Every Spring Is The Only Spring

Tadpoles In Egg Cells

Please click * (footnote before the videos) on each photograph to see the amazing detail, and you will see why, for me, Spring is the most marvellous season. I was born in the month of April, and each year I am filled with Spring Fever. Having not one, but, two ponds here at Barleycorn, I am fortunate to be able to observe each stage in the life-cycle of the common frog at close quarters.

Taddies With Gills

Each Spring I marvel at this miraculous spectacle of Nature with renewed enthusiasm. It matters not that I have witnessed it for each of the past twenty years since my Hubbie first created the ponds...for every Spring is the only Spring.

Tadpoles Swimming Freely

With my camera set to video mode, I went out each day and recorded the changes in their development, from spawn to tadpole. You can watch the results in the first little video, Barleycorn Taddies, at the end of this post and be filled with wonder at the metamorphosis.

Female Blackbird Gathering Nesting Material

As well as the frenzy of activity in the ponds, beginning each day with the Frog Chorus, we have also had the pleasure of being awakened by the Dawn Chorus, and a wonderful serenading Song Thrush...both of which are better than any alarm clock at enticing me out of bed. Because we have a lot of chaff left over from last year's spent flower stems, the usual suspects have been gathering their nesting material.

Blackbird's Nest

Each Autumn, I leave a crown of growth around my plants to protect them from severe frosts and to offer nesting material for the birds in Spring. This year, we have watched three pairs of Blackbirds, a Thrush, three pairs of Jackdaws and Titmice gathering chaff, moss, wool and twigs to make their nests.

Goldfinches And A Siskin

Nuts and seeds sustain the birds when they are feverishly engaged in building their nests. In the second video, Billing And Cooing, you will see a female blackbird using her beak to wrestle and tug chaff from the earth, for a whole day, and persevere until her beak could support no more strands, before flying off to a nearby Pine, where she began to weave her magic.

Siskin On A Garden Light

I do not use the word 'magic' lightly, to describe the truly wonderful creation of a bird's nest, for their intricacy never ceases to amaze me, knowing that, even with the use of a pair of hands, my effort would be a poor attempt. Though we found the nest lying on the ground the next day, the Blackbird began the marathon all over again, this time building the nest in a more sheltered Pine.

Double-Petalled Daffodil

Whenever our daffodils burst forth, I am always reminded of the exuberant song from the Mikado...
# The Flowers That Bloom In The Spring, Tra La #
... because they are further confirmation that Spring has arrived at last at Barleycorn. Another sign is the first appearance of 'our' Swallows, newly returned from their long trip from Africa to their nests in the Barn. This year we are fortunate to have three returning pairs.

Naturalised Daffodils

With the Swallows playing Spitfires, zooming in and out of the Barn from dawn to dusk each day, the car is once again sporting a dustsheet for the duration of our Barn visitors' sojourn. Further evidence of Spring is the fact that my log-piles have dwindled as pairs of Jackdaws replenished their nests in the Barn's three chimneys.

Orange-Centred Daffodil

There are five Dandelion plants in full bloom at the moment, given house-room in our garden so that Queen Bumble bees have sustenance when they crawl out of their underground hideaways each Spring... for our garden is very much one designed to encourage wildlife to take up residence.

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly On Scilla

Small Tortoiseshell and Large White butterflies overwinter in the Barn. Several times over the years I have managed to rescue a few from cobwebs to enable them to fly off and begin their life-cycle. In the third video, Flowering At Barleycorn, you will see Taz, my constant companion, as I took the footage. Though our garden is very much in the early stages of Spring, with many joys still to unfold as the season progresses, I already feel I am bursting with joy, blessed with the wonder and majesty of it all and feeling positive about what the garden means in terms of conservation...reminding me we are the stewards of the earth.
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Don't forget to turn up the volume to enjoy the musical accompaniment and the sounds of Nature in the background. Enjoy!
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Click * If you decide to click to enlarge a photo, you can then click on a corner and the photo will open up to the size of the whole page...and then you will see everything in glorious detail!

The music accompanying Barleycorn Taddies is Delibes' Pizzicati.

The music accompanying Billing And Cooing is Kriesler's Schon Rosmarin.

The music accompanying Flowering At Barleycorn is Grieg's To The Spring, from his Lyric Pieces.

