Blackbird, damselfly and mason bees.

We have blackbirds nesting nearby and the male is often in our back garden looking for worms. 

Here he is tackling a large earthworm  which it took several minutes to subdue to fly off with, it looked like it was going to give up on a couple of occasions, but persevered

The large red damselflies have emerged from our pond, this one is resting on an ornament next to the pond.

The red mason bees are still busy making their nests in the 'bee hotel' 

Mason bees do not have pollen baskets like honey bees or bumble bees, instead they carry it on their body which you can see on the returning bee above.

Lots going on in our greenhouse. Things to eat, plants for the window boxes and also sunflowers which i would miss if we did not have at least a few each year. Good for the bees and birds too.

Tree Loss

The tree overhanging our garden has been cut down. We knew it was imminent and sadly it was necessary to do something with the tree. Due to bad cutting several years ago where the owner cut his side flat, new growth shot up, out over our garden and across our neighbours (to the left).

The tree before it was cut down

The tree (not a British Tree) was 3 times its size from when we moved in and towered twice the height of our bungalow. The engulfed our green house (cutting off most of the sunlight) and some of the branches stretched across the garden to within a couple of metres. Due to bad management of the tree in the past it was not too big and also potentially dangerous.

I would have preferred the tree was cut down to half its size. The tree was important to the movements of several bird species constantly moving through the gardens, especially goldfinch and blue tit. But the tree was not growing in our garden.

The days following the tree being cut down it was strange. The bird calls of goldfinch, sparrow and blue tit which were constant all day were silenced. I am pleased to say that the birds are beginning to adapt their movement and although we don’t get as many in our garden anymore, they are now passing through again.

The nearby nesting blackbirds continue to use our TV ariel as on of its singing posts. The echos of two other blackbirds, one to the south and one to the north, can be heard in the gaps between it singing.

A pair of goldfinches which are nesting nearby also use our TV ariel as a singing post.

Blackbird gaping to keep cool

It was a hot sunny day. I noticed a female blackbird in the front garden gaping and spreading its wings to keep cool.

The blackbird was sitting in the shade of the buddleia bush, in an exposed position. I have witnessed this behaviour on quite a few occasions, once even in the shade of trees in the middle of a park.

The beak was open wide and it appeared to be panting, both designed to reduce the birds internal body temperature.


I was a bit concerned because there are several cats who pass through our garden as well as our own. However, after a while a passer by, walking noisily along the path the other side of the buddleia disturbed the blackbird and it flew off.

Young Blue tits and blackbird

The young blue tit family is still around and being fed by the parents. The single blackbird juvenile from a nest in the same tree is still around the garden. the adults have now stopped calling to it.