Snowdrops at the Gardens

"Fair Maids of February"



I paid a visit to Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens at lunchtime today to see the stunningly beautiful snowdrop display. There are several other spring flowers starting to bloom too - winter aconite, crocuses, wallflowers,cyclamen, hellebores and primroses.




THE SNOWDROP..... HOPE

" A thousand bright flowers shall gladden the Earth,
When Summer comes forth in her beauty and mirth;
Yet none more delightful imaginings bring,
Than those that are first in our path-way to Spring.

Undaunted thou comest, 'mid snow and'mid sleet,
From Earth's sheltering bosom, thy Winter retreat;
Thou comest, the herald of pleasures to be,
Of the scent of the rose-bud, the hum of the bee.

Thou art not of those who delight in the rays,
The sunny resplendence of Summer's glad days;
Nor of those who look up to the bright skies of June,
Yet fold up their beauty beneath the mild moon.

Of such art not thou - no, an emblem more dear,
Of the friend that is kindest when sorrow is near;
The storm doth not cross thee - the rain doth not blight -
And thou pointest, like Hope, to a season more bright."

I found this lovely poem in "The Lover's Language of Flowers" featured in my last post but unfortunately it does not give the name of the poet.

Most of the snowdrops are found in the Lower Wilderness and in the Extra Grounds near the Stumpery.








Winter aconites are flowering too





The little white flower in the above photo is a close relative of the snowdrop - a snowflake (what a great name for a flower!). Many thanks to Graham for identifying this species!







There are far more blooms on the pansies and daisies in the trough in the Melon Grounds compared to my January visit.







North Orchard - buds are starting to appear on the daffodils





Part of the Lower Wilderness



Hazel catkins in the Nut Ground



When I visited last Spring this little area used as a "Digging for Victory" plot was full of butterflies - today it had a lot of bird species - great spotted woodpecker, robin, blackbird, blue great and long-tailed tits. There were quite a few other birds around today - another robin that seemed to be following me about, two jays, wrens, carrion crows, woodpigeons and magpies.




Part of the Stumpery



One of the lovely things about winter is that the lack of leaves on the trees gives you chance to note the structures of the trees and examine the varied tree barks.







I think this primrose bank is a new feature - its situated where the South Kitchen Garden meets the Holly Walk near the Summer House.





Part of the Upper Wilderness looking towards the Gazebo and New Trellis



Parterres and Upper Wilderness



Upper Wilderness with the Gazebo and New Trellis at the far end



I found this plant with beautiful foliage near the entrance. I am not sure what species it is but I'll keep an eye out for any flowers that appear.




For more information on these delightful gardens, including visiting hours, please visit the Garden's website at www.cbhgt.org.uk.

And to see some great snowdrop pictures and a lovely tale about "Luke the Snowflake" please visit the Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens Blog at http://castlebromwichhallgardenstrust.blogspot/com or follow the link at the right hand side of the page under "My Blog" list. There is also a great post on the blog featuring Plant of the Month which has lots of fascinating information and pictures of snowdrops.

The Lover's Language of Flowers

A week or so ago I came across a rather beautiful and charming old book published by W Nicolson and Sons in 1867 given to me years ago by a Great-Aunt.

Its called
"The Lover's Language of Flowers
Expressive of the Heart
to which is added
The Floral Oracle"

By a Lover of Flowers


All very apt with Valentine's Day looming on the horizon!







"O'er the Rose
A veil of moss the angel throws.
And robed in nature's simplest weed,
Could there be a flower that Rose exceed?"





This lovely quaint book contains many flower poems and a description of the meanings of various flowers when given as tokens of love or mentioned in letters together with a descripton of what flowers have meant to humankind throughout history. Right at the end of the book is "The Floral Oracle - by which to ascertain your future relationships, position in life and the character of your connexions - Designed for the recreation of evening parties! A sort of fortune telling by flower power in the nineteenth century!

There are several colour illustrations scattered throughout the book.



"Wild Rose - symbol of pleasure and pain"



"Iris - a pleasant message will bring
The most pleasant would be The Wedding Ring"



"Forget-Me-Not" - True love for thee my heart has got
Be True to me, Forget-Me-Not"



"Calceolaria - Purse-proud flower, Say, will my lover bring a dower"



"Honeysuckle - symbol of Devoted Affection. To you - to me, how sweet the reflection".

