Momentarily panicked by the words ‘Mother’s Day – don’t forget’ scribed on the calendar in menacing red ink, it came as a relief to see I wouldn’t be receiving a black mark from my mother for missing the big day!
The arrival of a pair of collared doves on the fence outside provided a welcome distraction from thoughts of flowers and presents. Their amorous, ‘head bobbing’ courtship dance got me thinking about mothers of a different kind – the ‘mums to be’ of the bird world.
With bobble-barked elder bushes sprouting bright green, the ‘bicycle pump’ song of great tits sounding out on sunny mornings and song thrushes in their finest voice, an early spring is in the offing again.
In spite of the early date of Mothering Sunday this year, it seem as if quite a few birds will be mothers themselves by that time. The patter of tiny feet, well claws, will be heard in many gardens.
Robins were feeding young in January in some parts and family parties of crossbills - curve-billed, parrot-like finches of coniferous forests, were seen back in December. Now that really is quick off the mark!
Mothers will be putting on their best dresses on March 2 and female birds will be making sure they look their best too. Preening and bathing regularly keeps their feathers in good shape. Well-groomed birds are healthy birds, so your garden birds will probably seem more vain than usual at the moment!
Mother’s day gifts traditionally include chocolates and sweets, but this isn’t a time for extravagant luxuries for female birds. They must maintain the healthiest of diets to come into peak condition in time to raise a family.
Servings of grit may seem like an odd addition to the menu, but as well as aiding digestion, these can provide calcium to help form strong, healthy eggs. Have you seen female house sparrows and chaffinches hopping around on your driveway, picking up stones in their beaks? If you have, the chances are they will soon be expecting!
Our mallards have been courting since Christmas and the earliest mating we spotted was on January 22nd., but there are no signs of ducklings yet. The Mute swans were also courting last week and the canada geese are all paired off. The robins are getting quite friendly towards each other and the parties of tits are breaking up.
Hi Kathy.
It can take time for birds to decide to occupy a nestbox, so don't give up hope yet!
Click here for some top tips on nestboxes
We have a female blackbird with a passion for apples at the moment, none of the other birds go anywhere near the apples we put out but she is consuming half an apple a day! She should have some healthy chicks. We put a bird box up in our garden, well away from any cats, about 2 years ago but as yet no one wants to take up residence. What are we doing wrong?
Kathy Edwards