Garden – Page 4 – BooksPlease

C is for Chaffinch

Published on February 1, 2012October 9, 2023 by Margaret8 Comments

There are countless numbers of chaffinches in our garden. It’s the second commonest breeding bird in the UK, so perhaps it’s not surprising that there are so many around. They eat insects and seeds, but they prefer to eat the seeds that have fallen to the ground rather than from the bird feeders.

We have put a tray of seeds on a garden table outside our kitchen patio doors and can watch them at quite close quarters as they come to eat the seeds. Whilst they crowd together on the ground they’re more cautious closer to the house and they only come one at a time to the table. David took these photos. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

I think this one is so lovely. It’s a female chaffinch that has just landed on the rail of the decking and the wind is ruffling her feathers.

In this next photo her feathers have settled down:

Then a male chaffinch arrived. He likes the sunflower seeds.

I love his colours. Chaffinch w seed

An ABC Wednesday post for the letter C.

Saturday Snapshot

Published on December 10, 2011 by Margaret19 Comments

Today we woke up to the first snow of this winter. It wasn’t forecast! My new header shows the front garden and the photo below is of our back garden. See another photo David took this morning – here. As you’ll see he wished for snow!

A Saturday Snapshot post – see more on Alyce’s blog At Home with Books.

Saturday Snapshot – In the Garden

Published on November 5, 2011 by Margaret21 Comments

Autumn is now well set in here. Our garden is well on the way to being covered in leaves. There are still some leaves clinging to the trees like this red maple:

whereas others still have their leaves, like the Japanese Maple shown below.

I was a bit concerned earlier this year that this little tree wouldn’t survive because its leaves were scorched by a late frost soon after the new shoots had opened.

A Saturday Snapshot post, hosted by Alyce, At Home with Books.

Saturday Snapshot

Published on August 27, 2011 by Margaret22 Comments

There was a loud bang the other day. I looked around the house but couldn’t find anything that had fallen down to explain the noise. Later I noticed that the front room window was looking rather dusty, and then I realised what the bang had been:

There are lots of wood pigeons and collared doves flying round our garden and it looks as though one had tried to fly through the window. It had certainly left an impression, probably seeing the reflection of trees in the window and thinking it could fly through. Fortunately there was no dead or injured bird anywhere to be seen! We’d better get some stickers on the window!

See more Saturday Snapshots on Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.

ABC Wednesday – F is for …

Published on August 24, 2011 by Margaret12 Comments

… one of my favourite flowers:

Fuchsia

Photos taken in my former garden.

A couple of commenters have asked is this a perennial. It’s a herbaceous perennial that flowers in the spring and summer and dies back in the winter. My next door neighbour grew them in profusion and I grew this one in our garden from a cutting off one of her plants.

An ABC Wednesday post for the letter F.