This and That

 

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.  

2010: 28th April
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).

A Walk around a Local Nature Reserve

 

Recently D and I went a walk around a local nature reserve at Castle Bromwich Historic Parkland.  Historically the parkland was part of the Earl of Bradford's estate and is part of the Castle Bromwich Conservation Area.

The last resident of the Bradford family at Castle Bromwich Hall was Lady Ida Bradford (1848-1936) who was the widow of George Bridgeman, 4th Earl of Bradford.

The parkland is known locally as "Lady Bradford's".  Much restoration work has been carried out there recently under the "Love Your River Cole" project and access to the site and paths has been improved. Its a lovely area for a walk as you will see and you could be anywhere if it wasn't for the sound of traffic on the M6 not far away and planes taking off or landing at Birmingham airport!

Cow Parsley, Campion and Horse Chestnuts are flowering.

Pignut this is a good site for Chimney Sweeper moths in June and July and their caterpillars feed on Pignut. I really must try and go back then to look for them as I said to David we really had ought to try and visit this reserve at least once a month to see the changes through the seasons.

An area of acid grassland.

Then into the wetland and woodland area.

Hawthorn is still flowering well.

We then wandered over the grassland area.

Why do people dump rubbish?This makes me so angry.  They must have parked in a bus layby on a nearby A road then clambered over a fence and walked to dump this. There is a council tip about half a mile away!!!

Back into the woodland

Then the return route back through the acid grassland.

The highlight of the visit was a pair of Small Copper butterflies.

Back at home all eight of the Blue Tit chicks fledged on the 25th and 26th May. Rubbish photo of the three chicks which were last to leave the nest box.

First damselflies of the year in the garden. There were two pairs of Large Red Damselflies mating.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one I would be grateful for an email first - thanks.