February Favourites (Part 2)
Something In The Light
Welcome back, and thank you for joining me again. Please do make yourself comfortable and grab a tasty beverage, whilst I share a few more magical late winter moments.
The Owl
There is nothing that fills me with a sense of mystery and magic quite as much as the hoot of a tawny owl. The iconic ‘twit twoo’ of the storybooks and movies. I only found out a few years ago that the ‘twit twoo’ is not in fact one bird, but two. The twit of the female, and the answering twoo of the male.
On the 15th February I heard my first owl call of the season, a soft low haunting ‘twoo’ came from our willow trees at the bottom of the garden. The next evening, the sound came again, this time it was incredibly loud. This bird must have been perching in the trees right above us. My husband and I tiptoed around the garden that night, holding our breaths, waiting for it to call again, and grinning at each other in the headlamp light like giddy children each time it did. That morning, I woke at 4am to hear him calling again.
Each night I step outside I hope to hear him. He doesn’t visit every night, but I have heard him a few times since. Last night it sounded like he may have moved to our other neighbours’ trees to continue to establish his territory. I hope he finds a female to accompany him soon.
The Song Thrush
I heard her song long before I saw her. It rang out loud and clear across the garden, strong enough to wake the slumbering earth and start the spring.
There she was, my song thrush, atop her favourite tree, singing her heart out and putting all the other songbirds to shame. She didn’t pause her singing for my entire walk, never tiring, and I didn’t tire of listening. Hear some examples of a song thrush here.
Our robin, not to be outdone, perched below her on the damson tree, and sang with all his might. He put in an admirable performance, but there’s no competing with a thrush in full song.
The thrush joined me on my morning walk for several days. Sometimes sitting atop my greenhouse and serenading me for my whole walk. Each day I returned rejuvenated. This only lasted a few days however, I haven’t heard her since, except for one morning her song drifted through the treetops to me, from one of our neighbours’ fields. I wonder if she likes a large territory, or she’s simply spreading her joyous spring like energy with abandon through the neighbourhood. I’m hopeful she will be back soon. She is a regular feature of our spring and summer garden. Last year even bringing a young fledgling with her to our bird feeder.
Mouse Mansion – The Brash Pile Mystery
Over the five years we’ve lived here, my husband and I have contributed many sticks, leaves, grass cuttings and branches to an existing brash pile, right at the bottom of our garden. It’s so big now, that when we put up stock fencing, to make our plot dog proof, we chose to fence around it.
Even though it was cutting off a small corner of our plot from direct access, we were reluctant to dismantle something that we were sure would house a whole host of small creatures and insects. Over the last month or two I’ve noticed several entrance holes appearing in it, indicating that some larger creature has made itself a cosy winter home there.
Intrigued to see who it might be, I set up my wildlife camera pointing directly at one of the entrances. It was a fairly large hole, so I was hopeful for maybe a hedgehog (exciting!) or perhaps a rat (not quite so exciting..)
So, imagine my surprise when I discovered it was in fact, not one, but several, field mice! They are only tiny, so I can’t imagine why they need quite such a large entrance. However, they make for entertaining viewing when reviewing the wildlife camera footage and have clearly settled themselves in comfortably to what I’m now referring to as ‘mouse mansion’.
Hazel
It has always been a dream of mine to plant a native hedge. When we moved here, we were fortunate enough to inherit a glorious old hawthorn hedge, but I still wanted to plant my own. And so, three years ago, we planted a hazel hedge around our orchard. Last spring I learnt how to identify the female flower of the plant and got extremely excited when I found one (yes, on the entire hedge, just one!) and eagerly watched to see if it developed into a hazelnut. I don’t think it did, unless the squirrel got there before I did, which is not unlikely.
A large part of my dream was to be able to pick nuts and berries from my very own hedgerow. So, imagine my delight when this year I spotted several of the lovely magenta female flowers nestling amongst the male catkins. I keep seeing more and more each time I look, so there’s a possibility that I might get a hazelnut or two this year. I hope so, and that the hedge continues to perform well into future years. My habit of putting nuts out daily for Mr and Mrs Nutsy, my squirrel pair, is proving to be quite expensive!
My First Gardening Day
It was finally time. The sun was out. It was warm enough not to need to wear gloves. The birds were singing and the urge to finally get outside and get my hands in the (no longer frozen) soil was too much to resist. My husband and I spent a lovely day in the garden, getting stuck in.
My husband created some new tree supports, and adjusted others, then pruned the fruit trees. I cut back perennials in my flower garden and did some general tidying of old foliage. I was so enthusiastic I even started to dig a new bed for some shrubs we want to move. I confess that bed is still half dug, with a spade sticking out of it, waiting for someone to take pity on it and finish it off.
It was rejuvenating and refreshing to be in the garden again. It was however, a one off, and we are now waiting for even more sunny days to spring into action again.
