Berries and crops

 

Berries and crops

                                        Taken through glass. 

Juvenile woodpigeon, in foreground, and adult on pyracantha.

In July we noticed rowan berries ripening in the woods, and that seemed exceedingly early. Rowan berries normally start colouring up in late August.

I caught the tail end of a report on the radio, suggesting that autumn and particularly winter would be challenging times for wildlife this year. The long, hot, dry summer has led to trees losing their leaves prematurely, and unripe acorns and fir cones are also dropping. Nature’s larder may not be able to provide so readily for the little creatures that rely on it.

In the garden, the berries on the brambles have also ripened early. Most noticeable have been the pyracantha bushes. The red berries are already being greedily and speedily consumed by wood pigeons. The orange and yellow berries are always later to ripen, but it seems that they, too, will be earlier than usual this year.

Farmers are warning that some vegetables will be more expensive. A strange weather system has given heatwaves and, in some areas, record rainfall, which has resulted in sodden fields and poor yields. For example, broccoli production is down by 50%.

I suspect that many root vegetables will be in shorter supply than usual. Carrots have increased in price by more than 34% in two years, mainly due to flooded fields.

The answer is clear. If you have the energy and the determination, ‘growing your own’ is the route to follow.

Pigeon in the Pyracantha

 

Pigeon in the Pyracantha

We have a Reolink camera that looks out over our front drive. If we’re waiting for visitors or a delivery, we can see immediately if they’ve arrived.

Yesterday, I noticed some people outside. There were two men and women and a boy, and they were obviously looking for something, in that, ‘I’m looking for something, but I really don’t want to trespass’ way.

When Barry went to find out what was going on, they told him that their little Jack Russell rescue from Romania had run onto our drive. She must have slipped her collar. We couldn’t find her anywhere – she wasn’t hiding under the cars, and couldn’t have squeezed under our rather substantial garden gate, so must have gone through the hedge into next-door’s garden. They left their contact details in case we found her. I hope the little dog found her way home – she hadn’t been living there for very long. We would like to ring to find out, but if she hasn’t returned home, it would upset them, so we just cross our fingers and hope.

The Reolink camera is situated just above a large pyracantha bush, which flowers magnificently in spring, attracting bees and hoverflies and other pollinators.

                                Photograph taken through glass

The flowers in turn produce scarlet berries, which are much loved by birds. This morning, a large wood pigeon flew onto the bush and balanced in an ungainly fashion, tipping forwards and sideways. It remained on the shrub for about twenty minutes, and though I haven’t looked, I imagine there are very few berries left. There are two more pyracantha bushes, one with orange berries, and one with yellow, and a further two in the back garden, so there should be enough to go round.

I took some photographs, but the bird wouldn’t show its head, and one view of tail feathers is pretty much like any other, so I haven’t uploaded any of them.

Instead, here is an outcrop of a photograph taken through glass a few years ago on the pyracantha in the back garden. The bird in the foreground is a juvenile. It hasn’t yet developed its white neck patches, and the colour is generally paler than an adult’s. The bird behind is an adult, and although it’s somewhat out of focus, the white patches on either side of the neck are just discernible.

        This is a mature wood pigeon, photograph taken a few years ago.

Crime scene

 

Crime scene

In the woods a pile of feathers indicates that an attack has taken place. There is no body, no blood, just a sad collection of hastily shed plumage, so there is some hope that the victim escaped, shaken but safe. The feathers belonged to a wood pigeon.

These woods are not used for shooting. In all the years we have frequented them, we have heard gunshots only once, so it is pretty certain that it was not a gundog that caused the feathers to fly, so to speak. Gundogs, particularly young ones, dislike picking up wood pigeons because the birds have loose feathers that can fill a dog’s mouth and put them off retrieving. Someone said that the dog looks as though a pillow has exploded in its mouth! With careful training, the reluctance can be overcome.

So, who was the culprit? It may have been a fox or a sparrowhawk or possibly an enthusiastic dog. We will never know, but I, for one, am glad that there was no corpse. Nature may be red in tooth and claw but I prefer not to see too much evidence of that.

 

Where does the time go?

Gilbert is nearly twelve weeks old now and enormous – for a puppy. We think he’s going to be a big dog, as tall as Bertie

 and as broad as Gus.

