For some birds our garden is home and for others it is just somewhere to pass through on the way to somewhere else.  We have blackbirds nesting in the hedges, sparrows, robins and blue tits in the bird boxes and pigeons in the apple trees (one nest right above the garden swing!).  There are probably wrens and dunnocks too although I have never found their nests. 

At this time of year we also have pheasant and partridge wandering through, but not nesting.  They always seem to be going somewhere.  They march through the garden usually in pairs and within the hour march back the other way looking very purposeful.  Maybe they are just enjoying the fact that they have made it through the shooting season and still have a few months grace!

One chick hatched on Sunday and two today, one of which is this cutie.  The other two chicks are dark brown, so we assume they are Wyandottes and this is a Buff Orpington.  They are still very timid and spend most of the time keeping warm inside mums feathers, so this is a rare sighting.  Its unlikely any more will hatch now, which will mean a 50% success rate (which we’re delighted with).

It’ll be sometime before we’ll be able to tell whether they are cocks or hens.  Sometimes the cocks can be distinguished by their comb or the sound they make, but not always.  A couple of years ago we were sure we had three girls and it was only after a few months when we tried to introduce another cockerel that we realised one of the girls was in fact a boy.  It was only when there was male competition that he showed his true colours and since he has very much ruled the roost.

We’re hoping these eggs will hatch this weekend.  We put them under our broody pekin bantam 19 days ago, which means D Day should be in 2 days time.  Last year we waited in vain, so we’re trying not to get our hopes up, but I know that Saturday morning we’ll be out there early having a peek.

One of the extraordinary things about hatching hens eggs is that you can buy them online.  We have a handsome light sussex cockerel so have our own fertile eggs, but we like to have a mix of breeds so bought 3 buff Orpington eggs and 3 wyndots, neither of which we have had before.

The eggs arrive through the post and then you have 2 or 3 days in which to start hatching them, either under a broody hen or in an incubator.  We like to use a hen, as the chicks then have a mum, but its much less reliable.  If the hen lets the eggs go cold, its no chicks.  Its almost as chancy as germinating some vegetable seeds.

Hasn’t it been an amazing year for ladybirds?  They were abundant last year and now they seem to appear out of every nook and cranny.  The more the merrier I say.

And many garden birds are doing well too according to the results from the latest garden birdwatch survey, despite the intensely cold spell in December.  Sightings of goldcrests. long-tailed tits and treecreepers all increased significantly, even though none have ever been spotted in our garden.  Maybe they have been there, but I have missed them.

Butterflies haven’t had it so good though.  Data collected by Butterfly Conservation shows worrying declines in once-common species, with numbers of small tortoiseshell falling by 68% and peacock butterflies dropping by 30% in the last 10 years. The good news is that we can all do something about it.  We can plant nectar rich flowers like buddleia (there are more dramatic varieties available if you don’t fancy the naturalised one that populates railways cuttings), Verbena bonariensis (the one with fabulous purple spires all summer long) and marjoram (oregano, the best herb for homemade pizza).

Germinating seeds is one of my favourite gardening activities.  I love the miracle, that a tiny seed can turn into a plant. And I love the chanciness of it, that success is not guaranteed.  One wrong step and you can easily end up with nothing.

So far this year tomatillos and lettuces are the only seed up.  I don’t bother with germinating tomatoes any more as our nearest garden centre now sells so many varieties.  I have started my gem squashes, but there’s no sign of life yet.  I usually don’t sow squashes until late April but gems seem to be slower starters than the other squashes so I thought this year I’d give them a head start  (plus I have for the first time noticed that the packet suggests sowing in March!). 

Giving plants a head start doesn’t always mean the crop will be earlier though.  I reckon that if I sow Aquadulce broad beans in November, they will only be ready for harvesting a week or so before those sown in February.  And if I start off other squashes and courgettes in pots to give them a head start, they soon get caught up by seeds planted later directly into the ground.  For me the advantage of starting seeds off in pots is less an early harvest and more about slug control, which is easier in my cold frame.  Later sowing just means getting out into the veg patch with broken egg shells and beer traps!