The Badger
I was happy to see that we still have a badger visiting the bottom of our garden. We first saw him in 2020 when we installed our first wildlife camera. That year he and a female companion made regular visits, gorging themselves on plums that peppered the ground in autumn.
This year he is being incredibly elusive. I will see him casually sauntering past the camera, clearly on his way to somewhere more enticing. He’s preferred digging up my borders for earthworms rather than eating the fruit I leave out for him. The last bit of footage I captured, was him disappearing into the corner of the garden, heading for our neighbour’s field.
I hope to entice him to stay awhile by getting some peanuts. Others have recommended I try peanut butter? Any tips you have are welcome, as I would love to get more footage of him.
The Wood Pigeons
Our wood pigeon pair are back! In fact, this pair are here year-round. But during spring and summer, they have a special spot they like to perch; on top of the fence in our ‘bird garden’ right opposite my kitchen window. They like to hang out there, grooming themselves or each other, or simply enjoy the sunshine.
I saw the pair there for the first time on Valentine’s Day, which felt very appropriate. I now see them daily, sometimes searching for food, other times looking like headless birds as they groom themselves and their head seems to disappear. Sometimes they snuggle together and nuzzle and groom each other.
Often at sunset, the male pigeon will pull out all the stops, running after the female, bowing and cooing, doing the balance beam across the top of our roof to the backdrop of the setting sun. Last night I watched as another pigeon looked on enviously from the chimney pot, like someone left without a dance partner. Still, I know there will be plenty more female companions for him to choose from, as all the wood pigeons born here (there are many) seem to come back often for family reunions.
Once I started writing this post, I discovered I had quite the list of moments I wanted to share with you, enough to fill several more pages. But you don’t have all day, so here are a few snippets of the other things that have brought me joy this February:-
The First Bee – A honeybee buzzing around in our living room, needing to be let out of the window.
The Day I Hugged a Tree – I’d never done it before, and thought I’d give it a go. I highly recommend it!
Deer - A group of eight deer foraging together in the fields
Starlings – I couldn’t leave out the epic starling murmuration which started the month with a bang! More about that here.
A Woodpecker – I’m fairly certain I heard the sound of a woodpecker drumming in the distance as I went for my walk. Another first for me.
The Redwing – I spotted a redwing on my wildlife camera - another new bird for me.
Foxes – My fox pair are regular visitors each and every night now, eating all the food I put down for them. I’ve recorded some amazing (and terrifying sounding) fox screams on my wildlife cam. Breeding season must be in full swing, as I understand that vixens scream as an indication they are ready to mate.
Pink Footed Geese – I’ve spotted several groups of geese flying over the riverbank, and a lovely field full of them as I drove by.
Holly – It’s great to see that our holly bush is being utilised. I spotted a song thrush disappearing into the depths of the leaves with berries in its beak.
The Wren – I had a lovely moment watching a tiny wren, silhouetted against the sunset, hopping from branch to branch of my sycamore tree.
Sheep – My neighbours’ sheep have been spending time with a ram for the first time since we’ve been here. I’m excited to think there may be lambs in the field behind us soon.
Seagulls - A surging mass of white birds covered the farmers field. I’ve never seen so many seagulls all in one place before. I presume they descended after some seed sowing.
The Pheasant Game – My dog Maverick’s daily game of chasing the pheasant always brings a smile. The pheasant is never harmed, and it doesn’t stop him coming back.
Goldfinches – I put out sunflower seeds on my main bird feeder for the first time this year. Within minutes the goldfinches were back. I haven’t seen them on that feeder since last year. The seed was gone the next day.
Robins – I adore my robin couple taking breakfast together each morning beneath the bird feeder.
Fieldfares – Flocks of fieldfares bathing enthusiastically in the sunlit water of a flooded field, splashes of water shining in the sunshine. I also enjoy the distinctive sound of them flying overhead. Happily, the numbers seem to be increasing each year. I only have a couple more months to enjoy them before they return to their summer homes in Scandanavia.
The First Spring Blossom – My damson trees are now in blossom. The bees hopefully won’t be too far behind.
The Squirrels Hoard - Finding horse chestnuts and hazelnuts half buried in random places. I also have a tiny horse chestnut tree now sprouting in my wildlife garden, which I definitely didn’t put there!
Thank you for joining me once again, as I share my February adventures. I am quite astounded by the sheer number of wonderful wildlife encounters I’ve experienced in such a short month. March is going to be busy that’s for sure!
What are your favourite February moments? Has it been a good month for you?
If you’d like to experience the atmosphere of February in our Yorkshire Garden for yourself, you might like to check out our YouTube channel.
You can find ambience videos, garden tours, and wildlife antics. We’d love to see you there.
What a lovely post! I sometimes hear a pair of tawny owls near the house very early in the morning. I love it. And I've been listening to a song thrush for a couple of weeks now! Birdsong is amazing.
So many wonderful moments wow! I love mouse mansion, very brambly hedge style vibes 😍