Wild-life Garden Chapter 26: March 25th

I explained in my last post that we were away for the second week in March, in Poolewe. Every puddle seemed to have croaking frogs and spawn. When we got home, sure enough the two blobs of frogspawn in the pond had become half a dozen. Today there are at least eight, and much croaking.

Frogspawn time

I suppose about 1% of the eggs make it to adulthood. I think mature breeders are in their second year. One hazard in this Edinburgh garden is mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos). I love to see them on my patch, but they are a bit much of a good thing for the small pond. They devour water weeds, eat tadpoles and leave far too much nitrogen in droppings. But aren't they splendid. One year there were ducklings for 24 hours. I don't know if they got away to somewhere safer. Cats and foxes are a bit much for a town garden too.

Colourful visitors

We have lots of daffodils, of course. Most of them are jolly garden centre varieties. But this one is a genuine Narcissus pseudonarcissus, such as William Wordsworth and Robert Herrick  immortalised. It was bought from a specialist supplier. On no account should you dig up wild flowers.

Wild daffodil

The primroses, Primula vulgaris, were grown from seed by an old friend. They have flourished for twenty years on this spot, and long may they continue. Occasionally a pink bloom appears, for they hybridise with neighbouring primulas; but these are removed before seeding.

Primroses

In the hedge the hawthorns are still the only plants whose buds have burst into leaf.

The hedge

The wren is still hopping around inspecting nesting sites, and today I saw the first bumble bee of the year. Spring is so exciting!

My Wild-life Garden Chapter 25: March 21st

My little computer has been being mended (the on-off switch was broken) and my desk-top computer told me it was having cookie problems. So I have got behind-hand with this chronicle. Expect a few posts in quick succession as I try to catch up.

March 1st seemed like winter. Sometimes there was ice on the pond and only the dock seemed to be growing. But I saw a swirl in the pond as I approached, and there was a frog, Rana temporaria, diving out of sight as I approached. I think it is safe to assume that this one spent the winter hibernating in the mud at the bottom of our pond. He seemed lonely, and disappeared after a day or two.

But he cannot have been very lonely, for a week later, on March 8th, there was a blob of frogspawn.

The first frogspawn of the year: March 8th

I previous years the spawn and tadpoles have struggled with predators. I have seen a grey heron, Ardea cinerea, catch and swallow three adult frogs in ten minutes. To give some cover I put bamboo poles over a small portion of the pond.

Another time a pair of mallard, Anas platyrynchus, ate every single tadpole and blob of spawn. Some books say they are vegetarian; this is a good example of how you should observe, not just read books. I put in my little baby-path pond as a haven from ducks, only to find a female mallard sitting in it, with about three inches clearance all round.

The baby-bath pond, with crannies for mini-beasts

Last year I put an anti-duck net over the little pond. So I was surprised that the tadpoles in it seemed to have disappeared. When I conducted an exhaustive search I discovered a pair of very fat newts. It's tough out there. I have now taken to putting a little spawn in a tank. Ideally some frogs will survive and many will be eaten. In the wild this is what happens. In the small,artificial environment of a garden one might have a total wipe-out - which seems to be what happened to the toads, Bufo bufo, about five years ago.

One of the many reasons I like my hedge (a row of shrubs, not a genuine boundary) is the chance to observe the plants closely in all seasons. Just now it is buds. The common hazel, Corylus avellana, has very little buds. On the beech, Fagus sylvatica, the buds are long, narrow, sharp spears. On the ash, Fraxinus excelsior, the buds are stikingly black. And so on. One of the hawthorn bushes, Crataegus monogyna was already breaking into green leaf on March 1st, way ahead of the others.

I guess the birds are already sparring for territories and mates, and looking for nesting sites. We have a lot of building work going on next door, so there may be fewer suitable sites this year. But I did see a wren, Troglodytes troglodytes, searching various piles of sticks and thickets.

One of the places that the wren inspected

I have read that the male shows the female half a dozen possible nesting sites before she picks one. I don't think we have ever been picked, though I have seen a male searching in previous years. I also saw six male blackbirds, Turdus merula, hopping round twittering and darting at each other. A single brown female was peacefully watching.

My Wild-life Garden Chapter 24: February 13th

It, course, irresistible to take photos of snowdrops. But if anyone doubted that it is still winter, here is a photo of the pond yesterday morning with a thin layer of ice on it. My plan is to remove yet more vegetation before serious growth, frogspawn and so on get started.

