May has been a glorious month. There are so many birds in the field now, and they’re all singing their little hearts out.
Our swallows are finally back in force – some squabbling going on as mum and dad have brought five of last year’s two broods with them and they all want to nest in the feed room! We put up a fake swallow nest in the patio of our cabin, but there hasn’t been any interest in this so far.
The next project is a wildlife pond. Well, three wildlife ponds actually; one largish one which will be lined and have a shallow channel leading from it to a smaller scrape, and a little stream leading to ‘pebble pond’ near the bird table.
We were delighted to welcome Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT) conservation officers Ben and Claire, who gave us excellent advice on how to create a wildlife pond. Main takeaways were wiggly edges, deep to the north and shallow to the south and gently sloping bottom. Suitably enthused we marked out a (wiggly) shape with a 15 ft piece of electric tape and Phil started digging.
18 inches down, he found the water table. This will be great for the pond, but not so great for a man with a spade trying to dig at least a metre. Whilst gamely digging sludge and watching the hole fill back in again, a small tornado further frustrated efforts by sucking the marking tape up in an an elegant spiral and carrying it away to pastures new; despite a post on the Village Facebook page it hasn’t been spotted since.
For the moment the main pond remains a metre wide and long muddy hole with 4 inches of brown water at the bottom. Fortunately the birds love it, especially the swallows who are taking the mud for nests. So now it’s a muddy hole covered in bird poo.
While LRWT were with us, Hugh from Aveland Trees popped over to discuss our Autumn tree / hedgerow planting, which is being supported by carbon positive web hosting business Eco Web Hosting. Hugh advised we cut the tree guards in half, so we spent a few hours taking them all off, halving them then putting them back on again. Where previously we had to peer down tubes to try and work out what our trees are, now we can see them properly. Unfortunately we seem to have a bad batch of hazels, or sticks as we now call them, but the rest are thriving, especially the willows (no doubt due to the high water table) and wild fruit trees.
I have made a list of the trees we planted, which you can see here
Wild birds are flourishing, and It’s great to hear the summer sounds of chiffchaff and willow warbler. Somewhere near the gate is a long tailed tit nest, and I’m often surrounded by flitting squeaking fluffy bobbles as I came and go. Sad Bear and Seahorse Rabbit are finally coming into leaf, well after oak trees so presumably we’re in for another BBQ Summer.
I spent two hours the other evening listening to nightingales singing beautifully to each other from the thickets. Only when I got home I discovered they weren’t nightingales but robins. Who knew robins sing late into the night? And that they sound different to how they do during the day? (although this may be my imagination, as I had convinced myself they were nightingales). Raptors aren’t visiting much at the moment, so sadly no new osprey sightings, although we have a tawny owl nesting in the big ash (Sad Bear).
The birds (and squirrel) are getting through feed like wildfire at the moment, with young starlings eating more than I would have thought possible. I’m surprised they’re not the size of wood pigeons. They’re very characterful and clever, and soon work out how to get to any of the feeds. I’ve resorted to using some old fat balls as the birds love the Brinvale ones so much they’re gone within the hour. I’ve had to ration Brinvale suet blocks and balls as they’re going like hot cakes.
Since April I have been listing the birds I’ve seen and / or heard in the field that month. Ben from LRWT also did a plant audit (it has an ‘official’ name but I can’t remember what it is) and identified over 30 species of wild flowers, plants and grasses. I’m going to compile lists of these illustrated with photos when I get a moment.
You can see a few of my favourite photos from May in the Photography Blog.
L-R: Hugh, Phil, Claire & Ben (LRWT)
