There is plenty of action in the garden as we are coming up to the end of February. Many more birds are visible with definite signs of pairing up. There are plenty of Blackbirds around the house and in the street, constantly squabbling plus they are the first to start singing on the rooftops before dawn.

The female Blackbird below was trying to attract a male by rushing in and out of the undergrowth with potential nesting material, it was quite funny to watch her and the male near her didn’t seem too impressed.

We have a number of Bluetits coming into the garden now and they get onto high spot and sing away, they have been checking out the nest boxes as well.

Once the rain stopped I put my night camera out, I suspected that the Hedgehog was maybe about and sure enough the camera picked one up although he sniffed the food turned his nose up and soon disappeared. He didn’t look to skinny so probably not hungry enough!

 

We have various birds coming in now, not so many Starlings but the Jackdaws are now about and are very greedy. We see a pair Collared Doves, Wrens, occasionally Long Tailed and Great Tits coming in a pair of Pied Wagtails who maybe the ones that were in the garden last year, they had two broods of two chicks in each brood.

A real exciting episode, I had just come in from a pretty unsuccessful walk looking for birds at around 4.15pm and I was just putting my binoculars away when I spotted something whitish flash past the conservatory window. I rushed out with my camera and just saw a Barn Owl fly along our boundary fence and then it turned and came back again, I managed to get a picture just as it was disappearing towards the Oak trees in the lane. I’ve seen a Barn Owl regularly around the village and down by Bere Marsh but this is the first time I’ve seen him in our back garden!

The four Roe deer were also in the field at the same time, they had been there for most of the day just tucked under the hedge.