So what type of flowers would a gentleman have sent to the object of his desire in the mid nineteenth century to convey his feelings? Well he may well have included a deep red carnation signifying "my heart is smitten and aches for thee", a Christmas rose to ask her to relieve his anxiety, a four leafed clover ("Be mine"), a pansy ("you occupy my thoughts"), honeysuckle "to show Devoted Affection", a sprig of myrtle for love and a red tulip as a "declaration of love".

If the object of his desire returned his affections, she may well have worn when they next met or sent him a pink geranium to indicate "I prefer you",or peach blossom to show "Iam your Captive"; purple violet would say "you are constantly in my mind" and hawthorn blossom would be a "sign of hope".

If she did not return his ardour she may well have worn a yellow carnation signifying disdain or candytuft for indifference or, as a real dampener, ice plant signifying that "your looks freeze me"!! and wild liquorice woud suggest "I declare against you"!

"By flowers the lover tells his state,
They do his hopes, or fears express;
The maid, when words or looks do fail,
Can thus a kind return confess".

A Quick Trip Out

I was racking my brains this morning trying to think of somewhere I could go with lots of berries to try and take some Redwing/Fieldfare photos. In the end I remembered Hams Hall Industrial Park - scene of many a unsuccessful waxwing "hunt" last winter. When I got there most of the shrubs and trees had been stripped of berries - there were several Fieldfares still around but too far away for a photo.

I popped to have a look at the rookery at the nearby village of Lea Marston - I couldn't see much activity around the nests although there seemed to be more nests than in recent years.

A couple of photos of part of the rookery (I've included these as they were the only photos I took!! and also because there is something so evocative of a cold, dull and gloomy February day especially the way the only colours showing are black, grey and white!).





I had a quick look at the village church-yard located along a lane about half a mile from the village itself. Plenty of Blue and Great tits, Robins and Blackbirds but the highlight was a fox trotting across the church-yard. Unfortunately it had disappeared into the adjacent wood by the time I had got the camera out of the bag.

Back at home there are plenty of birds feeding. The Blackcap is still around feeding on apples and fat. 6 Lesser Redpolls were feeding on silver birch seeds and one visited the pond. I've refilled the nyger seed feeder, which hasn't been used for ages as the goldfinches just feast on the sunflower hearts, and placed it in one of the silver birches in the hope the Redpolls might find it. One of the Stock Doves was feeding today on the lawn and I saw a Wren foraging along a stone wall - glad to see it has survived the cold spell so far. Two Fieldfares passed through yesterday although they ignored the apples on the lawn!

Garden Blackcap!

Brian mentioned early this morning that he thought he had spotted a male blackcap in the whitebeam. Just after I'd put out more food for the birds mid-morning lo and behold a male blackcap appeared on the lawn and started to peck at an apple.

Here's a few record shots



I think I'd just been spotted as he looks exceedingly indignant in this picture!



We had a couple of garden sightings of this species in 2007/2008 but the last time a blackcap spent most of the winter in the locality (11 weeks) was in the winter of 2005/06. So I hope this one sticks around for a few weeks.

I also saw my first buzzard of the year this morning - perched in a tree about a mile from home. In recent years we have occasionally seen 2 or 3 soaring high over the garden.

A Few "Rubbishographs" of Garden Birds

I spent an hour yesterday morning trying, rather unsuccessfully, to take some photos of birds in the garden. The light was poor and high ISO meant grainy images, the birds were really too far away for a 70-330mm telephoto lens and none of the pictures were very sharp. Matters could have been even worse as I managed to trip over the tripod at one stage only just saving the camera and lens from "death on a concrete floor" at the last minute!!

Apart from cropping on some of the bird and moth and insect photos, I don't really bother editing my images and I fear the mysteries of "Photoshop" will remain mysteries but last night I did have a slight play around with the Olympus software that came with the camera that I use for the cropping.

Here's a totally unedited photo of a coal tit



The same photo cropped



The same photo with the brightness and contrast adjusted - well its still a poor picture but I think the editing has slightly improved it.



The following photos have all been cropped and had the brightness and contrast adjusted - they are still not very sharp but look slightly better than the original unedited photos.

Blue Tit



Robin hiding amongst the shrubs - I must have another go at taming a robin - its remarkably easy, with lots of patience, to get them feeding from the hand if you tempt them with mealworms which they find totally irresistible.



Another of the coal tit



Feral pigeons followed by a wood pigeon that spent hours guzzling seed on the bird table





I know I've made this comment before but there is no doubt that collared dove visits to the garden have dropped considerably athe same time as feral and wood pigeon presence has increased dramatically over the last few years. I do wonder if there is a connection.

