since last they saw our countryside. Whatever adventures they have encountered since last I saw my little friends here, I am glad they are once again using the garage beside my office as their nesting shelter as another brood of chicks start the whole cycle over again.

Swift

The swifts put in an appearance in May this yer. I am reliably informed by Laurie Waite, they were around Compton Farm and are usually about four in number, although they do come and go.

With luck these plucky aviators will sucessfuly breed this year and hopefully next year we may see a stronger flock

Snow Drops

I'm not sure where these came from originally, but what started as a few solitary bulbs, has now become a substantial carpet of white. The first true indication that spring is on it's way! But it proved to be the case this year, winter had yet to fully finish her wintry strangle hold on our countryside and gardens as night-time temperatures of nearly -10℃ followed through until the end of January and into February.

Daffodils

The scent of our woodland daffodils is quite intoxicating and this year proved to be no different. The UK is home to some of the most delicate examples of our native daffodil. These little delights were seen on 22nd February although they may well have been around for a little while before this.

Blue Bells

I was privileged to have spent many years working in the private woodlands of my native Dorset, spending my spring times surrounded by carpets of the deepest blues of these bluebells. I once brought home a small handfull of these bulbs (you are not supposed to) and gave them to my Dad to plant in his garden. Something he and I had spent many hours working on. We sadly had lost him to dementia about five years ago. So I rescued a small clump of the bluebells from his garden after he had passed, and planted them in my own garden. They had since been 'ok' where I had put them, but this year they had sudenly flourished and about a week ago (13th April) they burst into bloom. I shall be watching them for even greater efforts next year.

Noisy Neighbours

In recent years the size and associated volume of the rookery surrounding our cottage has increased considerably and last year was filling all the perches in many trees. After several storms dislodged many of the nests the rookery was indeed much smaller and quieter than in previous years.

As spring slowly brought the countryside back to life a depleted rookery started to come back to life again. They are smaller in number and quieter than before but I feel sure that by the time this season is over the numbers will have replenished to some extent. But for now it is quite pleasent to hear the other birdlife getting a word in edgeways.

Littering Neighbours

In recent years we have played host to several ravens and their offspring in the loft above our bed. It is nest-building time and as the adults return with another stick for their nest they first land on the fence as they eye up the stick and also the hole they need to get the stick through. This then needs to be taken closer and weighed up again and then dropped to the floor as it won't fit through the hole. Thats fine but if they just turned and took one end of the twig through it would fit.In the meantime the heap of sticks gets larger and they sit is the entrance to the loft through the hole and curse us as we walk past.

Deer

We were blessed, in past years, with several native deer species here in the UK. From our smallest native, the roe deer, the sitka, the fallow deer through to the mighty red deer

Increasingly common, the muntjac deer was introduced into the UK from China, in the 20th century, to Woburn Park. It has gained a stronghold in southeast England, where it can cause damage to our woods through browsing, but is increasingly common in our fields and woodland here in Wiltshire.
I was introduced to this little beauty locally recently. As much to his surprise as to mine, as he sunned hmself in the shorter grass of the fields after the first cut of hay or silage this year.

Moorhen 

This little beauty made me a happy man this week. We always used to have two moorhen adults living in the village pond. Each year they produce a couple of chicks and then during the mid summer months one of the adults would fall 'fowl' of the traffic that comes though the village at breakneck speed. Quite remarkably, within days he (or she) has found a replacement parent. And life goes on. In recent years they have been conspicuous by their absence. Yesterday many in the village were the victims of a day-long power cut due to downed power lines and I spent half an hour talking to the Wessex Water men whe were setting up a generator to keep the pumps down by the pond to keep the waste water flowing away from the village to the treatment works

Moorhens (cont..)

The image to the left is just a stock iage of a moorhen chick for illustration, but I have taken the above image of the chicks near the pond. Yes, there are two moorhen chicks in this picture and no, I couldn't see them either. But yes they are most definitely there. Nature is wonderful at hiding the vulnerable!

Robin Juveniles

After heavy rain on many of the recent mornings it was nice to see a promising morning weather as I drank my early morning cup of tea. The best cup of the day!

This little fella was sat, perhaps hoping for his own morning tea, but settled instead for that little droplet on the end of his beak. He would have left his nest at about 14 days old but would have stayed locally to his parents for about three weeks. In May he would have moved awayfrom his natal site (up to a few miles). He will keep his speckled feathers, usually until late summer, when a partial mould will lose his speckled feathers and replace them with his traditional red breast. Robins are born without red breasts to avoid territorial clashes with other robins. Clashes of territory are the reason for up to 10 percent of deaths in adult robins in some populations. Anyway, it was nice to share my morning tea with him.