You can hear it in the chirping and cheeping. Not only are green shoots thrusting through the soil and tender buds unfurling, but the birds are getting fresh too. As if to underline the arrival of spring, a big fat queen bumblebee has explored our flowering heather and the few crocus flowers not yet eaten by the squirrels. The poor bee's probably looking for a suitable hive site.
Spring is here. There'll be a frenzy of nest building and a demand for food. Sadly my garden is not yet upto speed for providing food naturally for wildlife on this scale, so I'm having to top-up the feeders and put out more kitchen scraps.
So far I've discovered that squirrels like crocus flowers, beans, tomatoes, any fruit, sunflowers, courgettes and salad leaves. I'll either have to grow these under protective covers or simply not bother with them. That leaves plenty of scope for what can be grown. Grass is now top of my list. A lawn will eventually replace the concrete slabs we inherited when we moved here, but I also want tall, swishing grass. It will be great for insects and the birds will love the seeds.
My kind neighbour, Denise, has given me some box cuttings that she's 'rooted' from her hedge. I've planted them in a line in front of a raised veg bed. To protect them from the marauding squirrels, I've pushed lines of twigs down each side. They're close together and curve over the fragile box plants. With any luck the box will survive and create a new shady habitat for bugs and other beasties. I've already planted a mixed native hedge of blackthorn, guelder rose, hawthorn, holly and beech.
The other good sign, has been the arrival of a house sparrow in my garden. It's becoming a regular visitor. It must be part of a colony nearby cause they tend not to stray and are seldom alone. It would be a great achievement if I could create a new space, where that nearby colony could extend itself. Who knows, it could bring a couple of colonies a few metres closer together; close enough maybe to meet? That would improve their chances of long-term survival!
Further afield, I've had news of a new pair of peregrines that appear to setting up home in central London. It will bear more investigation but I think London's resident peregrine population just went up.