Birds, bees and blossoms

One day, standing under the back lilac, a jay landed in next door's birch and stared at me for a few seconds before following his mate to the front of the garden.

Another time, I stepped out the conservatory to see a robin feed his mate on the bird bath, the pair from up the road, I think.

I get very fleeting glimpses of Tane and Mrs. In fact, though Tane may come over when I whistle at the back of the garden, Mrs uses the same cue to determine that it is safe to go to the front of the garden.

Once Tane came over and did a little bow and puffed himself up, as though he were saying, "Look, we're still friends, I just don't have much time, OK"

And the food is an allure.

If not a sufficient one.

As for the bees, I caught one flying above the blackthorn at the Reserve; the other two were in my garden. The one on the rosemary was a lot bigger than the other one, though they both have that lovely dark orange shoulder-pad.

I seem to be seeing a lot of bees: I hope that's the case.

And the blossoms are coming out.

Not a blossom, but a baby horse chestnut, planted by the squirrels!