Preparing for Spring!

Gill and Jill, two RSPB volunteers worked hard today preparing the beds for the spring. You can also see the newt in the background with further protection added to keep the pigeons off!

Darren was busy adding mulch to the flower-beds.

The signs of Spring continue - many of the trees are now budding, the birds are busy nesting and another array of daffodils have flowered.

The Blue Tits and Great Tits continue to use the feeders and the Woodpecker pops in now and again too.

If you're planning to visit the garden, there is a cafe less than a minute away, so grab a cuppa, buy an RSPB badge then make your way to the Garden and wait patiently for the wildlife to arrive!

Seeding the Newt!

After a damp winter and spring, the Newt has been reseeded and hopefully will be sprouting soon.....in the meantime it's out of bounds to both visitors and pigeons! The rest of the garden however is still open for all to enjoy.

Birds on the seed feeder

The photos above of a robin, and blue tit and great tit on the seed feeder were taken by one of the garden volunteers, Darren, today. The feeders are still proving popular and one of the nest boxes looks like it is being explored as a potential home by blue tits. See the photos below - also taken by Darren.

Blue tit exploring the nest box in the wildlife garden

Signs of spring

This time of year, look out for frog spawn in ponds and other water bodies. It's warm enough now for frogs to be active after their winter hibernation and laying their eggs or spawn in water. Last week, frog spawn appeared in our pond in the wildlife garden so excitingly in only its first full spring, there will be tadpoles swimming around in it.

Birds have been collecting twigs and leaves for their nests for a couple of weeks now. Different bird species lay their eggs at different times within spring, timed so the baby birds have the best chance of survival. The herons in the park have been on their nests since January. Blue tits on the other hand lay their eggs in late April or early May in order that the chicks hatch when there are most caterpillars around to feed them.