What are the first signs of spring for you? A snowdrop or daffodil maybe? Or the fact that you don’t need to switch the lights on quite so early of an evening? Or maybe it’s the supermarkets suddenly stocking up on eggs and lemon in preparation for Shove Tuesday which means that Lent is just around the corner and with it spring?
For me, one of the earliest signs is magpies nesting. We have a pair that have been turning up reliably in early January for several years now, ready to take up their favourite nesting site in a neighbour’s conifer tree. However, as I type this, all is not well. I can see anything up to six or even seven magpies wheeling around the sky and jostling for position. I can only conclude that some of their offspring have returned in the hopes of nesting near to their place of birth. There is a huge amount of tail-flicking and aerobatic chasing going on. I guess we won’t know who wins as one magpie tends to look rather like another!
How do I know that they are even nesting? Well the answer to that is relatively simple. They have a habit of stealing twigs from either our hawthorn tree or our elder tree. Existing fallen twigs don’t seem to appeal. Instead, they prefer to spend 10 or 15 minutes working away at a specific twig, eventually breaking it off and then flying away with it in the direction of their nesting site. Sometimes they get too ambitious and choose one that’s too big to handle or there simply isn’t a clear pathway to fly out of the tree carrying it. A great deal of effort for no gain! Also, and I haven’t spotted them doing this yet but the evidence is clear, they like to pull out strands of our dead grasses from around the pond, presumably to create a softer lining or to help weave the twigs together? Either way, the area next to the pond is currently strewn with bits of dead grass that have been discarded.
Another hint that spring is on its way is the sound of a woodpecker drumming. One morning in the second week of January, I heard this for the first time in 2023. Great spotted woodpeckers are regulars in our garden. I have no idea where they nest but they certainly rely on our seed and peanut feeders for sustenance. Until last spring, I mainly seemed to see the male bird(s). Males have bright red necks so can be easily distinguished from the females. However, we now have a female who visits regularly and it’s interesting to see that she’s quite a bit bigger than her male counterpart. Again, it’s the hawthorn tree that’s a bit of a favourite. She has a regular routine that involves flying to the feeder and then up the tree. She then works her way down the trunk, ‘Woody Woodpecker-like’ until she hops back on the feeder and repeats the whole process again.
Something else that always seeps slowly into my subconscious at this time of year is that birdsong is changing. Throughout winter, the dominant sound has been the raucous ‘cheep cheep of the dozen or so sparrows that have become regular visitors (more about them in a future edition) and the occasional fluting song of our robins. Now, as the days start to grow slightly longer, the tune is definitely beginning to change. The relentless two-note ‘squeak – squeak’ of the great tit has emerged in the past couple of weeks. During February you can start to listen out for blackbirds singing. Apparently blackbirds are known to be one of the first birds to start singing for courtship in the spring. I am assuming this must be our native British blackbirds who will be nesting here, whereas many of the blackbirds we see in our gardens in winter are actually Scandinavian visitors.
Meanwhile, I’m sure you’re expecting me to say the reappearance of hedgehogs from hibernation is another sign of spring but our spiky friends have been in the garden on most nights throughout winter. It’s impossible to know how many individuals visit our garden but I am confident that we went into winter with three regulars. On 8th December our camera took footage of two very similar sized hogs sharing supper together. Shortly after that we saw a much smaller hog visit. ‘Mini’, as we nicknamed it, visited in the early hours every night until the beginning of January. Although small, s/he was clearly fit, healthy and eating well. Mini now seems to be taking a break so we assume s/he’s also gone into hibernation but as hedgehogs do break their slumber on a regular basis, we will continue to put out food and water on a nightly basis for whenever they need it.
And just a quick disclaimer. The photos here are just for illustrative purposes. I don’t claim to be a photographer. There are lots of stunning wildlife photographers out there capturing nature in and around our borough. This is just me pointing a camera and hoping for the best!!
Outside the Backdoor 