Sunshine and Crocuses
In this newsletter:
My garden this week
Nestbox update
Preparation for my 100th episode
Tip of the week - Helping nest builders
Podcast Recommendation: Into the Wild Podcast
Suzy’s Bird Notes
My garden this week
Today has been a beautiful day in my garden. Daffodils are sprouting, their green stalks stretching up to the sky, and our few Crocuses are out in bloom. The sun was out in a blue sky, and so many birds were singing. It really filled my heart with joy.
This week I was delighted to see a Blackcap in my garden. The Blackcap is a small grey warbler. The male has a black crown and the female has a brown one. Some individuals stay throughout the winter, and others arrive in the Spring to breed here.
When I saw the bird, dusk was falling, and I was just about to close my curtains. I noticed a small grey bird on the feeder tray containing the suet in the coconut shell. At first I thought it was a Dunnock, but then I realised it had a black crown. That is a first sighting for my garden for 2021! Today I saw a female Blackcap fly through my garden and land on my neighbour's tree. I can't include that in my garden count - but maybe it will return to my garden.
The Hedgehog has continued to venture outside of its box most nights, as evidenced by the poop I have found around the garden! I have been clearing away the bird seed each night (I put the seed tray on top of my tall bird table) and putting out dry kitten food for the Hedgehog, as a supplementary food. I hope this Hedgehog continues to thrive and see my garden as its base.
Nestbox update
Last week was National Nestbox Week. A few weeks ago I took down a nestbox that was in an inappropriate position in the garden. When I mounted it last year, I hoped that it would mainly be in the shade. But as the year progressed, I realised it was getting quite hot during the day. Luckily nothing nested in it.
I still wanted to have a second box in the garden so last weekend we put it on the side of our garden cabin (or summerhouse). Here is an exclusive video, only available to newsletter readers, showing the boxes in my garden.
Let me know if you can view it ok. I plan to provide you with more exclusive content in the coming weeks.
Courtship
I was delighted to see the Wood Pigeon pair pictured at the top of the newsletter strengthening their bond through allopreening (preening another bird) on my fence this week.
There is also a short video. I hope you enjoy it.
Tip of the week - Help the nest builders
Help those building nests by providing nesting material. If you are doing any garden trimming or tidying, cut sticks and twigs into smaller sections and leave them in piles around the garden. Maybe lay a plant pot on its side and leave the materials there.
We did this last weekend and I have already noticed a Blackbird taking some twigs, along with dried leaves, for its nest in the neighbourhood.
Moss is also a great nest material - luckily our front north-facing lawn has enough moss to help out several thousand birds! Dried grasses, dead stems and exposed roots may also be gathered for nests.
It is advised that you do not leave out human or pet hair, or lint from the drier, as these materials may have chemicals toxic to birds, and may also cause entanglement.
Where have I been? (Virtually)
In this month's Birdwatcher's Digest, an article by Bryony Angell highlights birding podcasts made by women.
I get a mention, but you should definitely check out the other shows that get an in-depth review!
Your help needed (Part I)
The 100th episode of The Casual Birder Podcast is coming up in a few weeks’ time!
I have been looking for ideas on how we should celebrate this! So far, the suggestions have been:
A live episode - with a panel of 3 listeners
A clip show featuring 'best of' moments and bloopers
A retrospective on The Casual Birder Podcast's history
Do let me know what you would like. And if you have any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
Your help needed (Part II)
I am trying to make sure that my show, and the associated outputs, are accessible to as many people as possible.
To that end, I have started creating show transcripts, putting closed captions on my videos, and ensuring that I describe the content of any photographs I post.
As there is already a lot of content that requires updating on my website, this will take some time.
If you know of further improvements I can make to the accessibility of my show, I would like to hear from you.
Recommendation - Into the Wild Podcast
I listened to the latest episode of Into the Wild podcast: Getting Ryan Into Birding Part 1 with Jack Baddams, Indy Greene & Lucy Lapwing.
It was a very entertaining episode, which made me laugh out loud many times! We discovered the birding backgrounds of Jack, Indy and Lucy, and hear their attempts at convincing Ryan to take up birding!
Oh, and Indy mentioned Goshawks a few times!
The Casual Birder Podcast
Current episode:
This week’s episode features podcaster and author of Podcasting for Dummies, Evo Terra. Evo describes the birds he encountered while living in Australia, in his own inimitable way.
And read Evo’s article here:
Past episode suggestion:
Yellowhammer on Watership Down - Join me on a morning bird walk on Watership Down in Hampshire, where I was delighted to see one of the rarer birds of the British Countryside: a Yellowhammer!
Visit my website for photos, blogs, and episode transcripts
Keep in touch
You can send me a voice or written message here:
Support the show
If you would like to support the production of the podcast, please consider buying me a virtual coffee.
If you enjoyed this newsletter, share it with a friend!