Insects have all but vanished from the air. At the feeders and feeding trays in the yard, birds arrive, rain or not. I wedge fat balls into the hollow of the willow trunk; woodpeckers make short work of them—one ball gone in a day. We’ve also started mixing dried mealworms into the seed mix.
No sign of the Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) or Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula) for a week now. But others visit daily, persistent even beyond sunset in the deepening dusk:
- Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
- House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
- Great Tit (Parus major)
- Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
- Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
- Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris)
- European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris)
- Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes)
Occasionally, the air stirs with movement from a Common Swallow (Hirundo rustica) or a Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus). A Magpie (Pica pica) flashes past the garden.
Though spring tries to settle, the weather remains restless. A sudden warmth is forecast for the weekend—nearly 30 °C, a sharp turn from today’s drizzle. But by Sunday, the temperatures will tumble low again, as rain and storms are coming, and beyond it, perhaps even frost.
The land seems to hold its breath.
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