Celebrating The Rebirth Of Easter At Barleycorn

Snowdrops

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;Gulls Following The Plough

Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Coal Tit Singing

In the grave they laid Him, Love Whom we had slain,
Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,

Aconites

Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Blue Tits On Weathervane

Up He sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;

Crocuses

Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Frog Mating

When our hearts are saddened, grieving or in pain,
By Your touch You call us back to life again;

Taz, The Barn Cat

Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Sunset

The music accompanying the first video, Drifts Of Snowdrops At Barleycorn, is Mendelssohn's Spring Song.

Drifts Of Snowdrops At Barleycorn

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The music accompanying the second video, Springtime At Barleycorn, is Vivaldi's Spring, from The Four Seasons.

Springtime At Barleycorn

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Happy Easter, Everyone!

Fantastic Mr Fox!

Garden Birds At The Feeder


Since my last post we have had a mixed bag of weather with more falls of snow. Chaffinches, Titmice, Robins and Blackbirds flocked to the bird-table and the feeders to get as much sustenance as possible to survive this fierce Winter.

Garden Birds

However, though we still have overnight temperatures of below zero, today we experienced the warmth of the sun. Since the beginning of the month I have been serenaded by a beautiful Song Thrush. As if by magic, Spring is slowly creeping up on us.

Two Blue Tits On The Weathervane

As well as the flocks of pigeons I spoke about last month, hundreds of crows began to join them in the field adjacent to Barleycorn.

Crows At Barleycorn


The noise they made was deafening and they arrived in such quantities that I was reminded of the Hitchcock film called The Birds.

Crows In The Snowstorm

I decided to take footage of them all and you can watch their antics in the little video at the foot of this post.

Foxy's Footprints In The snow

One night I laid out bacon rind on the bird-table to give the early birds a good feed the next morning. Low and behold, I noticed there had been a fox. It was so cold he would have come to scavenge for anything he could find to keep out the cold. Some nights are better than others, in terms of food for a fox, so, given the opportunity, a fox will take what he can find.

Foxy Eating Cat Food

I am well aware that many people regard foxes as vermin and that they are shot by many farmers, who then complain that their fields are overrun with rabbits, moles, mice and rats, which the fox eats. But it's my belief that every creature has its place in the web of life.

Foxy Eating Fish

I decided to enjoy the brief visit of Fantastic Mr Fox and give him some sustenance to keep out the Winter chills. Each night I waited, camera in hand, for the magical hour when he appeared. I admired his beautiful chestnut coat, the black behind his ears, his magnificent brush and the twinkle in his eyes as he gorged himself on his delicious supper.

Foxy On The Table


He never stayed long. Many of my photos turned out blurry, due, in part, to his constant movement. But, I was mesmerised by him and looked forward to his antics each night. Foxes are omnivorous, feeding on small birds, mammals, insects, berries and the odd chicken or three, if they get lucky. It is possible to rear chickens successfully, for many people do, in spite of foxes living in their neighbourhoods.

Foxy In The Night

Though foxes are known to farmers as raiders of their poultry, they do help the farmer by destroying many rodents. However, there are also lots of myths generated about foxes in order to justify killing them, and these persist, despite evidence to the contrary, and, so, the attitude to foxes remains polarised.

Foxy On The Chair

Foxes have always lived in the countryside. But, due to more and more housing development, their natural territory is being eaten up, so much so, that many foxes now live in cities, which, previously, had been their habitats. I don't understand the visceral hatred some people harbour towards foxes. My parents were farming people, and their parents before them, and they lived in peace with all the wildife around them and successfully reared chickens and lambs.

Foxy's Brush

As far as I know nobody has ever caught a disease from a fox. Neither do they attack humans. If anything, they tend to give us a wide berth. I can understand farmers not liking a fox if it affects their livelihood, but as far as I'm concerned, if farming is your business, you should be able to house your animals suitably so that foxes can't get in. As wild animals they will act instinctively and can't be blamed for what they do. I enjoyed my spot of fox-watching because I think foxes are beautiful creatures, to be admired for surviving... in spite of Mankind...and I also feel privileged to have shared Fantastic Mr Fox's company on his nocturnal visits to Barleycorn.
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The music accompanying Birds Over Barleycorn video is Hot Ice taken from my CD of A Mid-Summer Night's Dream. The accompaniment to Fantastic Mr Fox video is another track, called Strange Snow from the same CD. Turn up the volume and enjoy a spot of bird and fox-watching!

