The Joys of Spring!

I have been so preoccupied with my Doves recently that I have forgotten to mention how lovely it is in the garden now Spring has sprung!  When I was planning to write my last entry I had intended to talk about how I heard my first Cuckoo of the year while standing in the garden with Pinky on my shoulder.  I also forgot to mention what a gorgeous day it was, the sun was shining and the garden seemed full of bees and butterflies.  Today it is overcast out there but the sun is up there, just blocked out by some annoying clouds.  It will return soon.  Oh I just looked out and it is raining!  The first rain in weeks so I will try and look on the bright side and hope it fills my water butts, which are numerous, so that I can water my herbs and seedlings with rainwater and thus avoid the daylight robbery which calls itself my water meter!

When the sun is out, which has been a lot recently the garden really is full of bees and butterflies.  I have been trying to educate the Grandkids that bees are harmless unless you annoy them and that our planet cannot survive without them.  I have explained about pollination in great detail but they still either run away screaming when they see on (which is often as we have tons of them) or try and kill them with a stick when they think I am not looking.  We are also blessed with lots of butterflies.  I have so far seen Orange Tip, Comma, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Brimstone and Peacock.  I am sure the copious amounts of Stinging Nettles and Brambles help attract them.  Hairy Hubby is always keen to strimmer them but I have saved them so far.  

Speckled Wood

Another creature we have in the hundreds is St Marks fly.  They are the most strange looking things which fly with their legs dangling and to me look like black fairies buzzing around the garden.  They don't harm anyone but in the qualities we have them they can be annoying.

A pretty bad pic of a Long Tailed Tit but it gives a good indication of the volume of St Marks fly!

There have also been lots of plants coming up, Lesser Celandine, Red Campion and Vetch although I have yet to research which type.  My wonderful Laurel tree has been blooming.  I love my Laurel tree, it is always green and lush and the birds love to sit in it before they go onto the feeders.  This does have the drawback of many of the leaves being covered in guano but for me it's a small price to pay.  I think Hairy Hubby would like to take a bottle of Dettol and a steam cleaner to it but luckily we can't afford the water!  My Bluebells finally made an appearance, they poked their little heads up just in time for lawnmower man to run them down.  Honestly that man, you have to go round the garden pointing stuff out to him every time he gets behind the wheel, he is a menace!

The leaves have really grown on the trees this past week and the wood looks dark and lush again.  The drawback is that with leaves on the trees it is much harder to see what is lurking amidst their branches.  I have noticed that the birds are eating much less seed now Spring is here, it is saving me a fortune.  I have also been putting out dog hair for them to use as nesting materials.  I find it very satisfying to sit and watch them come down and grab mouthfuls of hair to make their babies comfy.  It's not often you see a Bearded Great Tit!  I do also empty our own hairbrushes onto the grass but I notice the birds don't like The Hairy One's old hair much.  I can't think why.....

Pinky's big day!

So today was Pinky's big day.  To be honest I was much more scared than she was.  I was actually close to tears, the old softie that I am.  I went down to her cage first thing and opened the door.  She just sat there and wouldn't budge, she always comes flying out as soon as I open the door.  After a few minutes I told her 'Ok I am going in to have breakfast then', closed the door and started to walk back to the house.  With that she went ballistic to come out so I opened the door and she had one massive fly about before coming to rest on the top of her cage.

It took ages for her to venture further, she mostly stayed on my shoulder but eventually I convinced her to sit on the bird table alone for a while.  Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey then proceeded to fly about like loonies to get her attention.  I thought they were being friendly and hoped that before long contact would be made and Pinky would spend the day in their company being guided by experienced doves.  How wrong I was.  When they eventually got on the bird table with her they fed with her for a minute or two before Mr Lovey-Dovey pecked at her and scared her off.

L-R  Pinky, Mr Lovey-Dovey, Mrs Lovey-Dovey

It was a very long day in the end, most of it spend outside with Pinky either on my shoulder or sitting somewhere watching the other birds hopefully.  She never went over to them but any time I put her on the Dovecote the male came down and shoo-ed her off.  I always thought Doves were sociable creatures rather than territorial.  It's all quite worrying.

