February is a bit of a quiet month - it's that annoying time of year when you want to get started with plans in the garden (and allotment) but it's still too cold and the daylight hours too short.
Spring bulbs are starting to poke their heads out of the ground: tete-a-tete daffodils, pearly white snowdrops (which always make me think of elegant Victorian lampshades) and croci in all the colours of Cadbury's mini eggs. New for me this year are the reticulated iris, bringing pops of blue to the pyracantha 'hedge' and some muscari (grape hyacinth) under our Japanese maple. It's always a bit of a drag in the autumn remembering to put them in, but these splashes of colour are so welcomed in these rather dull months.
I've been trying not to tidy the garden too much at the moment - the going advice for gardening for wildlife is to not move too much leaf-litter until it warms up a bit more. - I've heard the key temperature is around 10 degrees Celsius, but I mean come-on this is Scotland...that could mean waiting until May...The awkward time of year between winter and spring can be really tough on our wildlife, as any autumn food stores are likely long gone. I've read that this is the most important time to feed the birds/wildlife, to keep them going until all the insects (hibernating in the leaf-litter) wake up.
Cold mornings are excellent for actually seeing the birds - I've got into a habit of putting out grated cheese, chopped apple/pear and nuts along with suet pellets and seed. I do tend to rush to lay out this spread (often before getting breakfast myself) only to discover that the birds have had a lie in and don't actually come down til 9/10am.
I was removing some leaves from our 'pond' when I came across a rat-tailed maggot! This poorly-named specimum is the larvae of several species hoverfly - which is an often overlooked pollinator. They are really fascinating creatures, the 'rat-tail' is actually a telescopic tube used for breathing - essentially a snorkel. Whilst they are often used as an indicator species for polluted or poor water quality, I think their presence is wonderful. I kept an area of ragwort in the garden for the first few years, as this is a flower favoured by hoverflies - therefore the fact that there is larvae means they must have approved!
The local magpies have been getting into the large (photinia & weigla) bushes at the back, being somewhat rebellious picking of branching - presumably for nest building - equally could just be ecological vandalism -who knows?
We saw a sparrowhawk using the back wall again last weekend - it shut the sparrows and starlings up for a bit! I also found some scat/pellet containing tiny bird bones and a bird skull - quite exciting, but don't know who left it.
Squirrel update:
- Patches (identified by the somewhat worrying patches of skin missing - left) seems to be nursing young, this could explain the fur loss, as they will sometimes pluck their own fur to line their nests. She has that slightly shell-shocked look of a mother and this morning completely devoured a bowl of almonds and walnuts.
-Stripe (missing a stripe of fur down the back (possibly due to enthusiastic romantic encounter)) is still super nervous.
- Sassy is as confident as ever and is still sporting her unusual camo-effect mismatch of summer and winter coat.
-Half-tail - not seen too often, looking somewhat worse for wear. After being the only boy on the block for a while it seems to have come as a shock that some of lasts years clutch have stayed in the area, so now there is competition.
Earlier in the month was the opening of the new picnic table! There was enthusiastic usage although the seating option was not fully utilised. The table will later be nailled to a fence, so it doesn't get used inappropriately.
Comments