Signs of Spring

What lovely pictures Lai Also great to see Tamu and penny enjoying themselves and pleased that Mrs Duck is ok.
My mum has a few Bluebells in her garden but they are rogue ones, not masses. I hope to try and get some time over easter to get to the Bluebell woods here but not sure if it will happen.
We keep passing lots of Bluebells on the way to London but not easy to get pics as you are zooming past in the car

littlewid-x-

Keep your hands on the wheel LW
WS

Another great sign of spring, last night the swallows arrived (didn't have binos round my neck so they could have been swifts) and today lots of house martins are back chatting away and deciding who is having which nest - really lovely to see and Mrs Duck is still lying on her eggs.

Lai

Great that your Duck is still on the eggs. We've had Swallows for a few weeks now, I found two nests in an outbuildibg today that I know they are flying in, and out of. So its keep your eye out time to see if they, lay eggs, and have young
WS

House Martins, swallows and Mrs Duck.......it's an exciting time with hopefully lots of little ones Look forward to all the updates Lai and WS.

littlewid-x-

The dogs and I have just had a lovely walk in the woods, the bluebells are perfect now and we saw plenty of butterflies. Wood White's especially and some Peacocks.

Another sign of spring is the scented azalea, it's yellow and smells gorgeous. Yesterday we saw two herons on the river and some more ducks. I so love this time of year.

A good website for identifying UK butterflies http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/index.php

Lai

Sounds wonderful, thanks for the Butterfly link
WS

Another sign of spring, we have a pair of Canada Geese who have made a beautiful downy nest right on the edge of the river and have 5 eggs.

Pete first spotted this about two weeks ago and I have just been to check to see how many eggs she had laid. I was hoping not to disturb her but she popped into the river so having done a quick count I have left both the male and female well alone.

The incubation period is about 24-28 days and the male will remain nearby. I'm hoping to get sight of the goslings and maybe some photos in due course.

Our only worry is the foxes -

Lai

Well done Pete, a great spot. It will be really lovely if they hatch, and you can get some pics Lai. Fox's permitting
WS

Oh lets hope the foxes don't get wind of the nest Lai, it will be lovely to hear they have all hatched and are safe and well. Well done to Pete for spotting them lets hope you are able to get some pics but Canada Geese are quite protective aren't they......or am I just imagining that?

littlewid-x-

No they are Littlewid, and they make a lot of noise! I will be staying well away but hoping I can spot the nest with my binos to check what is happening with them.

Will check again in a few days.

Lai

Good news for the week - Mrs Duck hatched 8 little ducklings on Friday. Sadly we were in London so missed all the excitement, but I am happy to say that she was ushered out of the courtyard back to the river with 8 in tow.

I really hope they are okay and am just so sorry I missed it all - another camera opportunity gone !

Lai

Fantastic news Lai. Shame you were'nt there at the time after keeping an eye on them for so long. Mind you they would have hatched at night, so the first you would have seen is in the morning. Thats the trouble with wildlife photography, being in the right place, at the right time. Hopefully you will be able to get some of them on the River

WS

We checked the river yesterday and met some ducks (parents only) and maybe not Mrs Duck, it's hard to tell. I know some ducklings were around but couldn't see where they were hiding which is good news as we had Tamu and Penny with us.

Next stop the Canada Goose nest - but definitely without the dogs and probably not today, the rain has just started big time and my washing it outside

Lai

Thats lovely news about mrs Duck Lai lets hope the whole family is safe and happy on the river. it would have been lovely for you to get a photo but at least you know 8 hatched and followed mum off to the river.

Looking forward to the updates on the canada Goose

littlewid-x-

Its the same here one minute pouring down, next red hot sunshine. Looking forward to the Canada Goose reports
WS

Instead of the Canada Goose report (more on that later when we've checked them) I have good news of another Mrs Duck. In bed with a cup of tea this morning we spotted Mrs Duck 2 and 7 baby ducklings in the garden.

I decided to try and get them out to the river so went and opened the door to the woods. Mrs Duck was having none of this, did her injured duck impression to lead me away from the ducklings. Not wanting to distress any of them I went back to the house (a vision in my dressing gown and Ugg boots) to get my camera and to rethink my plan. She's now vanished somewhere in the garden, so we have to keep the dogs away and hope the heron doesn't come and help himself. I will have my camera round my neck all day now

Lai

A woman in her dressing gown and ugg boots early in the morning Lai is a woman on a mission and I applaude you ........even though I did have a little giggle but how lovely to have a 2nd Duck with ducklings to try and follow, i really hope with your camera round your neck all day, Mrs Duck and ducklings appear and you are able to get some nice pictures. Also looking forward to the Canada Goose update

littlewid-x-

My enthusiasm for wildlife know no bounds - and fortunately at that time it was only spitting with rain not cats and dogs otherwise I might not have run outside

What a day for babies, not content with spotting Mrs Duck 2 and her ducklings, (although where they are now we are not sure, Pete has seen 11 on the river this morning, it seems we have lots of ducks with babies which is really exciting). We've got 7 in the garden, 8 from Mrs Duck in the courtyard, and two other families that sensibly had them in the woods by the river.

Just now Mrs Pheasant ran over to the ground feeder followed by two of the smallest little pheasant chicks. She spotted me and Pete through the window and ran back into a flower bed closely followed by the two chicks. Wow they were cute, I confess the camera was not round my neck and now we have the dilemna of where they are. I think our garden is currently a creche and a dog free zone!

More later if we can find either of the families.

Lai

Your garden sounds a magical place to be at the moment Lai, thats the nice thing of living near a river and woods, you have an abundance of wildlife on your doorstep.
Lovely to hear that Mrs Pheasant has two little chicks, bet Mr pheasie is really proud of his little family. Lets hope all the little chicks let you get some pics and they all do well.

littlewid-x-

Brilliant Lai thats wonderful to have so much new life going on, it must be majical to see. Get that camera going. You sure you have'nt frightened them of with your UGG Boots I'm sure if I remember right that once LW frightened people in her Jim Jams in the snow. So you dont know what affect these apparitions can have on Animals
WS

It's interesting to hear your stories,as oop north we are several weeks behind you.Friends tell me that Rowan berries are forming,where as ours are just flowering.


These tadpoles(think they are toads) are in a narrow ditch over a 1000 feet up in Glen Esk.

Not identified the flower yet.

Not quite "wild" life,but it's got the "ahhh" factor , I thought.

Great Photos TB, its amazing the difference between when things happen all over the Country. We were within 3/4 Mile from the Sea where we lived before, and our plants where always out early. I've seen Daffodils in January there, but we now live higher up in the Hills all though its only ten minutes by car, we are above the snow line, and the plants can be weeks later. Certainly an Ahhh photo, and that stream looks a TaD Cold
WS

Crikey TB the Taddies bring back childhood memories. My sister and I used to spend a week each summer on my aunt and uncles farm and we used to go taddy hunting in the ditches around the fields. Needless to say I needed a bath daily!

SM