Patch plants and garden birds

Much of our garden wildlife is out and about at the moment, especially the birds. Particularly the finches seem to be stocking up on seeds. Yesterday at about 6:00 in the afternoon, I filled up one of our bird feeders, only to find that it was empty at about 10:00 the following morning- that has to be a record. Even though it hasn’t really been very cold over the last week, the birds are glued to the perches of the bird feeders.

In this posting, whilst I am on the subject of birds, I am also happy so announce that we have seen our first fledgling of the year. A very young Robin has been seen in the shrubs around our garden- I hope both parents are still feeding him/her because it does look quite vulnerable. Elsewhere in the garden, I spotted our nestbox Blue Tit male feed sunflower hearts to Mrs Blue Tit, who I reckon is probably incubating a clutch of eggs in the nestbox at the moment.

Below is a photo montage showing some of the main visitors. They all seemed happy to feed whilst I was outside. On the left is a Dunnock , whilst on the top right is a male Chaffinch and a female Chaffinch is in the bottom right photo. The Dunnock looks very thin in that photo, don’t you think? Maybe it is currently feeding hungry chicks in a separate garden. The Chaffinches are the most common visitor at the moment, and are the main reason for the bird feeders emptying so fast.

Now, to some garden plants. It has been a while since I have mentioned my flower/wildlife patch. Plants are popping up everywhere, including some unwanted ones too. The photo below, however shows some flowers which were planted a while back. I can’t believe it, but I have completely forgotten what they are. They certainly need thinning out a bit, which could probably be a job for another time. In the photo, you may also spot some little flowers. amongst the bigger plants. Again, I’ve no idea what those are.

Elsewhere, weeds are coming up all over the place. I know they need to be removed, but a closer look at the flowers reveals loads of colour.
Here is a closer view of the flowers that were in the top photo. As a wildlife gardener, I am unsure on many plants, even ones that I have planted myself. It could even be a weed, but I just don’t know. If you know, could you tell me please. I haven’t seen too many bees in the past week, mostly due to the rain, but hopefully, some of these flowers will help attract them into our garden.

In my next post, I have some more blossom to talk about. But not the apricot tree blossom that has been and gone. No, this blossom is from a different tree. Last year, I don’t remember seeing much blossom on this tree, but it is appearing in large clumps at the moment. I also have a Blue Tit video to show you which was captured about 2 weeks ago now. But for now, enjoy the sun!