After a bit of the alternative Xmas, one not to be repeated, I hope, The Hideout has been a welcome refuge while trying to get back on my feet again.
The Hideout, just a random name I gave it, is my man cave, an integral brick built extension to the garage, which became a convenient dumping ground when we moved in 23 years ago, now nicely converted to a man cave.
A short 4 minute guided tour, no waffle, of The Hideout, which can be viewed HERE.
In my previous The Hideout thread, I did confess to honourably borrowing an annual based theme, so here it starts, and a link to the shorter 2023 thread, "Some from The Hideout 2023";
https://community.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/f/all-creatures/285975/some-from-the-hideout-2023
Not many photos to start with, I didn't fancy lugging the camera and dropping it, but The Hideout has been a comfort, heating on, gentle music in the background and urban nature (if such a term exists, well it does now), going about its business, and particularly nest building.
A pair of magpies seemed to be nest building atop our cherry tree, twigs etc being taken in, then the next day, the twigs seemed to be transported out, and to another tree, most likely a lot higher, further away. it may have been the cherry tree provided a central storage place, or not.....
The Hideout is definitely fulfilling its intended role.
Less of the waffle, and more photos.....
What better than an early sign of spring, daffodil shoots, that started showing very early December, which they always do here.
Mr BB looking for more suet pellets to be thrown from The Hideout, onto the grass....
Yesterday, 13th Jan,
Blue skies
and a magpie enjoying a bathe...
These first few images were taken through a dirty kitchen window, I know, should be clean, but I had been a guest of our fabulous NHS over Xmas/NY
Though blurred and out of focus, I hadn't anticipated the magpie taking flight,
These last few were taken from The Hideout
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
OK, the following are not exactly taken from The Hideout, but they are in the garden.
Back home after a morning at Baddesley Clinton on 12th Feb and a quick daily check around the garden, the mini daffs showing well, likewise
the bluebells in their temporary home
and the main daffs looking good.
(Pardon the Scottish Accent)
Linda257 said:Sunshine and growth !!!
The sunshine burst only lasted about 20 minutes, before the clouds returned, bringing more wet stuff.......
After the showers, a quick trip down the garden revealed this little beaut. I hadn't been down that part of the garden for a couple of days, mainly because it gets very stoggy with heavy repetitive rain, and what did I see?
A solitary snowdrop, that wasn't in flower a couple of days back....
I can only guess the soil around that area had been cleared ready for grass seed (the wood pigeons will love that this spring) to be scattered, giving an opening for the snowdrop to grow.
See you all on the otherside.....
So far, 2024 hasn't been a good year for garden and Hideout obs, most likely due to the incessant cloud, lack of sun but plenty of wind and rain. The daffs have faired, but the tulips are slowly dying off. The leaves have no structure and usually by now, there are tulips buds. The first springtime sighting of a hedgehog has been captured on trailcam, link to video footage soon.
For now, the snowbells are thriving. The snowbells have self seeded, either brought in by birds or other visiting wildlife, or as observed, seed dispersal carried by the wind. I have tried to capture that on trailcam, but unsurprisingly, when the seed heads disperse after flowering, with no suitable trigger the trailcam doesn't record the event.
Likewise so are the bluebells, that were planted in a planter to preserve them for planting back where they belong. Incidentally, the rest of bluebells in the garden, are not fairing well, some seem to be dying back already, like the tulips.
Since this photo was taken, 7th April, there have been more bluebell buds appear in this same plot.
In the interim, batten down the hatches, don the sowester and keep your head down.....
I've never heard of Snowbells Mike - I have lived a sheltered life ... . I have a few white Bluebells in my garden due to seeing some growing wild, digging a few up and transplanting them a few years ago. I didn't know it was illegal to dig up bluebells, so if I don't see you for a while, the bluebell police might have arrested me ... .
I just don't understand where you got the sunshine from!
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I've never heard of Snowbells Mike - I have lived a sheltered life .... I have a few white Bluebells in my garden due to seeing some growing wild, digging a few up and transplanting them a few years ago. I didn't know it was illegal to dig up bluebells, so if I don't see you for a while, the bluebell police might have arrested me ...
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Nor had I until about three years ago.
I initially thought white bells, but struggled to find any info on them, and that's when I stumbled across snowbells. TBH, even that info was vague at the time, so who knows. Keep a lookout here, weather (and forum antics) permitting, I'll be posting in flower photos.
I did manage to find a photo from April 2020, which was probably when I first came across them. Click HERE to view one of the photos in my Flickr April 2020 album.
Bobs_Retired said:I just don't understand where you got the sunshine from!
One of life's very rare photographic moments....
More from The Hideout
The cherry blossom probably at its peak for 2024, sadly, against a grey sky....
A garden snail hoovering the feeder.....
Up close....
Then the rain came, and followed by a double rainbow
(psst, no pot of gold, just bills in the post.... )
Guess what?
More showers to wash the double rainbow away
An urban pre-sunrise......
The sun did try to make an appearance this morning, but never quite made it. This was about 15 mins before sunrise,
the rest of the day was cloud and showers....