Monday 22nd February 2016

A very mild day with again temp' reaching a high of 14c this afternoon. A little overcast as not so much sun today.
This morning called on Henry Street for the wild flower plants which I duly planted once back home.
Ideal conditions for planting at the moment.
Started the annual job of emptying the 2014 compost bin for spreading on the garden. Some pretty good stuff once again produced. No hibernating frogs or snakes this year but plenty of insects.
Noticed water was leaking around the pond liner where it was cut some 15 years ago to allow a hosta to grow without restriction.  Thought best to plug the area with cement powder which could self harden and so plug this area. The hosta is well established so no harm would be done.
Could not have imagined what I experienced as I started on this job, half a dozen frogs jumped out of this tear in the liner. Clearly been hibernating in this area which is why the liner was damaged but hey this is good news. I have frogs in the pond. I of course did not proceed with the plugging, what else could be living there?
Spent some time in the hide again late this afternoon and delighted to see the goldcrest again. The big surprise was seeing the male great spotted on the feeder in this area. Have never before seen woody in this area of the garden. Have I now two pairs in the garden?
Female sparrowhawk very busy today, off and on was about all day with just one kill, a blue tit.

Sunday 21st February 2016

A much improved day. Very mild, sunny with slight breeze. Temp' reached a high of 14c this afternoon.
Spent day outside clearing all the twigs and small branches that had fallen from the recent high winds. All placed in the old compost bin, been placing twigs in this bin for years now so hopefully it is home to loads of bugs and insects.
With the help of neighbours a fair few bottles had accumulated so worked on the alpine bottle wall this afternoon. Require a few hundred more yet to finish the job.
Male great spotted busy today as was a couple of jays. Blackbirds clearly mating now, robins are still showing signs of love with two pairs dancing away on the lawn. Getting bird busy now.

Saturday 20th February 2016

A right miserable day. Dull, overcast, showers, breezy but still very mild.
This morning called on the community centre to meet the repair team that have organised a free service to residents who have anything that can be repaired. From computer repairs to knife sharpening, sewing machine repairs and all things electrical. Was well attended, good considering it was the first time at this venue.
In preparation for the impending decorating of the front room I made a start this morning after returning from the community centre in sorting out my Reading Town History books. All boxed up now. Thankfully all the other shelves are full of Lorna's books.
            Despite the awful weather I this afternoon cleared the wild flower border ready for fresh planting next week. Amazed how many eggs were buried just under the surface, foxy had buried more than he had eaten and what a distance to carry an egg. Not one was broken.

Spent some time in the hide from late afternoon, good to see the goldcrest on the feeder. A little dark for a decent photograph.
Also noticed a mouse in the woodstack via the hide monitor. Appears to have tunnelled under the woodstack as appeared vertical to the stack.

Friday 19th February 2016

A good day until tonight. The day was mostly sunny with temp' reaching 12c this afternoon. Tonight however is pretty wet and this looks like what we can expect tomorrow.
Spent most of the day in the garden pruning roses and fuchsia's. Also cleared the wild flower border, will plant up next week with fresh plants. Henry Street have a good selection in stock at the moment.
           Spent a couple of hours in the hide late this afternoon, was pretty chuffed to see the goldcrest again. Was bad light but did manage a reasonable photograph. Have noticed it is the peanut butter that is the attraction. Next time I will set the camera on the tripod, I need a clear and focused image for volume two of my wildlife book.

Thursday 18th February 2016

A cracking day. Blue sky, chilly but sunny all day giving it the warmth factor.
Today was the annual visit to admire the snowdrops at Welford Park. Message to ones self however, do not visit at half term unless you are happy with screaming out of control kids or yapping out of control dogs. Nuff said.
Once again we finished the day with a pint and a pie at the Bell at Boxford, a pub I have visited on numerous occasions since the 80s. Was one of my Fathers favourite pubs.
Arrived home to a wonderful welcome, the blackcap was ground feeding. Not sen the Mrs. yet however.

Wednesday 17th February 2016

Miserable day, overcast and on the chilly side all day. Very wet from late afternoon.
Rest day today after a couple of weeks working on the alpine house.
Split my time between my next book challenge and watching bird life from my armchair.
Plenty of birds about at included long tailed tits, great and blue tits, chaffinches, hold finches, green finches, wren, jays, collard doves, magpies, pigeons, blackbirds and dunnocks.
No sign of tufty today so assuming he was snuggled up in his drey.
             Looking forward to the annual visit to Welford Park tomorrow providing the weather improves. The snowdrop displays are apparently every bit as good  as previous years.

Tuesday 16th February 2016

A very hard frost last night with today being very sunny with temp' into double figures by the afternoon.
Can't keep me out of the alpine house. Decided on another feature, a shelf to display the lemon plant I grew from seed. Now seven years old so pretty pleased with this result.
This afternoon I tidied the alpine border and replaced two plants that had died over the winter.
           A day of the finches with large numbers of gold, green and chaffinches both male and female. Sadly still no sign of sparrows but loads of dunnocks this year.