The First Day of Spring 2015

It's Sunday, the 1st of March, St David's Day, and, meteorologically, the First Day of Spring!

Well, first thing this morning... that is 8am... (come on... it is Sunday, after all!)... it was lovely and sunny; a clear, breezy, mild morning, here in Great Linford.  The writer seriously thought about having his breakfast in the Summerhouse, but after spending 10 minutes in the garden, clearing out pussycat's dirt box, feeding the birds, and just generally praising God for a beautiful morning, he felt the keenness of that breeze; which, even as he stood there, was developing into a strong, chilly, wind!

By the time the missus and I were ship-shape and ready to go to church, this beautiful, sunny, morning had turned into a dull grey sky, with even greyer clouds scudding along, dark and ominous, and depositing a touch of drizzle as we motored to church.  "April showers." said she, as the windscreen suddenly got spattered as if someone had turned on a hose.  "You always say that." I replied, "How can it be 'April showers' in March?"

Stupid boy, you just opened the door to your wife's wealth of memories of growing up on the farm, down in Kent, and all the country folklore she learned at her mother's knee, out in the fields. "The weather doesn't know it's still only March." she replied, sage-like.  "Of course April showers can start in March ... and finish in May... You know, they're the showers that suddenly descend from an otherwise bright, sunny, sky.  Quick, blustery, downpours, or gentle sprinklings from a fluffy white cloud.  And that's what we've got this morning, April showers!  Look: over towards the West, there's still enough blue to make a sailor a pair of trousers." she said, remembering the age-old weather idiom about patches of blue sky shining through developing rain clouds. Blue being the colour of sailor's trousers long ago; and having sufficient 'blue' to patch, let alone make, a sailor's trousers, gave a really positive outlook on the weather one was experiencing!  The more 'blue' the better it must be getting, that is, the showers lessening, and soon the sun would be out again!

However, showers apart, other signs that "Spring has sprung!" can be seen along the centre verges of the dual carriageways here in MK - they're festooned with gorgeous yellow Crocus; and Daffodils are evident, too, by their long green leaves, now several inches tall above the grass.  From the look of them, it seems it won't be long before we see their flaring, golden 'trumpets', truly announcing the best, and finest, season of them all - Springtime!

In our garden we've Bluebells and Crocus pushing through the dark winter earth of the borders, and dozens of the miniature Daffodils beginning to show under the Bay Tree, and a bunch of Sweet Violets are already in bloom under the Hawthorn tree.  On the grass border along the roadside, are slender mauve Crocus, always only a few, spread across a square yard of grass, but there every Spring to cheer me as I walk to the car.  Swelling buds on the Hazel and Crab Apple trees; the Cherry and the Silver Birch, along the border by our car parking places, and all these flowering plants pushing their way into the sunny mornings, how can I not agree with my lovely wife when she rightly says, "April showers [which can occur even in March!] bring forth Spring flowers!"  Happy 1st Day of Spring, dear readers!

The first mild, warm, and sunny day since last Autumn!!

It's been just *wonderful* having the sun out most of the day - and very little breeze this morning, till about lunchtime!

Aaaa... sigh of relief... At least we've had ONE day of Springtime!  It seems like we've been in Winter since December!  We've just finished March, which was the second coldest on record, and April had hardly begun when the Met Office said that the 2nd of April was the coldest April day on record, too!  And all the time, during march and April so far, we've battled bitingly-cold Easterly winds; and the March snow still lies many feet deep "up North"!

So it's been a real respite-day, today, to have the day mild - even warm this morning while there was no wind - and sunny most of the day... Aaaa...  We even opened the Summerhouse doors to air it out!!  Wa-hey!!  Springtime has finally arrived, if only for one day!

So, I wonder... How many of you, like me, had a bit of a clear up in the garden, as the sun shone warm this morning?  And while the male Blackbird sang his velvety-song to his lady-love? I was even happy to see the first fly of the year! Well, the first I've seen.

