Bluebells, Bittercress and Foxes

What a difference a week makes,  all the resident  birds are sitting on eggs.  The 40 year old nest box on the wall of the house is occupied again this year by a pair of Blue Tits.  It is not used every year as the birds seem to like to give a site a rest in some years and then use it again.  Before nesting time I always clear any old stuff that was left over winter so they can start afresh.  They certainly know how to make a beautiful cozy warm  soft nest with what they find.

All the migrants have arrived together this week, Warblers, Pipits, House Martins, Sand Martins,  Swallows, Blackcaps and of course the loud and persistent ChiffChaffs.  

Blackcap

Swallow

  
The tree foliage is beginning to flourish and the window of opportunity for seeing most of these small birds is rapidly closing until we will only be aware of them by their individual song.  Many small birds look like little strippy browny greeny  jobs but their song is distinctive to themselves and can be the only way to identify them.

I was fortunate to be visiting a reclaimed peat bog last week in Lancashire and was witness to an amazing  display of male  Skylarks,  rising and falling in song,  displaying to several females on the ground.  They slowly rise up on a thermal in a spiral motion almost out of sight, singing as they go, then suddenly drop like a stone,  recovering just in time before they hit the ground.  (Unfortunetly no photos of a skylark as  they move too fast.)

It is also the time for Bluebell carpets and Cherry Tree parasols.  May is a wonderful month when all is fresh, new and vibrant.

Our friendly fox has been out and about in the day time again.

Wildflowers to look out for  :  Herb Robert, Cow Parsley, Cowslip, Oxslip, Speedwell, Forget-me-Not and of course Bluebell.

Haìry Bittercress