Wildlife in the wind
WHEN your roof is blowing off in a gale, when you have to wear waders in your garden to get to your bins, it is unlikely that you will be thinking about the birds in your garden.
On the other hand, many people will have been thinking about their daily garden visitors as Storm Ciara made such a mess of our daily routines.
The amazing thing is that wildlife will have hunkered down during the worst of the weather and then popped out to dry and feed when things calmed down a little.
Our noisy, local bird bush where dozens of sparrows, tits, blackbirds and starlings congregate to keep warm and safe, was quiet during the wildest winds but back to its quarrelsome racket when the sun shone.
It was all a bit strange as the howling wind and horizontal sheets of rain, was replaced by sudden bouts of sunshine.
But it will have been a welcome relief for soaked birds and mammals.
Just minutes after one squall, I was delighted to hear blackbirds and robins letting loose with their wonderful songs.
They just get on with it and, in a couple, of weeks they will be getting busy making nests for newborn chicks.
Certainly, watching robins after the wind and rain, you wouldn’t think they had been drenched for hours on end.
They were hopping around from bush to bush seeking some food.
And our ‘own’ robin was feasting on the bird table, once it was dry enough to fly.
I am looking forward to spring.
We had a wonderful moment last year, when our birders followed a young robin growing up through a photographic gallery.
Young robins are mottled gold and brown stripes, with red bits appearing during summer and then that classic red breast in August to September.
The robin tends to win all the competitions for Britain’s favourite bird, probably because it is so striking, cheeky and visible everywhere you go
During the dawn chorus, which will get increasingly loud in the next month or so, robins will be one of the first birds to start singing.
They are one of the first birds to sing in the morning and the last at night, and they will sing if disturbed by street or car lights.
Both male and female robins sing and the spring song becomes more and more vibrant as they seek a mate.
They will sing from a concealed branch, but don’t be surprised see a robin high on a bush giving it both barrels.
The male song can seem more powerful because he will be defending his territory as well as looking for love.
So the robin is the sign that in the worst weather conditions wildlife just gets on with it, ready for the best bits in spring and summer.
And, remember, this is the time of year when our birds need a bit a helping hand with a handful of food for your bird table every day.
It will help them through winter and then grow strong for the big spring love in.