Another, pleasant surprise, was a pretty little male Siskin has visited the bird table again this morning, while the male Bluetit continues to drum on the nestbox under the eaves to attract his lady-love.

After all, that's what they've always said, innit? When Springtime comes, a young man's fancy turns to courtin'!

"The crocus's are out!" she called down the lane...

Just a quick post today.

"The crocus's are out!" she called down the lane...  Ann, my wife, and I, had been for a lovely, if *very* chilly, stroll round our local parkland.  I was lagging behind Ann, peering up into the topmost branches of a tall Poplar tree, to see if I could see the Song Thrush which was gaily singing to us, high above my head.  At Ann's delighted shout, I scurried up to her side, and looked... and there before us were the first yellow crocus of this year!  And it's only 26th February!  What a joyous sight they are!

Snow on snow...

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter...

This January!  :-(

(With thanks to Christina Rosetti)

Snow on snow... "They" (the weather forecasters) said there wouldn't be any more snow for Milton Keynes last night, or today, but, to mis-quote from the lyrics of Jeff Wayne's classic album "War of the Worlds"... "But still it comes!"

Both front and back gardens are full of wild birds all trying to get something to eat and stay warm with a high calorie intake.  We've put out an assortment of foodstuffs, onto the bird tables, in hanging feeders, on trays lodged in the branches of our tree, and scattered liberally on the ground.  Peanuts for Collared Doves, Wood Pigeons, and the odd Grey Squirrel (though it's a pest the way it buries some nuts in our garden flower tubs!). Sunflower hearts in hanging feeders for well over a dozen Goldfinches now coming in. Wild bird seed scattered around for 2x pairs of Chaffinches and 2x Dunnocks, and dried mealworms  for our "resident" Pied Wagtail, 3 Robins (who squabble over who has the 'rights' to the garden!); and, since the snowfall, 3 male and 3 female blackbirds, which haven't been seen since springtime!!

Keeping a fresh bowl of water unfrozen has been a hard task, but I solved it by buying a coconut, sawing it in half, scraping out the coconut (the Blue Tits and Great Tits have loved that!), and using the halves as water bowls... Easier to bring indoors and thaw out each morning, than the bird baths!

I know it's winter, and we should expect snow... but both I and the wild garden birds will be *very* pleased when it's all gone!

If you go down to the woods today...

At last, the rain stopped and we were able to get out for a half-decent walk round Linford Wood, which is a about 100 acres of ancient woodland not far from our home.

Although the sun didn't shine - it remained grey all day - the wood was awash with colour, scent, and sound. We like to count the numbers of different kinds of wild flowers we see when we come here, and today we were absolutely thrilled to see several dozen Early Purple Orchids scattered throughout the wood!  Not many years ago, we were lucky to see one or two, let alone dozens!

The Bluebells are coming out now - some fully, some still all in bud - and what a wonderful carpet of vivid blue they'll be in a week or two, if we get some decent sunshine!

Coltsfoot are nearly over, now, and their white seed heads are getting 'fluffy'. There's still quite a few mauve Violets, even on the more exposed ditch banks, which is good to see them spreading across the wood again. Lesser and Greater Stitchwort show snow-white amongst the long grass and Ground Elder, and then suddenly, there's a few Red Campion (though quite pink), standing brightly in a shaded glade.

The shrill sound of a Hawk got me looking sky-wards, and we were rewarded with the sight of a stunning female Sparrowhawk alighting on the topmost branch of a very old Beech tree, hardly even in bud, so quite visible to us 30 feet above...  She took absolutely no notice of us as we watched her preen her feathers, and look at us, with those piercing yellow eyes!

Let's hope the sun shines soon, and we can go to the woods again!

We've got a new fox!

Last night, Channel 4 TV showed the first in a series of "live" programmes about urban foxes, called "Foxes Live" (dead original, yeah?)  Anyway, we had recorded the prog. and watched it whilst having our lunch today.  I'd had a roast chicken quarter, and, being on a diet, (??!!) I always (?!) take the skin off, and any other bits I'm not going to eat.

