Philosophising…

Life behind & beyond bars.  (April 2020)

And so it is that April has come and gone.  A whole month locked down and house-bound most of the time.  But even life behind bars offers visions of the delights of spring.

One thing about this lockdown has been the ability to spend sustained time witnessing the birth of spring.  Or not quite birth, but rather, along with the new, a powerful re-emergence – a swelling back into spectacular life of all things, in all of nature’s myriad forms.  So many leaf forms, so various the shades of green, from acid bright lights on leaves as delicate as finely woven lace, to fuzzy fleshy dark spears such as the low-growing lungwort, already spent of their spring blossom of pale pink and blue bells.  So many bees, some sleek and speedy, others furry, round-bodied and content to linger long and thoroughly amidst the early spring blossoms.

One vision in particular was to me a real surprise and treat – watching the back patch birds visit our little seed feeder.  We’ve seen house sparrows and other songbirds arrive to the feeder with their young fledglings, and at one point an adult sparrow was at the feeder with a weak-flying newly-out-of-nester.  The little baby bird was hanging onto the wire feeder with all its might and concentration and that’s all it could do.  So the parent bird started picking out the tiniest millet seeds and then popping them into a bright yellow hungry open beak.  I’d never have thought that you’d see that on a bird feeder, and somehow assumed that once the baby birds were up and flying from the nest that they would be self-sufficient, but it’s not quite so straightforward as all that, apparently.

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King Robin serenading us from the Fig tree (14 April 2020)

Not only is it noticeably cooler in the past two days (just over 10 degrees again today), it also rained lightly.

The rain wasn’t heavy or lashing down – more of a gentle shower – but it was fairly sustained so thankfully we will be spared the emergency watering of the back patch flower bed.

With the weather turning, and a few projects to think about at home, we stayed away from the allotment today as there’s no worry about the seed beds drying out.  We will have to go to water the plants in the growing shed but one day’s rest should be fine for them.

The photo to the right shows the our little Robin – King Robin, if you don’t mind!  Singing his little heart out.  The leaves on the fig are just starting to emerge, and the fig fruit swelling noticeably day by day.

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Blue Tit in the Plum Tree (16 April 2020)

We spotted these little chirpers zooming in and out of the plum and apple trees.

Can you spot him in the midst of the plum blossom and branches?

It appears they peck and nibble at the blossoms.  Is it these type of bird who are responsible for eating the blooms of gooseberry bushes, as was told to us by one allotment plot holder?  Or perhaps simply eating insects that abound on the trees?
Taking a look at theRSPB’s online bird guide, it seems this little cutie is a Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) – also known as ‘Tom Tits.’

The RSPB online bird guide is helpful to identify birds and also has sound clips so you can hear the birdsong – another helpful pointer to accurate identification.

Blue tits are found widely across the whole of the UK with the exception of some Scottish islands, and are common in woodland, hedgerows, parks and gardens.

Blue tits are not of conservation concern and remain resident throughout winter and summer.

The RSPB states that blue tits feed on insects, caterpillars, seeds and nuts.  They are said to be good at controlling aphids and greenfly – so go Blue Tits, go!  A gardener’s friend for sure!