Foxes and Fledglings

 One pleasant feature of the way our house is set up is that while working at the kitchen sink you can look out over the garden. Birds bathing is always fun to see. A couple of days ago, while I was washing up, a large fox ( a vixen, I think) was sitting on the patch of flagstones calmly scratching. She didn't seem at all bothered by being in a town garden in broad daylight. Of course urban foxes have now become so common that they are not news, but this was certainly an attractive animal.

A few minutes later, during the same bout of washing up, I noticed something moving under some shrubs. I stopped work and got the binoculars on it (they lie ready in the kitchen). It was clearly a young bird, It seemed to be more fluff than feathers, so I wondered how it could have got in without flying; I'm pretty sure there is no nest on our side of the fence. From its size I guessed blackbird or possibly starling. Thanks to Google and You Tube I was able to establish that it was definitely a blackbird. I was surprised that no parent came to warn it about the fox, feed it, or otherwise indulge in avian parenting. Eventually it jumped up into the shrubs and I lost sight of it.

At the feeders the birds are very picky. I have one of those candelabra jobs, with four hanging squirrel-proof feeders; fat balls, general bird seed, nyjer (there seem to be innumerable spellings of this stuff) seed for goldfinches, and sunflower hearts. Until recently only the sunflower hearts were eaten, mostly by goldfinches. The fat balls were completely ignored, even though some starlings have reappeared with the spring. The nyjer seed is untouched. The basic bird seed mix in its special new feeder seemed a waste of money. Well, the sunflower hearts have run out and so sparrows have turned to the good old seed mix and the goldfinches have given us up. Our local Sainsbury's has been out of sunflower hearts for well over a week. Another casualty of Brexit, I suppose. The expensive nyjer seed sits, waiting for custom.

I do scatter fatty nibbles and mealworms every morning for the ground feeders. Two or three magpies usually get there first, and frighten off all comers. Sparrows twitter as soon as I come out of the garden door, and four wood pigeons often look in. I especially like the dunnock, which hops unobtrusively below the foliage. Most unexpected, and new this year, has been two large black crows. I thought large birds didn't alight in small gardens because they feel confined by the fences. There's always something interesting to see while washing up.

One of the great glories of the countryside in May is the bluebells. No way can I, or you, recreate a bluebell wood in a small town garden, but I couldn't resist installing a few.

It is nowhere near a bluebell wood, but it reminds me of many favourite places. The colours are a rich, vibrant blue. It is worth making sure you buy our native bluebells, rather than the common Spanish bluebell. They hybridise easily, and the result is paler and less attractive plants.

In a recent post I reminded you to search always for peat-free compost. I am delighted to say that when I went into Sainsbury's the other day in search of sunflower hearts, there were stacks of bags of peat-free composts of various grades. Not all the news is bad.