How A Meadow Starts

When we returned home from holiday, lots of things had changed in the garden. For one, the lawn was running riot, so mowing occupied me yesterday.

Also, the birds have changed. We now have several families of adults and fledglings raiding our feeders, including Starlings, Blue Tits and Great Tits. But the biggest birdy news is that for the first time in nearly twenty years we have House Sparrows visiting us.

When we first moved in, in 1978, we saw House Sparrows all the time. Then they disappeared. Once or twice a year we would see a single bird, but that was all. A couple of days before we went on holiday, we saw two fledglings being fed in one of our bushes. Well, they've hung around and we now see them on a daily basis. I couldn't be more pleased if an Osprey landed in the garden. Oh......OK....slight exaggeration, but I am very pleased.

Plants have changed as well. Earlier in the year, Rebecca sowed some wild flowers, with the aim of a meadow-like effect behind the garage. The bonus is that the flowers should attract Butterflies. We left runty seedings. A week later we have come back to shoots with buds. This blip is of the first plant to flower. Bring on the meadow!