Halcyon Days At Barleycorn In The Month Of May

Taz, the Barn Cat

Hal Borland is quoted as saying 'April is a promise that May is bound to keep' and I couldn't agree more. After such a long winter, with five weeks of snow and freezing cold, we have had a relatively mild May with a mini-heatwave into the bargain.

Orange Tipped Butterfly

The sunny weather brought the return of the garden fairies...the butterflies. So swift is the Orange Tipped in flight, that it took me a whole day to capture one photograph, though I managed to take video snippets of the Large White.

Wasp on A Centaurea

From the beginning to the end of the month my camera has been set, more or less, at video mode. All manner of interesting insects, bees and butterflies with their diaphanous wings, appeared, as if by magic, as the days grew warmer.

A Carder Bee, Bombus Pascuorum, on a Centaurea

Anyone within earshot of the garden was serenaded from dawn to dusk by several male Blackbirds singing their madrigals and the hum of the all-important bees, as they gathered nectar and pollinated the plants. Joining the Spring dance, the trees gradually donned lush Spring coats, and some even covered themselves in vibrant blossom.

Female Blackbird With Grubs

So far this year we have four pairs of Blackbirds nesting around the garden, three pairs of Swallows in the eaves of the barn, many Sparrows nesting in the ivy growing up the outside of the barn and a pesky Heron helping himself, unfortunately, to the colony of frogs in the two ponds.

Crab Apple blossom

Apart from chasing him away when I see him, there's not much else I can do, as I love all wildlife and believe that each plays its part in the magical web of life. After all, the ponds could not support all the tadpoles growing into mature frogs.

Pagoda Lilies, Erythroniums

Though we have seen several Martins flying overhead, so far, none has taken possession of the old nests...and a pair of Sparrows have now moved into one. The Martins were also a week late in returning this year, which may account for the Sparrows grabbing the main chance.

The Barn

Since April 2009, I have been keeping a record of photographs and videos of a few Great Spotted Woodpeckers which come to the garden. The slightest sign of movement and they fly off. It is usually their drumming which alerts me to their presence.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Male

These Woodpeckers are about the same size as Blackbirds. The male has a red nape, while the female does not. The juvenile has a red hood. They all have red rumps. They are aggressive towards other birds at the feeders and think nothing of using their beaks to see them off.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Female

In the video of the Woodpeckers, aggressive females commandeer the feeders and swing between them to chase off the smaller birds. Their behaviour always reminds me of Rudyard Kipling's poem...Now this is the law of the jungle...

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Juvenile

Even the juveniles are strong enough to play King of the Castle at the feeders, and, if hungry enough, they will fly at the smaller birds to shoo them away. I am so grateful for a fleeting visit, for, often, all I catch is a glimpse of the flash of red on their rumps as they fly off to the nearby wood.
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Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does Nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.
Leonardo da Vinci
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Enjoy the videos...and turn up the volume at the end of the second one, Halcyon Days At Barleycorn In The Merry Month Of May, to hear the Spring lambs bleating. The first, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Apr09-May10, has Saint-Saens' Pianists for accompaniment.