Friday 22 January 2021

My First Snowdrop of the Year and Other Garden Observations

 

We had beautiful blue skies here in our part of Suffolk this morning, and it was a joy to watch the Long-tailed tits feeding from the fatballs. I love the way the top one clings on, projecting its bill forward. These birds are so acrobatic!


A number of folk have been posting about Snowdrops. I looked in the garden a few days ago and failed to see any signs, but today I came across two Snowdrops in flower, virtually hidden in a tangle of undergrowth. They brought a smile to my face!


David and I were out looking for the over-wintering Wasp-spider egg-sacs. We only managed to see one of the four that were in our mini-meadow (aka unmown lawn) last autumn. I hope the others have survived the frost. I wonder if you saw the Wasp-spider photograph on BBC Springwatch yesterday? 

We nearly missed this patch of Cyclamen in a shady corner... I wonder what we will find next.


And meanwhile, here is the Wasp-spider eggsac...



And just in case you have yet to see this striped spider, here is a link to one I saw last year...

6 comments:

Conehead54 said...

Always a joy to see Cyclamen coum- it seems to readily naturalise as does C. hederifolium that flowers from late summer. It's handy that the seeds have a fatty substance that attracts ants which get their reward for dispersing the seeds!

Lovely to see the Wasp spider sac. The adults seemed less numerous my way last season-hopefully they will bounce back this year. I don't know whether you've been watching Winterwatch but there was an amazing photo that somebody sent in with a Wasp Spider feeding on a small Common Lizard trapped in its web-makes a change to grasshoppers & bush-crickets!

Ragged Robin said...

Great news on the first snowdrop and the cyclamen look pretty. I'd love to see a wasp spider - looked at Arne but no success! It is always a joy to see Long Tailed Tits in the garden and on the feeders :)

Caroline Gill said...

Thank you, Conehead54 and RR, for your kind comments, and yes, I did see the photo on BBC Springwatch... quite extraordinary.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Your long tailed tits are adorable! Lovely cyclamens too and always lovely to see the first snowdrop of the year!

Lowcarb team member said...

Thank you for sharing your lovely sightings/photographs.
Enjoy the remaining January days, the month does seem to have gone quite quickly.

All the best Jan

Jennifer Tetlow said...

I watched some Long Tailed Tits the other morning and it almost appeared like they would prefer to be without the long tail - all jostling around the feeder, with tails getting bent, pulled, pushed and preventing quick turning. Sometimes it was difficult to see which tail belonged to which bird. Perhaps they were just very eagerly hungry and forgot themselves. Love your garden finds today.