Recent Reading
I have a horrid feeling this is the last in the Mitchell and Markby series which is a shame as I have really enjoyed these books.
I am persevering with this series although its not one of my favourites!
Easter
I made a simnel cake for Easter. B made Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday and E made these chocolate cup cakes which were rather tasty :)
I always try and pick a little posy of flowers from the garden to put on the table for Easter.
In the Garden
The garlic David planted last Autumn is growing well. It will be harvested later in the year. We've made just a small start on sowing seeds. D has planted some tomato and wildflower seeds and B some foxgloves to take to the caravan.
Violets are starting to flower - the plants pop up everywhere in borders, pots and on the patio.
Primroses and snowdrops seem to have finished flowering but now we have Cowslip flowers. Last year they had really spread in the wildflower meadow area and we had dozens.
Some years ago we had the eucalpytus tree in the garden greatly reduced in height as it was getting rather out of control!! Some of the stumps removed we placed round the garden and they soon attracted fungi including Turkey Tail. Now we have a new species to add to the garden list as this huge fungus has appeared on the main tree. Its about the size of a small washbasin with a smaller one appearing above it. There are two similar species Artist's Bracket and Southern Bracket (Ganoderma australe) and I think it is the latter - thanks to Dean on Twitter for confirmation.
Nesting Activity
The female Blue Tit has nested in the nest box which has a camera and the first egg was laid on 4th April which seems early to me so I have checked my nature diaries and listed, where I can, the dates Blue Tit eggs have laid the first egg in previous years since we had a camera in the nest box and going back to 2010.
2011: 25th April
2012: 25th April
2013: 27th April
2014: 14th April
2015: 16th May this was a very late attempt and the young failed to reach fledging.
2016: 25th April
2017: No webcam this year as it had stopped working. So not sure when first egg laid. The young fledged week commencing 3rd June. Food seen being taken into nest box 18th May. Suspect eggs laid end of April?
2018: No nesting attempts this year although birds did investigate nest box around the 5th May.
2019: 23rd April
2020: 28th April
2021: 19th April
2022: 13th April
2023: 7th April
2024: 4th April
Unfortunately I do not have dates for all years due to having no working camera in the nest box one year and another year Blue Tits did not nest. In 2015 the birds nested very late although it had been a cool Spring. Sometimes also it is difficult to be sure of the exact date as the female does not incubate until most of the eggs are laid. She tends to cover the eggs with feathers in the daytime after she has left the nest so the first egg can be missed for a few days. Overall, however, it does appear that the date the first egg has been laid has got earlier since I started recording dates.
I know there has been research into how climate change may be affecting the seasons and how this may affect species in Spring. Nesting of some bird species, the flowering of certain plants and emergence of leaves are occurring earlier.
Research has suggested that birds such as Blue and Great Tits are overall now nesting around two weeks earlier earlier than they did two decades ago as a result of climate change causing earlier and warmer Springs and seasonal changes. The concern here of course is that the caterpillars the birds feed their young on will not follow suit and also appear earlier. I know we have had some years which have been distressing as the chicks have died one after the other which appears to have been due to the lack of food being brought in. Phenology is a fascinating subject and I am sure there is a great deal more research being put into it. The Woodland Trust's Nature's Calendar asks people to submit certain first dates of seasonal events in the autumn and winter to use to investigate the way climate and weather affect wildlife.
Coleshill
We popped to Coleshill last week mainly to visit the monthly Farmers' market.
There are some nice independent shops in Coleshill.
D popped into Books Revisited for a short while as I wandered around taking photos.
The farmers' market is held at The Croft which is right by the church.
There were quite a few stalls there selling bread, fish, meat, honey, etc etc - not too many photos as there were too many people milling around!
Plants in Walls/Pavement Plants -
Ivy Leaved Toadflax and Herb Robert.
Its Dandelion Season. Each year it reminds me of my father's Dandelion Wine - it was delicious!
All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 camera (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would appreciate an email first - thanks).