I believe that it’s preferable to have a summer puppy, rather than a winter puppy, but over the years we’ve had a mixture of both. The main differences are in the hours of darkness and the weather. Summer tends to be warmer and the daylight hours are longer, though many days can be quite chilly, and very wet. It’s not unheard of for us to light a fire in June!

We had a couple of rainy days when Gilbert was first with us but now it’s dry and very cold, -7° Celsius yesterday morning with a sparkling hard frost, but taking him out to relieve himself has not been particularly arduous. He quickly does what he has to, then, depending on the time, goes back to bed or has breakfast. This morning he woke us at 6:00, but a few days ago he wanted to go out at 1:00 a.m. and then again at 6:00. Some mornings he has woken us at 3:45. In general, though, he has slept through the night, and starts his day between 5:00 and 6:00!

Roxy plays with him now. 

He’s very respectful of her and easily put in his place and that’s just as it should be. Susannah’s little dog, Arthur, is far too accommodating and doesn’t discipline Gilbert. His long spaniel ears and the plentiful feathers on his tail and legs are just too inviting for a pup to ignore. We are very vigilant and separate them when they get too excited. Playing together when one of the pair is in the pen is much safer!

Frankie is growing up fast. He has started making video clips, using his ‘phone. He adds music and text and uses different voices for the characters. It’s a good and imaginative way to express himself and he’s exploring relationships and feelings, though he doesn’t realise it.

On Friday, he went with his class to ‘The Living Rainforest’. Before he left for school he said that he wanted to hold a tarantula if he was given the opportunity. ‘I’m scared of spiders,’ he said, ‘but I’ve got to get over it.’ With a positive attitude like that he should go far.

Though still cold, the weather has improved. Last night’s temperature was -2° and at 6:00 this morning it was zero.  It feels quite balmy and this afternoon’s predicted temperature of 5° sounds almost tropical. There’s no wind, which makes a huge difference. No matter what the weather, the birds and squirrels are busily preparing to procreate, apart from the wood pigeons, which are active all year round.

A pair of magpies is nesting in a nearby oak. Watching them yesterday, I concluded they were refurbishing their nest, as they pulled out leaves and twigs. They keep a lookout for the red kite which roosts near them and will attempt to steal any chicks, though they will vigorously  defend their offspring and chase it away.

red kite being pursued by crow

A lovely morning surprise!

  Herschel snoozes

   It was early Saturday morning and we were enjoying a leisurely lie-in, idly watching rugby and occasionally dozing off. Susannah had taken Frankie to his swimming lesson and then carried on to her gym class.

Bertie  and Jellicoe share a bed. He couldn't be a hunter, could he?

Bertie and Roxy were stretched out on our bed, joined from time to time by Herschel and Jellicoe. Isambard was lying on my legs so naturally I couldn’t get up – it’s very bad manners to disturb a cat. Jenna and Gus were snoozing in their beds.

We could hear sounds of cats playing. At least Solomon and Lenny weren’t screaming at each other so all was peaceful and there was no urgency for us to get up and proceed with the day. Susannah returned and there was an exclamation of disbelief and horror as she realised she had trodden on a dead but still pliant wood pigeon.

‘You’ve got to see this,’ she said so we duly arose. The hall was a mass of feathers surrounding a defunct avian. The scene in the garden of the capture and possibly the execution  was clearly demarcated by a sufficient number of feathers to make us believe there might have been more than one casualty. How can one bird have so many feathers? Still, as the old tongue twister has it, 'There are forty thousand feathers on a thrush' so there must be at least that number on a wood pigeon. I can understand why Labradors dislike picking up pigeons – all those feathers coming loose.

Not quite the remains of the day  . . .

After clearing up (We now have a clear idea of the colour of a pigeon blood ruby) we set about using our deductive skills to determine the culprit. We thought about Susannah’s cats. Solomon is little and likes catching dragonflies. 

Solomon

Could it have been Lenny? Possibly. He may have lain on the poor bird. Lenny is ‘plump’ and lazy and limits his hunting exploits to moths.

Lenny

It could not have been Isambard as he was pinning down my legs and in any case is not keen on leaving the company either of us or the dogs. 

