The Garden Gives Back…

 

I think when something occurs as it did on Saturday in the garden, it unsettles you.  I think you have feelings of violation and anger and it’s hard to shake free of them.  It’s as if the intruders or the vandals have taken a piece of you away or broken you down.   I have heard stories of people feeling this way after burglaries and I can totally relate to those feelings.

 

I was feeling sad, I was very angry and it was as if I was annoyed at the garden for some reason…can’t quite understand that.  On a Saturday afternoon I would usually go out and refill all the empty feeders and freshen up the water bowls but I didn’t want to so I asked my husband to do it.

 

By Sunday morning I was feeling almost normal.  ( I say ‘almost’ as I don’t think I have ever been _totally_ normal!)  I opened the blinds and sat in the conservatory hugging a large mug of coffee.  It was just starting to lighten up, not quite eight o’clock.  Light enough to see out, it looked peaceful but it wasn’t.  The longer I looked out the more my eyes were able to take in.

 

The blue tits and the great tits where flitting in and out, it was like rush hour at Birdsville! How they manage to avoid others flight paths I will never know.  At the bottom of the garden I saw two familiar figures huddled up like little balls of wool.  I call them the fattest rabbits in the worlds although I’m sure there are bigger ones about.  I do know that they have a very good diet; after all it’s us who provide them with the sweetest flower stems!  They moved forward a little and then took their wool positions again.  I then noticed they were heading toward the squirrel.  He was squirreling about the top part of the garden.  He was gathering and then burying nuts that my husband had scattered.  He does this because the rabbits do actually quite like a few nuts and berries, they were not happy that the squirrel was on their ‘turf’.  Face off! The fat rabbits got closer and closer and once they were all close enough they frightened each other half to death and ran in opposite directions.  I realised I was giggling, the rabbits stayed at the bottom of the garden after that little flurry of excitement and the squirrel continued to bury his nuts.

 

Next came the Magpies, he swooped down from above and then marched over, meaningfully, to the squirrel.  With lots of wing flapping and furry tails flying the Magpie swooped off… the squirrel continued to bury his nuts.  I realised that the washing up and the ironing would not do itself so I forced myself to move.

 

As I watched out the window whilst washing up I noticed a red flash that seemed to catch my eye, I looked up to see the Great Spotted Woodpecker hanging off the mesh nut feeder.  I have seen him once before but it was quite a while ago.  This was the first time I had seen him feeding.  As he didn’t have a really bright or obvious red patch on his head I presumed he was a male.   I must have moved because he seemed startled and he took flight towards the wood.  His speed was amazing.

 

 

The next hour was spent ironing so as you can imagine it was pretty uneventful.  Everyone was still sleeping except for me and my doddery old senile hamster that seemed to filling his pouches with bed fluff….

 

It was later in the morning when I managed to get back into the conservatory to read the Sunday morning papers.  Something again, caught my eye, it was a swift motion and the colour I could see was a muddy brown.  I moved carefully towards the window and twitched slightly at the blinds, allowing me to see a little better. (I’m surprising good at this!) I then did one of those whisper shouts that we all do occasionally as I tried to get my husband and my daughters’ attention. 

 

There in front of the shed door was a Sparrow Hawk,

 

he looked quite majestic as he strutted along the paving stone, first one way and then the other, I was sure he had attacked something but I just couldn’t see well enough.   I love seeing the Sparrow Hawk; they remind me of country gents, with jodhpurs on that are tucked neatly into a smart pair of high boots!  I must be a little bit clumsy because I seemed to startle yet another visitor away.  As he left the scene I could see something very small and very still on the path but although there was no movement whatever it was, was definitely standing up.  I told my husband I was going to see what it was and initially he tried to talk me out of it, saying the Hawk would return for its prey, but as whatever it was looked uninjured I didn’t want the Hawk to come back.  I wandered into the garden armed with a tea-towel…..

 

He was stunned and very frightened but he seemed to be free of injury.  I spoke softly to him and explained to him what I was going to do.  He started to move his head a little but seemed in no hurry to leave the tea-towel.  I called my daughter down after a few minutes and asked her to help me place him in a safe area on the grass.  I thought in the sunshine, behind the tree would be fine.  It was near to kitchen window so I knew the birds would be reluctant to come too close.

 

 

With a gentle stroke to reassure him and a few nuts placed close to him, we left him alone to make himself ready for his flight.  Of course I knew that he may well just sit there and die but I was feeling optimistic because the little fellow seemed quite comfortable with us.

Andrea and I left him alone.  The best place to keep an eye on him was from the kitchen, the windows in the kitchen are quite high so we had climb on the work bench. (Children, please don’t do this at home, my daughter and I are professional bench climbers!)  What a sight we were, huddled together on the bench like mummies taking their children to school for the fist day… 20 minutes passed and our little Great tit wobbled forward, then back.  Forward then back again, we held our breath.  He swayed a little again, bent forward picked up a nut and then he off! Up, up and away!

My daughter and I were clapping like seals and throwing high-fives about!

Now that was a much better day!

 

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Tags: Activity, Attack, bird feeders, birds, Garden, Gardenlife, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Magpies, peaceful, Peanut, Sparrow Hawk, Wildlife

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