Exploring New Reserves

Due to a combination of lack of time still and the cost of petrol, I've been considering visiting more local reserves especially those that I regularly drive past on my journeys.

Yesterday I had promised to pick up David from Solihull Town Centre at 1.00 p.m. so I left home 90 minutes early and stopped off at Malvern and Brueton Parks. The area of parkland near the town centre is more formal but further away the park is managed more for wildlife. I must admit although I drive past all the time this is the first time I have ever actually visited.

I was dressed in that many layers that I had problems driving the car let alone walk and I fear I may have resembled the Michelin Man as I waddled rather than walked round! Sorry no photos, for various reasons, I just took a pair of binoculars and left the camera and lenses at home.

Leaving the car park there was a lake which was completely frozen over and it was very amusing watching moorhen, mallard, canada geese, coot and black-headed-gulls "skating" around. I really wished I had brought the camera.

I had only planned to visit the Parkridge Centre - a small Warwickshire Wildlife Trust reserve, but I got side-tracked by Brueton Park LNR which is owned and managed by Solihull Council. The conservation area covers around 75 acres and the River Blythe, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, passes through. The rest of the habitat comprises a lake, small pools, woodland, old hedgerows, grassland, marsh and a small reedbed. As I walked along a boardwalk on the marshy area I managed on several occasions to get really close to a grey heron (again I wished I had the camera) as it stared at small frozen pools fruitlessly looking for food.

There were plenty of magpies, wood pigeons and carrion crows around and a walk through the woodland produced redwings galore, jays, foraging grey suirrels, flocks of long-tailed and great tits, blackbirds, wren and the highlight of the whole walk a nuthatch foraging along tree trunks and logs.

I just had time left for a very quick visit and walk around the WWLT Parkridge Reserve




Its only small but has a nice mix of habitats - a woodland trail, pool , arboretum and a wildlife garden. I shall definitely return as there was also a geology trail which looks fascinating. Lots of commoner species of birds around again - robin, magpie, jay, blackbird, blue and great tits.

Nuthatch and moorhen were new species for the 2012 list.

Earlier in the morning I had stopped off at Millennium Wood - dozens of redwings were searching through leaf litter under trees right next to the car park. This time I had got the camera but with the wrong lens on! I don't think I have ever seen so many redwings around locally as there are this year.

The reason for taking the camera was a few more pics of the "Fairy Door" as there are several new additions. Sorry to any regular visitors who may by now getting totally bored with any mention of this door!

A rather angry, sinister looking gingerbread man!



and what looks like a crystal (or is it a light??) and a solar-powered squirrel light (I think!)



To be honest I think its all a bit over the top now! I much preferred it when there was just a door handle and letterbox. I wonder if its the same person adding the adornments or if someone else is now involved. The recent additions don't seem in keeping with the original decorations.


The cold weather (-7.9 degrees centigrade recorded overnight) is bringing more birds into the garden, the pair of stock dove returned to feed today and long-tailed tits (which only rarely visit the feeders) were eating fat balls this morning. Another irregular garden visitor - a mistle thrush was bathing in the part of the pond which remains unfrozen. As I type the forecasted snow has just arrived!

Signs of Spring in the Garden

Winter-flowering Viola




I went a walk around the garden this morning and, despite the freezing cold weather and occasional snow flurry, there were still plenty of signs that Spring is just around the corner!

Mahonia is starting to flower - a good nectar source for any newly emerged bumble bees (when it gets warmer!)



The hazels have a few lamb's tail catkins



and the female pink "sea-anemone" type flowers are appearing.



As I heavily cropped the above photo I suddenly remembered the macro lens I had for Christmas! Never mind when it gets warmer I'll try and take some garden photos with it.

Bluebell leaves are pushing through in the wooded area at the top of the garden



and I found some tiny toadstools in the "wildflower meadow".



There are lots of buds on the camelias



Native primroses (Primula vulgaris) had "wilted" in the frost.



The colder weather has brought a few more bird species into the garden - a male sparrowhawk perched in the silver birch behind the pond for 40 minutes late afternoon a few days ago and today a pair of stock doves were feeding. The wren is still roosting in the hanging basket - constant entry has worn a hole in the moss and he or she seems to be spending the cold nights between moss and the plastic liner. A pair of blue tits are still investigating one of the nest boxes.