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As I work, I like to listen to the birds singing. Listening to the songs of birds can give you an idea of what’s going on nearby without having to look – I call it ‘looking with my ears’. The song might change from tuneful territorial singing to an alarm call, which may mean that a cat has come into...
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It feels warm for February. The mildness has kick-started my annual plant frenzy and the urge to be outside and doing is irresistible. Just as well, because the garden plants, including the weeds, have the same idea and are suddenly bursting into growth. Cleavers ( Galium aparine ) are growing fast just...
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The robins ( Erithacus rubecula ) have starting singing again and I heard the first sweet song a few nights ago, though I could not pinpoint the singer, as it was hidden in a cherry tree. Robins sing all year round but, like other birds, they go quiet during the summer moult because they can’t fly as...
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The vegetable garden is filled with the calls of young birds. Around the edges of the garden, the shrubs and hedgerow plants became first nesting sites and then nurseries for blackbirds, robins, tits, finches and a single pheasant, currently tucked up amongst some nettles, next to the boundary wall....
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After weeks of freezing temperatures, the weather is finally starting to thaw and the small birds, who had been absent from the courtyard at home for a worrying length of time, are returning, as shown by the increased number of little foot prints and feather marks in the snow. Chaffinches, bluetits,...
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Since posting the last blog, a few people have told me robin stories, short anecdotes about the robins they see in their gardens and the local area. They nearly all concern the boldness of these small birds. A robin inspecting the greenhouse Robins have such tiny bodies and their legs are so thin they...
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It never takes long for a robin to appear when you’re digging. Yesterday, as usual, the robin who holds the territory at our garden was aware of our presence as soon as we arrived and came to see what we were doing. When we walk through the garden gate, the robin will be right there, as if on cue, watching...
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As you make your way to the new compost heaps at the garden, you pass a big pile of logs next to a hedge. There are several log piles nearby, but this particular pile is the one I go to, because it’s so convenient, whilst the next one along is surrounded by tall nettles. The pile attracts, amongst other...
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