Another thing which worried me was how Pinky tried to follow me indoors every time I went in.  She would flutter against the closed door and eventually sit on the roof and wait for me.  One time she even took to sitting on the opened part of the bathroom window.  At bedtime I felt I should be bringing her indoors to the study but thought it better to persevere.  I had to shut her in her cage again because otherwise she would be left out in the open, a sitting target for Sparrowhawks.  As she hadn't voluntarily tried to get into the Dovecote herself all day and was chased off every time I put her there I knew she wouldn't be roosting safely inside it.

Let's hope tomorrow is another day....

Tales of Five Doves

There is lots of Dovey news, so anyone who is a fan of my little white feathered family grab a coffee, sit back and enjoy a catch up.  To anyone not interested in my birds, oh well, never mind!

First off Daisy and May went back to The Haven for a few days on Thursday.  I was having trouble syringe feeding them and it didn't seem fair to keep them here and have to be virtually force feeding them four times a day.  They were just not as easy to feed as Pinky and I am a novice at feeding babies.  It broke my heart to take them back even though I knew they would be coming home again soon but I knew it was for the best.  They had fun here and Pinky really took to them, she was even grooming them, it was very sweet.

Pinky preening Daisy and May and showing how to peck seed

The good news is that very soon after The Girls went back to The Haven they started eating big people seed and are now weaned!  How fantastic is that!  This should mean I can bring them home again on Tuesday when I go there for my regular day's volunteering.  So that will be double trouble flying round my study and pooping everywhere!  Does this look like a face who cares about the poop?  Nah not really!

Pinky has been enjoying spending day times outside in her cage by the Dovecote with view to letting her live out there with Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey sometime soon.  She is getting bored in the house and doesn't like being in her cage in the study, you can see she just wants to get out of it!  I know the day will come soon when I have to let her fly free in the garden but it fills me with dread.  I am very attached to my little girl and know I will worry myself stupid about her being out in the big wide garden all alone.  I'm thinking about letting her spend tonight out there in her cage to get used to it even more but then I keep thinking that she has been in her cage all day so she will want to come indoors for a wing stretch.  Oh this is so hard!

Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey had a tiff last night.  They were seen sleeping in separate nest holes, obviously all was not well in Dovecote Towers.  We did wonder if Mr Lovey-Dovey had been accused of looking at the gorgeous young Pinky too much and his wife had given him an earful!  They seem to be friends again today so he obviously made it up to her by bringing her nesting sticks or something.  They have been spending a lot of time in the garden up in the Sycamore behind the Dovecote, I don't know what has caused this change in routine but do hope it means impending egg laying!

Intruders, babies and baths!

We had an intruder last night.  We were watching TV, or should I say trying to because there was seriously nothing worth bothering with, when the side floodlight came on.  Naturally we jumped up and looked out of the window to see who was trespassing in the garden.  The Hairy One got to there first, "I don't believe it" he said, or at least that is the polite version.  Peering under his arm (he is too tall to look over his shoulder) I saw a lovely chubby Hedgehog running full speed accross the lawn trying to get away from the light.  I was thrilled because I love Hedgehogs and that is the first time I have seen one in the garden.  Hairy Hubby however has some strange deep rooted mistrust of the poor little snufflers and was not amused at all.  "Now I will have to watch everywhere I walk"  he was muttering, along with several oaths.  Apparently Hedgehogs stalk him, yes honestly they do, they follow him about in a threatening manner.  He swears blind that in our last house one came under a car with him in the garage and snuffled down his ear (I would have liked that) so he swept it out with the broom and closed the door.  Then a little while later the same Hedgie came merrily ambling in the other door of the garage having walked all round the back of the house, down the alleyway, up the road, in the front garden and up the garden path...just to stalk him!  He also claims that they might go for the throat but I think this is a rare case of over exaggeration on his part!!!

