With the thaw, the garden went from white and sparkling to grey last week. However, the birds continue to feed in great numbers which has attracted a male sparrowhawk again – such a handsome bird and a skilled hunter but I always feel a small pang when he carries off a blue tit or chaffinch. Still he has to eat just like everything else and our window feeders are now attracting wood mice as well as a range of birds. With birding very much on my mind in this weather, I stopped off in Tenbury Wells just a few miles south of here on the chance of a glimpse of a bittern that has taken up residence on the river bank there. Great views of the bittern with the bonus of 100 waxwings in the park there too.
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About wildlifegardening
Jenny Steel was a Plant Ecologist at Oxford University before becoming a writer. She has more than 20 years experience of writing about and teaching ecology, natural history and wildlife gardening. She is also a photographer, journalist and former plant nursery owner, and a lecturer and tutor in adult education. She has appeared on a variety of radio and television programmes including Gardener’s World with Alan Titchmarsh, and she presented a series of items on the BBC 2 gardening show, How Does Your Garden Grow. She has worked with and written for a variety of organisations including the Royal Horticultural Society, Natural England, Atropos, Ernest Charles, the Adult Residential Colleges Association (ARCA), Haiths, Usborne Books, Complete Gardens, Oxfordshire County Council, the charity Growing Native and several of the Wildlife Trusts. She is also the Garden Bird Guru for the wild bird food company JustAddBirds of which she was a co-founder. The Emmy Award winning film company Panache Productions are currently making a film about her wildlife garden in South Shropshire. She has written 10 books on wildlife gardening. Her website can be found at www.wildlife-gardening.co.uk and her bird food company at www.JustAddBirds.co.uk
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