Garden Nature Recovery

 As I mentioned earlier, nature in the garden has truly flourished this year. It’s been over a while now since we stopped putting out bird feeders, and for even longer, we’ve let native plants grow freely — including trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and what many would call “weeds.”

At first, when we removed the feeders, we saw fewer individual birds. But over time, the variety of species we recorded really increased, and now we’ve seen a huge rise in both the number of birds and the diversity of species visiting.

Robins haven’t fared as well this year, though this could just be a temporary dip. Other species have thrived: Wrens, Blue Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Dunnocks, Goldcrests, and Starlings — the latter bringing their young to forage for insects among the foliage. Most notably, Blackbirds have made a wonderful recovery after years of struggle. They’ve already raised two broods this year, producing four fledglings that are now strong fliers.

There’s another fascinating part to the Blackbird story: their singing has been extraordinary over the past week. Just yesterday, I saw five mature males chasing one another, stopping regularly to sing — something I’ve never observed at this time of year before.

Chiffchaffs are still around, though I’m not sure if they’re nesting. Chaffinches visit occasionally, alongside Greenfinches and Goldfinches. Our usual corvids are present too; Jackdaws often gang up on their larger relatives, Magpies and Carrion Crows, and won’t let them settle for long.

Yesterday brought a really special sight: when a Common Buzzard landed in the goat willow — clearly searching for an easy meal — it was mobbed by a mixed group. Blackbirds, Wrens, Tits, and all three types of corvid who worked together to drive it off, until it eventually flew away empty-taloned.

All in all, this has been one of the best springs for birdlife in this garden since I first started keeping records back in 1993. Over the coming weeks, I’ll carry out a full audit of the plants and insects here, and I’ll share what I find.

Nature has an amazing ability to recover — but only if we let it, and give it the chance it deserves.

Hope you enjoy our resident Blackbird in song.