Isambard watching the fish

Herschel caught a squirrel not long after he was given the freedom of the garden but is not given to excessive hunting. We concluded it was probably Jellicoe. He watches the birds more than the others and so far this year he has killed a rat, a field mouse, a dunnock and a wood pigeon. He also caught a blackbird but it escaped. So, he’s not the most prolific of killers but he does his best, sadly.

What is this?'

Our garden used to be busy with birds, particularly at this time of year when adults are feeding their young, but word seems to have got around in the bird fraternity that it is a no-go area. While we miss seeing them we are glad they no longer frequent our feeders. It is a small price to pay for the joy of seeing our elegant felines prowling through the shrubs, watching the fish in the pond or sunning themselves.

Fish shall safely swim . . .

Sparrowhawk!

I was reading Joshua’s post at ‘Vive le Nerd’ wherein he commented on the Rough-legged Hawk he had seen in his garden. It reminded me that I had seen a Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) just before Christmas.

From the corner of my eye I saw a bird fly into the holly tree and watched to see if I could identify it when it emerged. I was excited to see it was a Sparrowhawk. Pleasingly it flew to the top of the nearest arch and posed obligingly for me. I had to photograph it through the (grubby) patio door and managed to get five shots before it took flight.

I rarely see Sparrowhawks. I hear them more often or find the pitiful evidence of their depredations in the garden. It’s not their fault that their diet consists almost exclusively of birds. 

Mainly they eat small birds – 120 different species have been recorded. The smaller males catch birds from titmice up to birds the size of thrushes but the much larger females will prey on birds as large as wood pigeons and magpies. Some have been known to catch bats.

Very rarely they eat insects.

This time the Sparrowhawk went hungry. I’m almost sure it was a male.

ABC Wednesday W is for . . .

‘Warm Welcome’

Rosa ‘Warm Welcome’ is a semi-evergreen climbing rose that flowers profusely in summer and autumn. The clusters of flowers are sweetly scented and a vibrant orange-red, a welcome splash of brightness on our often less than sunny summer days.

White starling

Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are on the RSPB Red list. This means that they are globally threatened. They are abundant in Berkshire and frequent our bird feeders with noisy enthusiasm. A few years ago I spotted a pure white starling. Not quite believing my eyes I took some hasty photographs and though I watched and waited for several days I never saw it again.

Woodpecker – of the three UK woodpeckers, two can be seen in gardens. The Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is the commoner visitor to our garden. It is a striking bird and vies with the starlings for a place at the table. It eats insects and fruit.

The Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) is the largest of the woodpeckers that breed in Britain. It eats insects and has a particular liking for ants. It is popularly called the Yaffle because of its laughing call. It is on the RSPB Amber list, meaning that its status is causing concern.

The bird at the front is a juvenile. The white neck patches will develop later.

The Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) is Britain’s largest pigeon. It is the major agricultural pest and a favourite species for sport shooting. However, I am not a farmer and am always pleased to see these heavyweights in the garden. Their repetitive soft cooing call is a reassuring sound that all is well in the bird kingdom.

The Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) is the UK’s commonest breeding bird. Like other small birds it suffers a decline in numbers in cold weather. It is often to be seen creeping mouse-like round plant pots, seeking the insects and spiders that form its diet.

To see other Ws please click here.

Camera Critters #134

Recently I noticed  Wood Pigeons feasting on the holly berries in an adjacent garden. This is the first year I have seen this. Although  I watch the garden birds every day I've never seen pigeons eating berries before. 

There is plenty of food around still and so our holly tree has not been targeted yet. However, a pair of Wood Pigeons has been feeding on the heavily-berried Pyracantha outside our sitting room. I'm accustomed to seeing blackbirds and thrushes gobbling the fruit here and in the holly tree, but it's something of a novelty to see pigeons feeding on them. Blackbirds and thrushes feed rapidly and greedily but the pigeons are slower, as though the berries are an acquired taste or the habit of eating them is only just being established.

The juvenile lacks the white neck flash of the adult.

I noticed that one pigeon was an adult and the other a juvenile. Maybe the youngster is an adventurous adolescent whose mother is saying, 'I don't think you'll like them, but try them if you must. Mind the thorns, dear.'

Thank you to Misty Dawn who hosts this weekly meme. Click here to see more critters around the world.