I brought Daisy and May home today.  They are dear little snowballs, all warm and squeaky.  Pinky does not seem too phased by them, she came over for a closer look and they started screaming at her for food.  She gave them her best "I'm not your Mummy" look and left them to it.  Action Dog is really not impressed, even more feathered intruders to take her Mummy's attention!

I am not finding Daisy and May as easy to feed as Pinky and Perky were, they don't open their beaks for me and I am having to open them for them and squirt it in.  Hopefully we will setting into a routine after a few days and it will get easier.

Talking of Pinky, she had her first bath today.  I took loads of pics but will just post one here to brighten the page up.  Pics of Daisy and May tomorrow hopefully!

Pinky bathtime!

Oh Fudge (Duck)

I found myself back at Strumpshaw RSPB again today.  My birdy friends were coming to visit with promise of a pub lunch in lieu of my birthday on Saturday, I never turn down a pub lunch so I was really looking forward to it.  They arrived earlier than planned so we decided to go for the Fudge (Ferruginous) Duck at Strumpshaw before we went to the pub.  Yes, the same duck which was conspicuous by its absence on Friday.  

We arrived at the reserve in glorious sun to be told it had been seen earlier but was headed into the reeds.  Oh joy!  To be honest we have all seen Fudge duck a few times before so none of us were actually desperate for the tick but we had hoped to see it.  We had a meander round to the Fen Hide, sauntered in, lazily opened the viewing flaps and I started to faff with my camera changing lenses etc.  All very low key.  Then I got a nudge in the ribs to say the bird was on full view.  How jammy was that!  I hadn't actually expected to see it at all, let alone have it come out and perform for us.  So there were four happy birders all with another year tick in the book.

Not the best pic but you can tell he is Fudgy!  Hint: the duck on the left!

Our pub lunch was very nice, when we arrived in the car park there was an unexpected welcome in the form of a lovely Swallow sitting on the wires above our heads singing his little heart out.  You can't beat a swallow, they are total value for money, guaranteed to raise a smile!

What a little stunner!

The past few days it has been warm and I have been putting Pinky outside in her cage to get used to the big outside world.  I have put it by the Dovecote in hopes she will watch the big kids and learn the etiquette of being a grown up Dove.  She appears quite interested in the others but until today they took no notice of her, almost as if she was a second class citizen because she was caged.  I wanted to tell them she was a bone fide local dove who was born in that very Dovecote but as I have not found an e-course in dove-speak that wasn't possible.  Today however, the female of the pair flew up to Pinky's cage a few times and had a very brief look in.  She didn't land but it was obviously Pinky she was interested in.  The male sat on the landing platform trying to look very butch.

I think the transition from house to Dovecote is going to be as tricky for me as it is for her.  She is raring to go, she does not want to be in her cage at all now, she is out of it the whole time when I am home.  I don't put her in when I am out in case Action Dog climbs a ladder to open the door or Pinky manages to get stuck behind something.  Yes I know one is more probable than the other!  I know that sooner or later I am going to have to let her fly free in the garden but then what?  I mean what if she doesn't sit in the Dovecote but won't come back indoors.  What do I do, just leave her in a tree all night?  What if when it gets dark she is trying to get in, tapping at the window and I don't know?  What if she goes for a fly with the others and they fly off and leave her somewhere?  Oh what if, what if??

Strumpshaw Fen RSPB

I got up a bit late today, went into the kitchen to get some breakfast, checked my phone and found a text from a friend saying she and her hubby were going to visit Strumpshaw Fen today and would be there in an hours time! Well I wasn't going to pass that one up, I have been hoping to catch up with this particular friend for ages and had never met her hubby, plus I have been meaning to go to Strumpshaw for ages.  

I had a bit of a dash about, gulping down some porridge, forgetting to drink my tea and making a jam roll (healthy eating or what?) for lunch because that's all there was in the house and managed to get there in reasonable time!  We had a great walk round, there was nothing spectacular about, no Ferruginous Duck or Otters but some lovely migrants and a whole bunch of Black Headed Gulls showing off in front of the hide.  It was also the first time I have ever gone all the way round so was also a landmark occasion!

