Well, that's January over with - it seemed like a pretty long month - and wet too!
We got a lot more birds to the garden after the snow, in particular blackbirds (who we barely see the rest of the year). They seem to get extremely territorial, with the males chasing intruders across seemingly invisible partitions. There were at least 5 all vying for some scraps of food, with the elderly apples and pears being particularly favoured (a key characteristic of the 'softbill' birds, including redwings, fieldfares and thrushes).
The snow must have fallen sometime in the night - only freezing around dawn perhaps? -and this left a canvas for the footprints of the wildlife that use our garden. I think the larger prints above are cat rather than fox, as they are more rounded (fox prints typically being more diamond-shape) - but it's hard to be sure. The larger bird prints are magpies, they like strutting up to the back step to gorge on any peanuts the squirrels have left.
Squirrel prints can be seen in the photo to the left, they can often be confused for rabbit prints - but I'm pretty confident about these as a) I saw the squirrel make them; b) I've never seen rabbits in the garden!
One of the squirrels (I think Sassy), has been looking rather plump of late so I think there may be some young pups on the way! She's clearly been scouting around searching for nice soft materials to furnish her nest with...and apparently plant fleece is ideal....
I've noticed they've also started digging up some of my bulbs (first time they've ever done this); it feels like maybe I've been underfeeding them premimum nuts or perhaps let somesort of 'No Dig' permit/licence expire...
We took part in the Great Garden Birdwatch again this year and it was defintely more succesful than previous years when it seems like all the birds in a 50 mile radius vanish on that specific weekend.
Count for the 29th January as follows:
- Robin (1)
- House Sparrow (10)
- Blackbird (1)
- Wood Pigeon (2)
- Dunnock (1)
- Magpie (2)
- Blue Tit (1)
- Feral Pigeon (1)
- Starling (1)
Bonus squirrel (4)
So that pretty much sums up January and as of February, I've just today noticed one of my hepaticas has started flowering! Spring is coming!
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