What are we doing in the garden 2024

Planted out some salad seedlings in the polytunnel this morning. Picked some kale leaves and the last pak choi from the tunnel as well. Our builder neighbour came round and refixed one of the pan tiles that the last storm had taken out.

 

I don't get any in the garden either but there are plenty in the neighbourhood. I think they just have a preference for certain kinds of hedge. Just around the corner from me is a big colony and sometimes when I walk past they are all so busy squabbling and chasing each other that they nearly collide with me.

 

I haven't seen a proper sparrow here for ages either, we get the occasional Dunnock but that's it. We had to stop putting bird food out last year. There was too much trouble with rats. Shame as we get far fewer birds now but there it is.
Volunteer day today, more Acer pruning.

 

Did most of what I wanted to do in the back garden but the slate chippings are embedded in thick clay mud still. I'm going to wait until the Spring in the hope that the weather might help to disperse it by then.

 

They say sparrows are certainly in decline in many areas, which is a great pity. We have all sorts of hedging around here - hawthorn, privet, laurel, beech, mixed native etc. I don't think that really has much to do with it - and is more about having suitable food sources and nesting sites. Some hedges will be better for that though. My neighbour across the footpath at the front has them nesting every year in the ivy on his garage wall, and they flit back and forth between us for food. It's been a bumper year for them this year as it's been so mild from earlier on, carrying on through autumn, so they seem to have managed a third brood, when normally 2 broods would have been the norm due to the shorter season we have here.
Loads of dunnocks too - one of our most common garden visitors.
The ground looks like it's probably thawed out now, but nothing will be done out there. It's basically as it is until spring now, and looking forward to seeing all the potted bulbs.

 

I have either sparrows or dunnocks (sorry, not sure I can tell the difference) on my feeders most days. Which reminds me that today I must fill the feeders up.

 

The markings on dunnocks are more muted and look like little black dashes @katecat58 . They have pinky legs too. Heads are smaller than a male sparrow, but they can sometimes look like female sparrows if you don't get a good look at them. They're mainly a duller grey and brown.

 

Thanks @fairygirl, perhaps mine are Dunnocks then, but some of the have black caps - would they be males?

 

If there's black caps, they aren't dunnocks- they look the same whether male or female.
The birds in my frosty pic are male house sparrows.

 

The other feature I was told to look for is the beak, Dunnock tend to have a more pointed beak similar to a Robin, but not as long. A sparrow beak is very short almost triangular. They flit about so much you need very keen eyes to be able to see though.

 

We do get Dunnocks, either singles or as a pair in spring, bit never any sparrows.
There are plenty at a local nature reserve apparently but they don't seem to come here.

We do get lots of Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Greenfinch though.

 

Not much going on in the garden apart from leaf gathering! Plenty of sparrows here, probably our most common bird, the odd dunnock and wren.

 

Does anybody grow Dahlia “Painted Lady”? Saw some on GW last night and I’m smitten

 

If you're seeing small dull brown/grey birds with black caps, you might be looking at Blackcaps. The females have a chestnut cap. They used to be just a summer visitor, but in recent years more and more of them have been overwintering.

 

I have finally managed to get the last of my bulbs in. Tulips in the front garden, snowdrops in the back, and a big pot of tulips, daffs and muscari. Had to make a trip to B&Q for a new pot as I'd already used all my big ones.