Ice on the pond

The most enjoyable wildlife in the garden just now all congregates at the bird feeders. In fact the siskins are getting through sunflower at a terrific rate. Half a dozen come every day and work hard at busy pecking.

However, the plants are beginning to show signs that spring is on its way. One of the things we try to do is have plenty of possible habitats around the garden. There is an area between the totally non-functional hedge and the real garden wall where I put all sorts of woody clippings and prunings. There is a small pile of sticks which is deliberately made of fairly solid branches so that there is a lot of space is between them – big enough for a wren's nest, I like to think. There is another pile of more indiscriminate woody clippings, old brambles and such like. Surely no hunting cat or fox could get in there. There are plenty of places where dead leaves are left. There are two impenetrable ivy thickets. One shrub which I know the sparrows like to chatter in is kept fairly large and tangled.

Stick pile

Part of the fun is to add extras. There are some old boots hung up inside the thickets. I have two nesting boxes. One of my favourites is an old terracotta planter, unusably broken, which has been left under the honey-suckle. The pond, is of course, a special artificial habitat.

Might this be a house for a toad one day?

I must admit that some of these – the nest boxes for example – don't seem to attract inhabitants. Birds nest in other places and no hedgehog has yet arrived. However, it is very important for the wild-life gardener not to think solely in terms of the cuddly or colourful headline makers. I have mentioned before the excellent “Wildlife of a garden; A thirty year study” by Jennifer Owen. Hers was a serious academic exercise and her records include over 50 species of hoverfly, more than a score of species of sawfly, over 400 species of ichneumen wasps, and so on. I have not written down precise numbers, because they vary from year to year. The point is that a healthy population of wildlife includes all these humble, neglected or despised creatures. My dead leaves are, I am sure, of use to them.

Not to mention the moss. I cannot identify it, but it looks nice, and all sorts of creatures make use of it.

Moss on the sundial

The bee-house sat empty for two years, but now has attracted mason bees. As for the crack in the pointing used by swifts: I do hope no one ever fills it up.

Bee-house with mason bees

As I write it is starting to snow. Just to repeat my main point from previous blogs: Please do not use pesticides.

My Wild-life Garden Year Chapter 23: January 26th

I realise that in my last chapter I foolishly referred to “the obvious birds” at our feeders. Thanks to the wonders of the world-wide web you readers may be in any continent, so they may not be obvious to you at all. So here is the full list of what we expect to see every day at this time of year:

Blue tit, Parus caeruleus; Great tit, Parus major; Coal tit, Parus ater; House sparrow, Passer domesticus; Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis; Common chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs; Common blackbird, Turdus merula; Dunnock, Prunella modularis; European robin, Erithacus rubecula; Common woodpigeon, Columba palumbus.

When they are so listed it does seem a very satisfactory number. They are certainly the brightest spots in the garden just now. They are a pleasure to see, and one always hopes for some different species as well.

I also talked about coppicing in the last chapter. I particularly recommend Oliver Rackham's magnificent survey, “The History of the Countryside” for excellent coverage of this and many other topics. For example, he shows how John Evelyn's famous observation (late seventeenth century) that the glass and iron industries were stripping the countryside of woods was a complete error made by a town-dweller. In fact the charcoal fuel for the glass and iron industries came from coppices, where trees were harvested but not killed. They were left to re-grow.

Highly recommended

At the foot of my coppiced hazel is the traditional first sign of spring. There are plenty of Snowdrops, Galantha nivalis. There is some doubt as to whether this garden plant ought to be counted as a native or not, but it is very welcome in my garden.

Snowdrops

I wonder what will flower next.

My Wild-life Garden Chapter 22: January 13th

Everyone in the UK knows this has been a very wet winter so far. We have had to have our roof mended. In the wild-life garden the most obvious result has been to put a goodly amount of water in the pond. After the dry autumn, this is a relief. There is still a good deal of clearing to do, but at least those who use the pond in the breeding season will have somewhere to go.

The pond today

The bird-feeders have become very active. The food of choice seems to be sunflower hearts. What a pity they are also more expensive than some seeds; but I suppose the birds don't know that. We have all the “obvious” small birds including, I'm glad to say House sparrows, Passer domesticus. I was reading very recently that the great decline in their British population is not fully understood, though there are many plausible theories which no doubt contribute to the full picture. As well as food we provide a fair amount of unkempt thicket for shelter; possibly that helps. 