Lunch over, I took the handful of scraps down the back garden and threw them over the back fence, onto the greensward that lays between our row of bungalows and the tree-line behind us which runs the length of the main road, and screens it from view.

We feed a LOT of birds, both in our front and back gardens, and also "our" resident crows that live in the tree-line behind us.  They know when lunchtime is, so can often be seen waiting in the trees for any scraps I throw over!  Today was no exception, but I'd hardly got back into the kitchen, when one of the crows started up, "cawing" like mad!  This was so evidently either a distress call cum anger call, that I decided to go and take a look... ...

Peering over the back fence - and fully expecting to see one of the local cats (hiss! boo!) - I was astounded, but very pleased, to see the most beautiful ginger fox finishing off my chicken scraps!  She/He spotted me, even though there was only the top of my head peering over the fence, liked his lips, and as assuredly as any "top-dog", turned and loped into the cover of the tree-line!  Magnificent!  Real joy broke across my 'fizzog', and I came scampering in to tell " 'er indoors" the glad tidings!

Both Ann and I love foxes, and over the nearly 26 years we've been married and lived 'here', we've seen, and fed, many a fox that lopes along the greensward behind our bungalow - but rarely have we seen one in broad daylight (well, grey, drizzle, today!)

Only 2 weeks back our previous resident fox, an outstandingly handsome dog-fox, had been run over and killed on the main road not 50 yards from our back garden.  I'd been driving home from a meeting, and saw his poor, mutilated, body, in the middle of the dual carriageway, facing east, so he was probably trying to turn away from the fast-approaching motor, as he'd attempted crossing the road.  Saddened, I'd pulled over, and ran into the road to retrieve his body, onto the verge, before his beautiful dark-red coat, and handsome 'mask', was crushed further by the traffic.  So seeing this 'new' fox on the block is wonderful news!  I shall probably celebrate by buying another chicken quarter which I'll save especially for our new "Reynard"!  ;-)

Well, the Field Mice have been multiplying, and there are now two families regularly coming to the scattered peanuts I put out for the birds each day. The original family of field/wood mice under the summerhouse are still there, and are distinct from the new family, who live under the patio slabs, by being somewhat larger, and less timid.

The newcomers are quite small, possibly the "ejected" litter of the summerhouse ones. They pop up through a hole in the cement grouting between a couple of patio slabs, and I notice that even when the summerhouse family are out, neither set of mice meet up. Fascinating watching them forage - they're SO quick! Dashing out of cover, or up from the slabs, grab a nut of sunflower seed and dash back.

However... the past couple of days has seen a lot of heavy rain, and today, only the summerhouse mice were foraging... Have the patio mice been flooded out?  Who knows... but I'll keep watching through the lounge windows to see "the next thrilling instalment of Mouse Manor!"

Did you know that A Field Mouse is also known as a Wood Mouse?

We've added to our back garden managerie, now, ... a family of Wood Mice have moved in under our summerhouse plinth (concrete), making a burrow that comes out against the garden fence. So one or other of them comes foraging under the bird table at various times during the day. This morning, I was out there in the lovely morning sunshine (oh I DO love retirement!), filling up the hanging bird feeders and spreading a few peanuts on the flagstones ready for the collared doves and "Woody" Woodpigeon, and out came the adult male Wood Mouse! His huge, jet-black, bead-like eyes spotted me and he stopped ... so I stopped... both of us stock-still...

Who will move first? Bound to be me, as I can't stay as still as a mouse! But no, he moved - right up to my feet, grabbed a peanut and scrambled for the gap under the summerhouse! Aah... so sweet! So I put a few nuts down near where he comes out, that way he won't have to be in the open for so long... Yeah, I know, you silly, soft, old ##**!!... ain't I that one!! ;-)