Flocks Of Pigeons At Barleycorn

Frozen Pond

As, in so many other parts of the countryside, we are continuing to have freezing temperatures, which create beautiful winter scenes. Although our ponds are beginning to thaw, we still have an avalanche of pristine snow, which slithered off the high-pitched roof of our outhouse bringing down tall shrubs in its wake.

Winter Sunset

Each season offers its own joy and, none more so than, a glorious Winter sunset at the close of a crisp, frosty day. What better way to end these shivering days than by coming indoors for a bowl of home-made soup, and curling up afterwards on the sofa with a good book? That is often the time when I drool over garden catalogues and make plans for the coming season.

Flock Of Pigeons

For the past month, as the snow has receded, we have been watching hundreds of pigeons foraging amongst the left-over grain in the field behind Barleycorn. On most days we have observed flock upon flock joining together till they form a large cloud and begin wheeling overhead before, eventually, settling down together for safety.

Pigeons Behind The Weathervane At Barleycorn

Suddenly, without warning, they will take to the air, making a loud commotion, and circle the field for a long time before landing again. If we are sharp-eyed, we might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a Sparrowhawk chasing after one of them. When it makes a kill, the pigeons fly off, while the Sparrowhawk begins to de-feather its prey.

Female Sparrowhawk On A Silver Birch Tree

Due to the large numbers of pigeons and smaller birds searching for food during this exceptionally cold Winter, we have been fortunate enough to see the Sparrowhawk on several days each week. However, if she catches sight of us, she is off and out of sight as quickly as she appeared.

Blue Tits At The Weathervane Feeder

When we participated in the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch earlier this month, they were astounded when we recorded the numbers of pigeons we were observing until we filled in further information explaining that our garden overlooked a field.

First Snowdrops At Barleycorn

Isn't Nature wonderful? No matter how many degrees below freezing they have endured, no matter how prolonged the snowy blanket under which they lay, the sturdy snowdrops - with their small green bodices, their ballet gowns and heads like fallen drops of snow - have survived all that Winter has thrown at them and come through triumphantly. Does that not make your heart sing and leap for joy?
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In my little video called Flocks Of Pigeons, the accompanying music is Track 17 from my CD called A Garden Of Music. Most of the birds are pigeons with some starlings, jackdaws and crows for company.

The Importance Of Finding Beauty In Light

Great Tit

What a handsome fellow is this Great Tit, spoiled for choice at one of my Hubbie's many feeding stations around the garden. And what better way to wish you all A Happy and Healthy New Year, than by introducing you to some of the garden birds which have visited us here in the past few weeks at Barleycorn. Though we see the Titmice on most days, a rarer treat was in store for us.

Female Sparrowhawk

A beautiful, majestic female Sparrowhawk was our herald of the Winter, for she arrived exactly two days before the onset of what has been the most glorious, luminescent time of my life, thanks to the magical presence of snow-filled days and nights.

Through The Freezing Fog

For, here in Scotland, the months of December and January are normally dark, dreich and often drizzly, with only the prospect of the much longed-for Christmas celebrations and family get-togethers to lighten the otherwise drab days of Winter.

Snow On The Branches

But, not this year. According to the Met Office we are in the midst of the heaviest snowfall for 50 years and I am so glad to be alive and enjoying the light, because, for me, light has a spiritual dimension.

Panorama Across The Field

Everything seems more colourful and happy when the days are lighter and brighter. The light itself seems to bring enlightenment of the mind and spirit. Light is knowledge. It keeps the gloom and dark thoughts at bay.

Snowfall Silhouettes

I love waking to the silence on the morning after the first fall of snow. It recreates a feeling of magic in the air that I remember as a child when snow brought days full of laughter from the excitement of building a snowman with my brother and sledging with my friends, not to mention our ravenous appetites when, eventually, we went indoors for supper.

The Magical Glow Of Twilight

One is never too old to remember that excitement, nor too old to build a snowman, I hope, for these pleasures are all too transient and should be grasped at every opportunity before our dance is done, or our song sung. Being child-like, as opposed to childish, is what keeps us young at heart.

A Friendly Pheasant On top Of A Trellis

I believe we must keep our bodies like a fine-tuned violin for then the music of God will come out from every fibre of our being. And what better way to do it, in the midst of the heaviest fall of snow in a lifetime, than by building a snowman?

Taz, The Barn Cat, Walking Across The Frozen Pond

I feel duty-bound to be happy in times of so-called adversity, though I would disagree that being surrounded by heavy snow is one such time. It would be all too easy to resort to pessimism in the dark of Winter. But, in these bright days, we have an opportunity to make our light shine for our neighbours and our fellow man.