One less obvious bird turned up yesterday in a small flock. These were Siskins, Carduelis spinus. They have come every year since we started feeding Goldfinches, Carduelis carduelis, which are now common and a delight.

The Hazel before coppicing

One of the many pleasure of trying to run a wild-life garden in the middle of town is pretending to be in the country. So I have just coppiced the hazel tree by the compost heap. Coppicing is an ancient method of woodland management that for thousands of years produced timber for basket-weaving, chair-legs, spindles, charcoal-burning and so on. The tree is cut back nearly to ground level roughly every eight years or so. Deciduous plants are not killed by this pruning, and grow again – for centuries. In the Coniston area, where I send a lot of time, many of the old woods are called Somethingorother Coppice. 

The Hazel after coppicing

In the wild-life garden the regular coppicing (this has been the third time) partly keeps an urban tree manageable and partly lets light in to benefit other plants. It also provides a supply of handy garden poles. I hope there will be photos of the flowers in due course.

My Wild-life Garden Chapter 21: December 14th

We had a long, rich autumn. All readers in the UK will know that this is now well over. Parts of the country have endured serious flooding. Yesterday we woke to a garden dusted grey with frost.

The most obvious change in the plant-life has been the change in the deciduous trees. We are now surrounded by bare branches, and the neighbouring houses are the main view, no longer obscured. These bare twigs are sycamore, birch and hawthorn. The coppiced hazel, by the compost heap, is still in full leaf, and the leaves are more green than yellow. The beech in the hedge is one of the brightest colours now in the garden, and I expect the leaves to stay all winter.

But the jolliest aspect of the winter garden for me is the return of the small birds to the feeders. It is just growing light as I write (after 9.00 in the morning, but this is winter in Edinburgh). I can see blue tits busy and active, and a blackbird on the lawn. On Saturday while having breakfast I saw about 6 blue tits, about 10 sparrows, about 5 goldfinches. Also a robin, a great tit, a coal tit, a female chaffinch, two dunnocks , three blackbirds and (rare for this garden) a bull finch. This was all in the space of ten minutes.

The squirrel-proof feeder

The special squirrel-proof feeder has come into its own. It was designed, and bought some years ago, for peanuts. I know I am not the only person to notice that birds with access to fat-balls, nyger seed, mixed grains and so on neglect peanuts. So this winter I have started filling the feeder with sun-flower hearts. They cost a bit more than peanuts, but have proved very popular indeed. In fact some of the goldfinches have been leaving their special nyger to cluster round the sun-flower hearts.

Sweet-briar hips used as food

What with heavy rain and short days I have not seen much beyond the feeders, but this litter of foraged sweet-briar hips shows that they have been much appreciated as food. The same goes for the many other berries. As well as the small birds listed above there are magpies, squirrels and wood pigeons now active in the garden. They all have large appetites.

My Wild-life Garden Chapter 20: November 22

I was advised that in the winter there would be a good deal less to say than there was in the spring. It is certainly true that there are fewer opportunities to take photos, so you may get some blog-posts which are nothing but words. Not this one though.

We were away for a week, seeing egrets on the Arno, not to mention paintings in the Uffizi. While we were away there was some notable rain, so that we came home to find another three inches or so of water in the pond. This is good news, for it could do with freshening up. The task of dredging out weed and mud and dead leaves continues. I am not planning to make a swamp, good though that might be for some creatures.

More water in the pond

The best news is that the sparrows have returned, and are chattering round the bird-feeders and in the thickets. There has been a sad decline in house sparrows over recent years, so it is particularly pleasing to be supporting them. Over the years we have seen a few interesting and exotic wandering migrants at the feeders. None so far this year, but I shall be sure to tell you if any do turn up. I get great pleasure just now from seeing coal tits, blue tits and blackbirds.

I went down the garden at lunch-time today to hear a strange crackling noise in the sweet briar. There was a grey squirrel, defying the ferocious thorns, and eating a large rose-hip. Meanwhile a pair of blackbirds were busy stripping the elder berries off the tree. I need to cut it back this winter, so I am glad I have waited till the berries are gone.

As for the hedge – the beech leaves are the most colourful red-brown. But the oak remains my special favourite. Once we get to the new year there will have to be some serious hedge-lopping, but not just yet. It is quite a good way of digesting Christmas dinner.