This guy thinks he looks dead hard, shame he looks like a clown really!

Other news.  Pinky is doing well, she has taken over my study and now spends most of her day flying about in there.  I put her away when I go out just in case she gets into trouble and no one can help her but apart from that she seems to enjoy using my dresser as a tree and perching on my monitor.  Oh yes and leaving copious amounts of poop everywhere.  I noticed that she had done one on the chair and that Hairy Hubby had sat on it but I decided that it would be best to keep quiet about that one for diplomatic reasons.  Heaven knows what it will be like when I have the new babies, Daisy and May, flying about.  Double trouble!  Pinky also likes sitting on my shoulder and preening my hair which is really nice except yesterday she managed to stick her beak right down my ear!  Not pleasant at all I can tell you.  Think sticking the cotton bud in too far!  I could still feel it about two hours later.  So now when she preens me or plays with my earrings I put my finger in my ear just in case!

Mr and Mrs Lovey-Dovey in the garden seem very happy.  They have a couple of Collared Doves who come and visit sometimes which is nice.  They have given them the guided tour of the des res bird table which is now basically theirs because not a lot else gets a look in.  They seemed to be nest building earlier in the week but I haven't seen them do that for a while.

Peggy the Pheasant with a sore foot seems to be improving.  I'm glad because she seems to be the favourite of the male bird who is often seen jumping on her back.  I feel quite sorry for her because she can barely support her own weight let alone his hulking great bulk and she is the smallest of the group of females.

I'm still waiting for The Hairy One to get his rear in gear and finish my Chicken House.  There is so little to do now it's really frustrating.  Just a handle to fit, some predator proofing and a bit of sanding.  It's like he has done the bulk of the work and moved onto new things.  New things being some stupid car he is doing up for someone.  I had hoped to get my new Chooks this weekend but that won't be happening now.  Maybe next weekend?

Horsey Mere

I have been meaning to do the circular walk around the Horsey area since I moved here.  To be honest the main thing putting me off is that I am too tight to pay the car park fee.  Personally I think it's a liberty to make you pay extortionate prices to park somewhere like that.  Anyway today I bit the bullet and decided to blow the budget and pay the darn fee!

I arrived and marched reluctantly to the machine to buy a ticket only to be greeted with a sign which told me the trail was closed due to flood defense works.  How typical was that?  It also said that the shop might be able to advise me alternative walks so I trundled over there and spoke to a very nice lady who told me that if the locals had opened the fence because they were sick of it being closed.  Yipee said me and off I went and climbed through the gap in the fence.  I love a bit of trespassing!  After a while I realised that I was losing the trail.  I think that some of the way markers had been moved during the works and the trails crushed under caterpillar tracks.  After doubling back and finding a way marker I thought I must be on the right trail but eventually came to a dead end where a cut went right accross the path and there was no bridge.

Evidence that I can follow a path

I don't know exactly what was going on with the trail but despite having to turn around and head back to the car after an hours walking I am glad I went because I had a lovely view of two Common Cranes who were actually in the same field as me (probably a field I was not meant to be in...)  They were just ambling along without a care in the world.  It was probably one of my nicest Crane sightings because it was unexpected, I was alone and they were on the deck and fairly close.

When I got back to Horsey Mere I went back into the shop to check where I had gone wrong.  The nice lady had been replaced by a very rude man who treated me like an idiot who couldn't follow a trail, virtually pushing me away from his kiosk window to serve someone an ice cream, which was obviously much more important than my enquiry.  However I can follow a trail, see the evidence above!!!  I feel an email to his employer The National Trust coming on!

Other purely gratuitous pictures from my walk today, which I really did enjoy before I met the rude man in the shop....

Synchronised  Greylag

I never knew this existed

Horsey Mill, it used to be a donation to go up it, now its £2.50 a go!