06.04.16
About this time of year I am usually writing the same rather predictable stuff, celebrating the arrival of avian visitors from overseas. For once it seems I have got in early, so I can tell you simply that we are waiting…
Steve claims he saw a swallow amongst a mass of sand martins we saw over Loch Ettrick this afternoon and I definitely heard a chiffchaff. But until we see any of these birds at McMurdoston they don’t count. With luck they know we’ve been making preparations – Steve has put up several new swift boxes and even stuck up some old swallows’ nests which had fallen down in the barn. I’ve been chucking out my old apples, stored over the winter and now starting to become deliciously rotten. I’m not sure who likes them best – the pheasants or the blackbirds, but even some of the latter are migratory, so need a treat on arrival.
On a more long-term note we are in the process of building a much larger pond at McM. The one we put in a couple of years ago is tiny and yet attracts an impressive array of wildlife. Currently it has 5 lots of frogspawn in it, masses of snails, beetles, whirlygigs and other little creepy-crawlies. Who knows what the bigger one will bring…? I’m just hoping for one bracing length of crawl before the critters take over!
We are also going to get some bees – quite a challenge for novices, but learning is always good (if terrifying!). Watch this space…
