Autumn Colour

Mrs McGregor and I have been feeding the birds for several weeks now – I like to stop in the summer when there is an abundance of natural foods for them – but now they are beginning to rely on the food that we put out as well as seed heads and berries in the garden. We have had a couple of cold mornings this week and the feeding stations have been busy places! One of our bird baths, which is really a large terracotta saucer, got broken by the frost last winter, so I have just replaced it and there was a show down between two Starlings and a Blackbird the other day as they jostled for space to wet their feathers! It always amuses me how birds will continue to bathe even in very cold weather but they need to keep their feathers oiled and the water helps. One of my first jobs on a frosty morning is to check that the ‘bath’ is not frozen over and add some warm water from the kettle if it is!

As well as the usual residents, we get migrant members of the Thrush family in the garden if the weather is very cold. Redwings and Fieldfares often hop around after berries and we feed them with suet cakes that include sultanas and currants, as well as any pieces of fruit that have gone too far for use in the kitchen. The Blackbirds are particularly fond of chopped apple and grapes.

The birds cost us a small fortune in seed, peanuts and suet cakes, but I could watch them for hours especially the Blue Tits, as they hang upside down on the feeders and dodge the pecks from bullying House Sparrows!

This week I have been busy tidying the garden shed and moving any leftover fertilizers to the garage if they are not in plastic containers. Too many times, I have forgotten to do this and ended up with hard blocks of fertilizer in the spring, which are often unusable! All of the part used packets of seed have been thrown away and the unopened ones that are left from this year are in a drawer in the dresser – I only hope I don’t forget them next spring! I have discovered to my cost that sowing seed from the previous year’s open packets is a false economy, often with very poor or nonexistent germination so I grit my teeth and throw them out now!

Autumn color is at its peak in many places and the Beech trees near us are a picture of gold, yellow and russet.  The leaves look like pieces of beaten copper on the road each morning and the trees noble branches and trunks only add to the beauty of the scene and are picked out as black silhouettes when back lit by the sun. Yes, autumn has to be my favorite time of the year as plants slow down and gardeners can take a short breather as well!