Another month has flown by and Christmas seems but a distant memory. The gradual lengthening of the days has become noticeable, but the weather remains unpredictable. There are now obvious signs of spring though. Apart from the slightly milder temperatures, there are flowering Snowdrops in the garden, buds appearing on trees, and a distinct change in the behaviour of the birds. During the depths of winter, it tends to be everyone for him and her self. However, now— more often than not— I am seeing birds in pairs and hear them calling to each other in the trees. They are also beginning to check out holes in tree trunks and nest boxes. Clearly I am not the only one who feels that spring is imminent. Talking of nest boxes, I decided to make a couple from repurposed wood, they are now placed in the orchard and I am hopeful that they will be used.
Whilst out on my morning walk the other day, one of the locals stopped me. He was very excited and talking at a rapid rate of knots in French. I haven’t mastered the language yet but was able to slow him down and eventually understand what he was telling me, that he had seen a large bird sitting up in a tree nearby. On approaching the tree, I caught sight of a magnificent White stork (Cigogne in French). I had never seen one before so it was quite a moment for me. I thanked the gentleman profusely and he went on his way. I got the feeling that he had been as excited as me. I managed to get as close as I could, took a few photos and then left the bird in peace.
I continued on to the orchard. Above me, high in the sky, I could see and hear Buzzards circling whilst calling to each other. There were three in total and I suspect it was two males trying to impress a female. Further on down the track I saw Roe deer scuttling off into the woods as they picked up my scent on the breeze. There are plenty here and I see them often, but I still get the same level of excitement when I do. The first thing I saw when I arrived at the orchard was a fresh Pine marten dropping. There is one that visits regularly and I have taken to leaving an egg on a log pile occasionally, the trail cam has provided the evidence of who is taking it!
As I have described in previous blogs, there are a lot of Great tits and Blue tits in the orchard. I find it a great source of entertainment watching them squabble and bicker. When I watch though, I see parallels in our own lives. One example was when I recently witnessed a Blue Tit standing its ground against a larger Great Tit. It was not going to be intimidated or bullied, and eventually the Great tit backed off.
For us humans, climate change is raising the heat in more ways than one. With the additional misery of Covid-19 added to the mix for the last couple of years, emotions are running high with the many griefs and anxieties of our time. Incidents of bullying and aggressive behaviour can increase in difficult times as a knee-jerk reaction to the intense personal fear of vulnerabilities being exposed. Blue Tits are not intimidated by bigger birds; they use their mental and physical agility to dodge threats and they stand their ground. We can do the same if we are threatened. It’s up to us to learn how to stand our ground to protect our physical and emotional spaces.
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