Male Blackbird With Fermenting Pears

One of life's greatest pleasures is the feeling of being needed, for someone's need gives purpose and meaning to our lives even in our retirement when our professional days are gone. The heavy snow has given my Hubbie and I opportunities to take provisions to house-bound members of our family and friends, to help clear paths to ensure a safe foothold and to show our love for a hungry family by providing them with dinner on New Year's Day.

Coal Tit On The Cotoneaster Hedge

Here at Barleycorn, we spent happy days during the Festive Season, sharing our hearts and our home with our nearest and dearest, savouring every precious moment, every meal around the family-table, the sound of their laughter, the radiant smiles, before the tender goodbyes.

Robin Redbreast On A Conifer

I believe it's important to show our love to our fellow man, as well as to one's own family, as we are only mature to the extent that we can love. If we don't reach out to others we grow ever inward and become shallow instead of rounded citizens sharing in a community.

Female Chaffinch And Coal Tit On A Window Sill

Those of you who follow the Barleycorn journal will be well aware of my feelings about how we should all be the stewards of the earth and that we should encourage wildlife in our gardens, whether they consist of a humble window-box, a grand stately pile or somewhere in between.

Male Chaffinch

Our feathered friends have more than brightened the snowy days of Winter. They have brought endless pleasure and brilliant colour to an otherwise monochromatic landscape. It has been such fun spending time observing their individual shapes, colours and habits whilst watching them fly in to feast upon my Hubbie's overflowing treats dotted around the garden.

Starling

Each is welcome to our garden, whether it be the rare sightings of the Sparrowhawk or the everyday visits of the humble Sparrow. Each beak is different for each has a different purpose. Some beaks, such as those of the finches, are purpose-built for prizing open seeds, while others, such as those of the Sparrowhawk, are made for tearing flesh.

Dunnock On The Kitchen Window Sill

The Dunnock, or Hedge Sparrow, above, is a ground-feeding bird, often overlooked because he is an inconspicuous brown with a grey head and breast. But, I love his unexpected warbling in the middle of the night, with his loud piping note making me aware of his presence, and his habit of threading his way through the shrubbery or under the table looking for insects or crumbs.

A Ring-Collared Dove At The Bird Table

Since my last post, I have been looking out from the various windows of the house, camera in hand, taking photos and little video snippets of the visiting wildlife at Barleycorn and the magical effect of the changing light on our landscape. You can watch the results in the three videos at the end of the post.

Blue Tit On The Cotoneaster Hedge Under My Studio Window

Today, for example, the sky overhead is like a Tupperware bowl, with almost no delineation of a horizon in the distance, for the snow-covered field and the sky seem to have merged into one. Though I have been looking across the same landscape, each day has been different due to the effect of the light on the snow and close observation has made each new day exciting and full of wonder.

Whooper Swan

We have a beautiful walk which takes us down a country lane and over fields to a well-known local river. While our family were here, and on several days since, my Hubbie and I have gone on this walk. Not only have we have been overwhelmed by the intrinsic beauty of the landscape covered in snow, and the river - frozen in places - but also by the sight of Cormorants fishing, Greylag Geese swimming upstream and majestic Whooper Swans all the way from Siberia, flying overhead. This really is a paradise, which I am enjoying sharing with you all.
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With love in our hearts and joy in our souls we will lead others to find beauty in The Light.

In the video of The Pheasant And Taz the music I used for accompaniment is taken from my CD of Simon Boswell's I know A Place Where The Wild Thyme Blows from the soundtrack of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Pheasant appeared during one heavy fall of snow and made himself at home in the garden on several days. Even though he was much bigger than Taz, the latter had great fun chasing after him, even sliding across the pond behind him on one occasion and lying in wait, ready to pounce. The Pheasant merely gave a loud cock-cock-cock and flew over the wall into the field to join his harem of four females.

The music which accompanies the video Beautiful Barleycorn In The Snow is Air 'On The G String' a track from my CD of Classic FM Relax Disc 2. It's amazing how unfamiliar our garden looks, even to us, under the mantle of a blanket of snow and how each successive snowfall enhanced the Barn and the garden and gave them both an added charm and romance.

The music accompaniment for the video Birds At Barleycorn In The Snow is Spiegel Im Spiegel, a track from my CD Classic FM Relax And Escape. The slow deliberation of each note played on the piano seemed to suit the gentle falling of the snowflakes.