FISTICUFFS AND FEEDING IN THE GARDEN

As always click on the image to see a larger version.

Well today has been a day of fun and frolics in the garden for the birds.
I decided I really need three cameras in this house, one for the kitchen one for the lounge and one in the study because whenever there is action in the garden, the camera is always in the other room! :-)
It rained incessantly all day yesterday so I didn't go out to replenish the feeders but my goodness... how they made up for it today

Get off... these are mine ... all mine!

The chain is to stop the feeder stand blowing over in the wind. I used less obtusive string originally but they ate that or took it for nesting material.

I'm just out of the bath! Can you see my beautiful colours?

My goodness these fat balls are good.

IN THE GARDEN TODAY

I love this time of year in the garden. I seem to find something new every day as well as watch the progression of old favourites.

The Aliums above and below are reliable in this garden. I'm surprised that the green one is still alive as the gardener almost pulled it out of the ground when he was removing the dead bluebells!

I planted the clematis below last year and I think it is called Belle of Woking. It has so far only produced one flower this time and is struggling a bit. I love the colour and form though.

I found the one below lurking right at the bottom of the garden and it was here when I came.

The bees seem to like these wild red poppies too

This Lewisia is another of the alpines I planted last year and it has been hiding behind the foliage of the spring flowers.

The dark red columbine was lurking in the shrubbery at the bottom of the garden

Isn't this pale blue one beautiful? It is almost transparent in the sunshine

Three different colours of foxgloves are in the front garden

I wish you could smell this beautiful old fashioned rose which is only just beginning to flower.

TODAY'S VISITOR

This little one had been very busy on the fat balls all day I bet there's a nest somewhere in next doors many trees!

And the bees have been very busy today too.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT

This one spotted me pick up the camera but I just caught him.

Here she comes again..... I'm orff!

MORE FROM THE GARDEN

The End... of the tulips for this year

The first rose of summer... this was given to me by the girl who helped me clear my old house and is a lovely reminder of her and all her help.

Isn't this blue Columbine beautiful?

Another of the little chancers that I love to see... this one a wild grannie's bonnet

The variegated holly is flowering. Hope that means there will be berries later

Wild yellow poppies are scattered everywhere at the moment

Can anyone tell me what this plant is?

The Wigelia is out too

More grannies bonnets, this time in the border

The tulips are still doing well but some are fading now. Some of them fade very gracefully like this white one, which simply turns it's petals down one by one before dropping them. 

This one is only just fully out with it's lovely creamy petals

And pretty detail

What a lovely jumble of petals this one has become

As has this one

I wish the naughty birds hadn't removed all the white labels from my plants!

Some more garden pictures to show you today. These are some little Alpine plants in two of the sink gardens

This one has spikes of these little flower clusters all over it

I think this is a roulia shown in it's setting and below is a detail. These little 'flower' shapes are each only about 1cm in diameter. 

I Think this is the last of my new tulips to show you. They have been really beautiful and I am so pleased I planted them. They came out very early but staggered and they have lasted a long time because of our cool wet weather this spring.

The next picture is of my Philadelphus Coronareus Aurus or Mock Orange.
this rather acidic yellow colour really lights up a dark corner of the garden.

My garden birds are so used to me now they look as if they pose.

This is one before he noticed me ....

And now look at this one...I think it is saying aren't I pretty?

Here is another of my tulips with an unusual colour

I have an interesting texture/colour combination to show you today. I wish I could remeber the name of this tulip but I can't I'm afraid. When they were planted the gardener put labels in but the birds pulled them all out!

I'm looking forward to seeing what it looks like when fully out. The tulips came out really early and slowly this year and have lasted a long time which is great.

Hi There. Been a while since I posted for various reasons but I have been taking lots of photographs and here are a few to be going on with. I have been watching the birds in my garden through my study window and they frequently pose for me although as you will see they are always ready to fly off as soon as I move a muscle!
I have also been photographing the Spring flowers as they come out.