Spring is well under way, and the sunny weather only serves to enhance its beauty. All our trees are leafing well, and the cherries are in blossom, as is our Japanese quince. The winter's siskins are still around in numbers, and squabbling goldfinches monopolise the front garden feeders much of the time. There are now two pairs of bullfinches in residence, and the rather grating cry (I won't call it a song) of greenfinches is loud in our woods, though the dominant sound most of the time is the chiffchaff.
I have seen swallows, but not here as yet, and of course it will be a while till the swifts appear. A group of town pigeons has found our garden, and they turn up most days. They have a habit of sitting on the feeding station and looking down disconsolately at the feeders themselves, which they can't access. But down below, they are frenetically active, picking up the dropped and discarded seed. Wood pigeons waddle in too, and there are two or three pairs of collared doves about.
Blue tits and great tits are now more or less absent from the feeders, apart from occasional visits; instead, they are prospecting actively among the new leaves for insect life. Finches have the feeders to themselves, unless there are squirrels about, or the nuthatch is performing his 'quick in and out' operation. Blackbirds are singing in the high trees, and song thrushes have reappeared after a bit of a winter break. We seem to have two pairs of robins, with occasional spats, and from time to time a wren busies through the place.
So there's always plenty to see, and to hear. Buzzards and, occasionally, ravens soar above the wood, and the sparrow hawk has our feeding station on his radar now. We saw jays from time to time through the winter, but I haven't seen or heard one for a little while now.
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