A moment of pleasure

Reading this thread late today but loved all the comments. We too get a lot of pleasure from the garden birds and have blackbirds waiting on the patio in the morning for their breakfast. The other day for the first time I saw two robins together so do hope they are a pair and we will have the pleasure of baby robins later in the year. Saw drifts of snowdrops when out yesterday and have some crocuses in flower in a pot by the front door. All lovely signs that Spring is on the way, really lifts the spirits.

Have blackbirds in the garden regularly, two in particular. Love hearing their song.

Stansgran I am

I have NEVER seen a tree creeper!

I believe blackbirds are the first birds to get up and the last to go to bed which is why you hear them quite late into the evening.

When I parked at Aldi yesterday I was nose in to the hedge and there was a blackbird eating the orange berries in the hedge, quite happy and oblivious to the car! I sat and watched him for a while. Not sure of the name of the berries!

Tree creeper, nuthatch,woodpecker among others today but still pretty silent. We tried to do the RSPB Birdwatch but it was blowing a gale so in spite of the profusion of food we couldn't fill in the form

What has lifted my spirits today? Being told by a builder that the damp patches in my 300 year old roof is nothing to worry about as they will dry out naturally. Phew...don't need to pay for a new one.

Snowdrops and daffodils in the churchyard which I walk through every Monday morning on the way to my dance class.

2 snow drops in my lawn xxxxx

Sunshine, blue sky, snowdrops, early daffodils, birdsong, a cheeky little fox that slinks through the garden most evenings at dusk, so much pleasure.

When the morning sun streams through the glass of the front door there are lots and lots of mini rainbows dotted about on the wooden floor and up the first two stairs for about an hour.

It looks very pretty and I have to walk through them to go upstairs for my shower. The GC love them. (I am sure things will fade, but the lovely little "house rainbows" as GS calls them, are a small price to pay.)

The swan family visit my boat to be fed most days. If the hatch is closed they knock. They make me smile and lift my spirits most definitely....

After a truly awful week of snow, sleet, rain high winds and very, very cold, today is lovely and I had a fabulous walk in the woods with the dogs.

In the garden the snowdrops are in flower, the quince bush is nearly there. I 've heard a blackbird, seen a Jay and for the first time a nuthatch on the bird table. The pond is full of very active toads who have just laid much toadspawn.

Last week The dogs and I nearly fell over a boar, thankfully it ran off, but it was a bit scary.

It's the coming back to life of things in Nature I love, Along with birdsong and lengthening daylight hours.
My magnolia blossom is beginning to fatten up, the daffodils are showing tight buds, the snowdrops and crocus are pushing up through the ground. These are such welcoming sights and simple pleasures to behold.

Beautiful clear light and the wide open outlook from our house.
It amazes me all the time.

We have three choral societies of sparrows practising in various hedges along our road.

Wisely, they have chosen the hedges round gardens that do not have resident cats.

In our garden, we have a small bird that sounds like a rusty door hinge. Anyone know what it is? The cat is ignoring it with all the dignity he can muster.

Yesterday, said cat hid behind a pile of brushwood in order to jump out and scare me (didn't work)then he jumped three feet into the air and landed in a pine tree.

So spring is definitely on its way.

I have just hung some washing out to dry, and a robin was singing his heart out. Then, when I turned round I noticed a bloom on my camellia - all good signs of spring.

Yes, it's getting lighter later and the birds are wonderful, aren't they. I've got snowdrops and some iris reticulata out. Marvellous.

I'm really enjoying this thread. As someone further up has said it's such a nice change from so many negative ones. On my regular saunter round the garden this morning I noticed some rhubarb beginning to show. Lots of buds appearing too. Seems early t doesn't it?

And it's getting lighter in the evenings.

We couldn't park where we normally do for the school run yesterday, but further along by a stream. OH was thrilled to spot a Dipper there - in the middle of a city!

Suddenly seeing a tiny woodmouse climbing up the ivy to get to the birdtable, whilst I was on the phone to my sister last week. It's ages since we've been aware of them in our garden and gave me such joy.

Granddaughter aged two and a half was banging away on a xylophone, and suddenly started singing a nursery rhyme, accompanying herself.

BradfordLass72, you’re in New Zealand and that’s where I shall be in a few weeks’ time. I love the sound of the tui and the bell birds.

It's flowers for me. At the bottom of my little garden the daffodils are showing yellow tips and should be out soon. The snowdrops have been out for a few weeks and the sun is shining here in South Notts.

I love birds and feed them every day. As I have said on a previous thread, after 15 years in the same house I have noticed a slow decline in the number of birds coming to my garden and attribute some of this to the use of slug pellets,
which several neighbours use. Dying or dead slugs are full of this and when birds eat them, they die.

By the way don't put peanuts out during the nesting season, as baby birds fed peanuts choke to death on them. I always put out apple peelings and cores for our lovely blackbirds. Such a joy to hear birdsong!