It’s been a sensational sunny spring so far and our garden has been full of life and colour. The Swallows have returned to Great Brickhill from Africa and our garden Robins have already fledged young. They nested in our next door neighbour’s barbecue again. 

This week we have watched a pair of Blue Tits collecting tufts of our dog’s hair which I leave around the garden. We try not to use chemical flea treatments on her but regularly use a Flea comb instead which so far has been effective and keeps wildlife safe. The Blue Tits have chosen to nest in one of the nest boxes that doesn’t have a camera in it. This happens every year. 

We also have a pair of Blue Tits nesting in our Swift box and another single Blue Tit taps away every evening in our Bat box. This has been going on for months. We can only guess that it is trying to enlarge the space for a nest. The Bat box is next to the empty nest box that has the camera inside it.

A pair of beautiful red-listed Starlings have also been collecting grass and sticks from our garden for their nest which they built beneath a neighbour’s roof tile. It took them over two weeks to complete their build. I saw one of the Starlings carefully pick some of the blossom from our cherry tree which it then took to its nest. A few years ago I watched a male Starling waving a Dandelion flower about like a flag by the entrance of his gutter nest site. He was trying to entice a female in to pair with him. Maybe they use flowers to decorate the inside of their nest too! They use our pond each day for their morning bath and then patter about the lawn looking and listening for things to eat. 

A couple of Blackbirds are presently also making a nest in our hedge. This suggests that their first attempt failed as it is quite late for Blackbirds to be still building. I took a crop of fibrous compost from the bottom of our compost bin and spread it over a dry sandy bed which the Blackbirds gathered up to add to their home along with a lot of green algae from our pond. I’ve never seen these materials being used by Blackbirds before.

At night we go out with a torch and shine it into the pond and count the newts. There are lots in there which is great news considering the pond is only a few years old.

Julie Cuthbert
April 2025