If You Build It ~ They Will Come

Hello Friends!

The wind blows; the wind slows
The rain slices sideways in sudden, sharp downpours
Hailstones pummel and sleet slushes

We had so much rain in the last forty eight hours that when I stepped out on my lawn yesterday evening it was like walking across a wet sponge that slyrruped and slurped, squelching away under my feet ~~~

Much of the rest of Britain has had snow. We won't talk about that, other than to emphasise we didn't!

Last year, you may remember, I had to have a bad apple tree removed. Sadly, it was the apple tree where I used to hang my bird feeders. It was a grand spot, for I could sit in my comfy arm chair, warm and toasty by the fireside, with my hot drink of tea and slice of cake, watching the birds flutter in to feed on seeds and peanuts and fatty, nourishing foods to help them through the lean winter months ahead. 

I have missed watching the birds feed, so my only option was to get a feeding station to place on the lawn.  Of course, I could hang them in the remaining apple tree, but I cannot see it from the window. So, I bought one ~ "easy self assembly" and "no tools required" on the box, it said. An hour and a half later "You're having a laugh!" I said, for it might just as well have come from Ikea!  No instructions, no labelling of parts, two very fiddly stuck screws that needed a pliers to dislodge them, and all the while I'm handling cold metal with bare hands on a chilly sub 40 degrees Winter day in the garden!

Eventually, I got there. Wherever 'there' is.

However, it was only after expending all my unused energy in pushing, shoving, and hammering the spikes into the ground and coming back indoors I discovered, shock and utter horror, it is about three feet to the left of where I wanted it. Piffle.  There it will remain. I will have to either move my chair or sit forward to view the birds feeding, for I am through wrestling with it!

I filled the feeders {which are not the best quality, so good quality metal feeders are next on the shopping list} and that's when I found out that my diminutive stature of not quite five feet, three and three quarters inches about one inch shorter than the height I need to be in order to hang the feeders on the hooks without the use of a stool! Piffle.

Can this get any more desperate?

Well, yes. Of course it can. I wouldn't have asked otherwise, would I?

I have two big bags of Black Niger seed and Sunflower hearts, both of which pour straight out of the bottom of the feeders which are not at all suitable for them. Piffle again.

Defeat loomed on the grey horizon ~~~

I fished out an old stool, carefully climbed up and hung the feeders, filled the water bowl, and tipped suet into the seed dish.  This I managed without incident. The way this saga is unfolding, spilling the cold water all over me would have been the icing on the cake!

My reward was not far away, though ~~~

If you build it, they will come!

It didn't take long for the birds to come!  So, I've wittered away the afternoon watching in between chores as the birds come to discover a new feeding station in their neighbourhood!

There's a long way to go before I get all that I want set up out there, but the main thing is the birds are coming in, and I managed to get a few photographs of the happy diners, and some of the rook who wasn't happy to discover he can't get at the seeds. He became incredibly vocal ~~~

Oh, and if I am to take my photos from the comfort of my living room, I will need to wash my windows in between the window cleaner's visits! Digital photography picks up, and enhances, even the slightest speck of dust!

My favourites are the Starlings. They have such lovely markings, and while the colours are not as bright as some of the other, smaller birds, there is a sheen and delicacy to their feathers the other birds don't seem to share.

At this time, I am making a heartfelt plea to all who have read this in regard of Starlings. They are often misjudged as greedy, condemned for seeing off the other birds at the table, and for being nothing more than voracious eaters that devour everything in sight to the detriment of other birds. This is not so. For those of you who do not know, the truth is that Starlings have a very high metabolic rate and are a lot more fragile than many of the smaller birds. Starlings need about four times the amount of food, in ratio to body weight, as the small birds do, so while they appear to be greedy, they are simply eating to survive the winter months.  Please consider this next time you see Starlings eating at your feeders and don't shoosh them away, or they may die a cruel death from starvation.

Until next time ~~~
Deborah xo

After The Rain ~~~

Hello Friends!

After the rain comes ~~~ more rain! We’ve taken quite a pasting with strong gales over the last few days, not only here in the west, but right across the country. At one time over one hundred twenty thousand {120,000} lightening strikes hit the southern counties of England and the northern coast of France in twelve hours! That must have been some show, and frightening if you do not like lightening.

We have had several days of strong winds, topping off at around 50~60mph, but at this time of year, when all the plants, big and small, from rose bushes and poppies right up to the big sycamores and lime trees, are in full flower and leaf, it all seems so much worse than during the winter months when there are few things to grasp the wind as it rips through the air. 

The garden, which was looking so pretty, is a bit of a mess ~~~pauses to dry tears~~~ many coloured rose petals are strewn beneath bushes; verbena bonariensis did not whip, but lie snapped and flat; not for the first time my delicate Oriental poppies resemble soggy, wet tissue paper, ink splotched with their dark pollen. Weeds, of course, flourish ~ did we expect them not to do so? The peonies and arum lilies are, thankfully, past their best but have since been helped on their way! 

One thing is sure ~ nature has a wonderful, magical way of recovering, and once this spate of nasty, inclement weather passes, I know all will be restored and a quick recovery should follow.

There has been enough rainfall to consider building an Ark. Put your name on the list and I’ll swing by to pick you up as the next round of torrential rain arrives from the Atlantic Ocean tomorrow!  There has certainly been no need to water and the raspberries are swelling magnificently now.

Yesterday, despite the cold, blowing wind, I managed a quick ramble out and about between the downpours which abated somewhat yesterday afternoon because I wanted to see what the wild foxgloves are doing. They are such a magnificent wildflower and probably my favourite {but then, so is gorse; and bluebells; and cowslips; and sea pinks; and ling too}. I was not disappointed, but I have seen better displays. Here are a few photographs of what I saw ~~~

On my way home, I saw a quick flash of movement in the hedge as Mamma Blue Tit flew quickly away from feeding her recently fledged baby.  Poor, drenched little mite as it is, it obligingly sat while I quickly took some pictures of it, and then began preening it's soaked feathers. I did not stay long, I did not want to stop Mamma from returning with yet more juicy bugs to feed what seems to be her only surviving baby ~~~

I feel immensely privileged to have shared these few intimate moments with such a sweet little creature of our planet.  Nature is magical, wonderful, pure and unashamedly so.

Until next time ~~~

~~~Deborah xo