We’ve been (sort of; it’s laziness more than anything) participating in the No-Mow May thing, to allow for the clovers and daisies and other lawn wildflowers to grow for the bees and the butterflies. We’ve also found that we have bluebells at the edges of the lawn, and by the fence which backs onto the wooded bit beyond. And now the lavenders by the bee-hotels are flowering, and the bees are returning to the hotel. Or waking up and leaving.
The fir, too, is demonstrating its happiness with the beginnings of lots of pine cones, and the blueberry bushes are covered in green berries. Hopefully we’ll get to them before the birds do when they ripen.
More exciting, though, is that the last few days or so have seen some fledgling blue tits finding the bird-feeders. Big enough to feed themselves, small enough to still have their fluffy baby-feathers. So far, we think we’ve identified a family with five fledglings, dive-bombing from the branches above the feeders under the watchful eyes of their parents.
The magpies, on the other hand, continue to squabble amongst themselves and with the pigeons over access to the feeders. To be fair, though, the pigeons haven’t worked out how to use my window-feeder – they can’t find a purchase and then fall off. And they’re too fat, generally, to get their heads in if they perch on the edge. They still try, though. But they mostly have to make do with the crumbs the squirrels drop on the ground below the other feeders.
And thus ends the renewal of nature season that is Spring. What will Summer bring us?
Fairy Cake Living 