Saturday 12th March 2016

Another cracking day. Very foggy start to the day but soon cleared giving us a very mild and sunny day. Temp' reached 14c this afternoon.
Day spent in the garden working on two jobs. Filled some low spots on the lawn and levelled around the bird feeder base. Also spread grass seed to finish the job.
This afternoon started preparations to clad the bottom part of what is now the alpine house. Not easy fixing cladding to an aluminium greenhouse.
           The red kite, the one bird that has eluded me for years despite all manner of tricks to get that photograph in the garden finally did me proud late this afternoon. At 4.30pm, just packing up for the day and I was aware of two kites that looked like were fighting. After some minutes of this one landed on the Lelandii tree and stayed there for twenty minutes screeching and ruffling feathers. The other kite was in another tree out of sight but was also screeching. Was this a mating ritual I wonder. In any even it gave me a wonderful photographic opportunity.

Picture 1 - Preparing to clad the alpine house, fixing battens.
      "     2 - Tidy up of the bird feeding station in the lawn.
  " 3 - 11 - Red Kite.
12 & 13 - Mouse in the bird food cupboard.

Friday 11th March 2016

A cracking day, very mild with plenty of sun. Temp' reached 14c this afternoon.
A visit to Henry Street this morning for grass seed required for a project tomorrow.
This afternoon dug out the chestnut tree trunk in preparation for the igloo project. The trunk was actually rotten and did not require much digging, it fell once I started pulling at it. A good trunk now for the stumpery.
What about this then, I am outside looking into the greenhouse and notice a hole in the back of the bird feed plastic drawer. While looking this mouse head appeared, thankfully the camera was with me so captured a reasonable photograph. Another instance when I'm pleased I had the camera with me.

Pictures 1 & 2 - Removing chestnut tree stump.
       "      3 - 6 - Male Sparrowhawk.
       "    7 & 8 - Mouse in the bird food cupboard.

Thursday 10th March 2016

Slight improvement on yesterday. Dry, milder but dull all day. At least dry.
Spent day working on the book, on page 30 now. Going to easily reach the 70 I had planned, may have to increase to 100.
Was amused by the antics of Spawk this morning trying to keep it together in such strong wind. Was not so amused however when she dived on to a robin ground feeding from the back door patio.
Amazed to see the red kite fly on to the Lelandii tree this afternoon. Difficult to photograph but did manage to capture a few good images.
Doves are very much loved up so expect nesting to commence pretty soon.

Pictures 1 & 2 - Sparrowhawk in windy conditions.
       "             3 - Sparrowhawk with a catch.
       "             4 - Doves loved up.
       "      5 & 6 - Red Kite.

Wednesday 9th March 2016

What an awful day. Heavy overnight rain showing 15mm on the gauge. Day was cold, dull with heavy rain again this afternoon in to the evening.
After the weekly shop this morning I decided to stay in this afternoon and work on my latest book, history of 479. Beginning to look good, think I may well run out of pages so am preparing to reduce the number of photographs.
           Sad to see a sick greenfinch. Looked lovely but clearly a sick bird. The pair of great spotted were busy today so hopefully will see young later in the season.
Getting worried now about the swift box. The blue tit still roosts very night. Do not really wish to lock him out, just hope with the lighter, milder weather imminent it will leave without pressure from me.

Picture 1 - Sick greenfinch.
      "     2 - My new fence post capping.
      "     3 - Tufty stripping the Camellia shrub bare.
      "     4 - Male great spotted woodpecker.

Tuesday 8th March 2016

Another pretty good day. Dry, mild for time of year with temp' reaching 12c this afternoon.
This morning checked out over 3,000 photographs from a trail camera focused on the peanut butter feeders in the wooded area of the garden. Was interested to see what was chomping through a full jar in a day.
Amazed to see it was starlings, blackbirds and woodpeckers eating non stop once my back was turned. When I sit in this area I only see blue/great tits, goldfinches, goldcrest, green/chaffinches so was surprised to see the larger birds there eating most of the food. Also in this collection of photographs a sparrowhawk flew in and took out a goldfinch.
          This afternoon I sieved the last of the wormery compost, nice. Two 12.5 kg of lovely potting compost to use at a later date.
Next job is the removal of a chestnut tree stump, that will take some digging out. Once removed I can then start preparing the site for the igloo base. Getting exciting now.

Picture of a barrow load of sieved soil from the wormery.

Monday 7th March 2016

A stunning day, plenty of sun and blue sky, chilly and again no rain.
Day spent out with Janet and Colin visiting the Royal Air Force memorial at Runnymede. Only a few miles away and yet I did not know this memorial existed. An emotional place to visit, had no idea so many airmen were lost with no known grave. Over 20,000 casualties, job to comprehend such a number.
Finished the day with a meal and a pint at the Bell, Runnymede.

Sunday 6th March 2016

Loved today, chilly, sunny and most importantly it was dry.
Day spent in the garden. Skylark ceanothus planted and area tidied up. More clearing in the area reserved for the igloo. Today sieving a huge heap of wormery compost, great stuff to use for replanting all the larger pots in the garden. Another day of sieving to finish this heap.
No wildlife news as busy working as described above. Plenty of food eaten so birds were certainly about.

Picture is the area being cleared for the Igloo.