DAY16. Thursday 24th March 2011 sunny with cold wind

Wow hasn't it been a lovely few days; clear sky's and a warm sun. today would have been just as nice except for that niggling wind reminding one that it is not quite as warm as we all would like. I went to the garden to see what the birds were up to as its been quite a while since I have spent a good amount of time watching them. I was in the hide for couple of hours and there were hardly any visitors to the feeders. This could be due to the fact that there is a lot more food around and therefore the birds do not have the same need to visit the feeders as they did. I did however finally work out where it is that the Blue Tits are nesting in the wall. They are still being very cautious about revealing its whereabouts and as soon as I bought out a 600mm lens to photograph them going in and out from a shrub they spotted me watching and just hung around in the tree not going in. There clever, I have to pretend not to be watching them for them to go in. they are quite happy for me to be photographing the Primroses that are closer to the nest site than where I set up the 600mm. Out of the corner of my eye I can see them going in and out. As soon as I train the lens on them they stop and just sit there.

The Magnolia tree flower that I have been observing is coming into full bloom and the first perfect green leaves are starting to come through. The Primroses are looking pretty good too with a healthy bunch of flowers.

DAY15. Friday 18th March 2011 Weather: rain clearing windy

It was a rainy start today but come the afternoon the clouds were clearing leaving behind lots of droplets of water on all the plants in the Garden. I was observing the plants again today, photographing the change. With the rain and wind many of the less robust plants have fallen over. It was strange the rain, it was the first time that I have experienced the smell of summer rain this year. That smell of water landing on dry ground and dust. After the rain had gone it would have felt warm except for the wind.

DAY14. Thursday 17th March 2011 Weather: cold start but sunny.

When I was leaving the Garden yesterday there were some people setting up nets around the feeders. This frustrated and angered me as I have been working hard to get the birds used to my presence and the capture of birds right where I am trying to do my project seems a bit inconsiderate. However I swallowed down the anger that I felt and approached them asking if it would be ok to come and photograph what they were doing. They informed that this would be fine and told me that they would be there from 7am the next morning.

It was slightly chilly when I got to the garden to find a group of people ringing birds that had been caught already. The birds were hanging in bags from the back of a van, sometimes the bags would move as the birds struggled to free themselves. The birds were taken from the bags rung and then released. The process seemed to be fairly stressful for the birds but otherwise none the worse for wear.

There was one bird in particular (a song thrush) that was having a bad time and in its struggle to free itself had managed to get its beak tangled in the net along with its wings. It was defiantly the Thrushes Redwings and Blackbirds that managed to get themselves into a real tangle. The Tits did not seem as bothered about the process and just hung upside down struggling from time to time. This may be due to the fact that they are much more acrobatic than the Thrushes and Blackbirds and are used to hanging upside down from branches.

A good thing that I feel came from this was that a pair of Bullfinches was captured adding another bird to the list that i have seen in the Garden.

Now I am not against the ringing of birds; it provides a wealth of information on a species. However it would have been nice if they had not done it right in front of an obvious hide where people observe the habits of these birds. I fear that now the birds have been disturbed just as they are starting to build nests (potentially in boxes with cameras) that they might abandon them and go elsewhere. The birds no longer come to the feeders when I am at the hide.....i am going to have to start the whole introduction to my presence again. I also wonder if this is worth the effort, for all I know they might keep doing these practicals till the end of the year.

DAY13. Wednesday 16 March 2011 Weather: very warm sunny clear sky

It was warm today, in fact it was very warm, positively delightful when in the sun. the plants are basking on this new energy and new growth is coming up left right and centre. So much so that it is hard to keep on top of the amount of change that is occurring. There are many more bugs and there was one in particular that caught my attention. This was a small red bug that was congregating on the lilly leaves in the metal pond. I was unable to identify them and shall do my best to do so in the next few days. I have also noted that the leaves of the lilly are changing; turning a more red colour.

I was just heading back to pack away the kit that I had left in the hide when I noticed a mouse coming out from under the shed. It did not appear too afraid and scouted for food right by my feet. I think that this shall be on my list of things to try and photograph.

DAY 12 Weather sunny and windy. Warm

I went to the walled garden today to photograph the change in the plants. Although it is only early spring there are lots of buds and shoots appearing on the trees and shrubs. I was not able to get to the walled garden before now and already the Primroses are in flower and the Magnolia flower that I have been watching is bulging out of its casing. The daffodils are still coming out, some of them are a little top heavy and have been blown over by the wind. I plan now to record in depth the change of these three species of plant and observe how they change over the course of the project.

DAY11. Weather: light rain showers very brief, sunny intervals, warm

Spring is defiantly on its way; the Daffodils are in full bloom and the Magnolia trees are starting to come out. Many of the weaker flowers such as the Magnolia have been effected by the cold of the last couple of days and have crinkled and gone brown in places. There are many buds still to come out however so I don't think that it will effect the tree.

There are a lot more insects around the garden, with many bumble bees buzzing around. Along with the bees from the wall and the the hive.

The birds are much more dispersed around the garden as someone else has come in and placed feeders all over the garden. This is a little annoying as to be able to carry on with my project on them I shall have to go round and take down the feeder and then replace them when I have finished. The Blue Tits are consistently behind the hide and I am now convinced that they are using the wall as a nest site. This is only one pair and I think that there is another pair that are looking at the nest boxes. I saw a Robin with some nest material in its beak. However it refused to fly to its nest spot with me watching and just sat looking at me with it before finally (after about 10mins) dropping it and flying away. At this stage it seems very difficult to find out where the nest sites are due to the birds being very careful not to give them away till the baby birds have hatched and the sound of there calls for food give away the location of the nest.

Today I also spotted a female Gold Crest a very small bird that was feeding off something on the Magnolia trees. I have been told that these birds are around campus but I have not been able to spot one myself till now.

All of the birds are much more active with bursts of song and territorial displays.

DAY 10. Weather: warm when in the sun and sunny

Time has gone so fast. It feels like only yesterday that I was last in the walled garden. Unfortunately I have not been able to access the garden due to work going on outside. It defiantly feels like spring now the sun has that warmth to it and it appears that all the plants and animals can feel it too. Today the bees were buzzing around the garden. I even saw a bumble bee and a wasp but unfortunately was unable to get a photograph of either. The magnolia trees around the pond are starting to bloom, the daffodils are in full bloom along with the forsythia giving the garden a splash of yellow. The snowdrop flowers are now on there way out the flowers turning brown and falling off.

Because I have not been able to get into the garden I have not been able le to fill the feeders. They were all empty today except for the Niger seed. I refilled them all and even as I was filling them the birds started to arrive. The Blue Tits that I have been suspecting nesting in the wall behind the hide are still hanging out there a lot and showing some aggression toward other birds that come too close. I shall keep watching to see if I can find the hole that they are using. I also noted that there was another pair of Blue Tits hanging around the nest boxes again. The Great Tits were acting very strange today. They appeared to be chasing one another around a tree. I am unsure as to why this is but my theory is that it is some sort of courting behaviour.