Page 6 - NewsandViews 2023 whole publication

A Changing Life Laura Sunderland

I’m not getting out and about very much now, so what I can see from my own window? As ever, there is
an area of clear sky which, today, is blue, with heaped clouds, grey or lightened with white, piling up
against the background to which the wind has blown them.

My overgrown buddleia tree, lacking gardening attention throughout lock down, now has long spindly
branches which are tossing in the wind. Despite the wind here are several butterflies using it as a feeding
station. Red Admirals and peacocks visit me every day, displaying their dazzling wings in the sunshine and
bees are frequent visitors. The butterflies pause a moment, then flit off elsewhere. A bee is a far more
methodical feeder. He will stay on one flower, thoroughly exploring its potential for nectar, and sit there,
resting quietly.

I have not been filling the bird feeders as summer’s bounty yields so much natural food, but I do top up
the birdbath with clean water everyday. My reward is to see the visiting blackbirds. One blackbird nearly
fills my little birdbath and he luxuriates himself in there, ruffling his feathers and sipping the water.

The hedge, once so neatly trimmed, is now wildly overgrown. Long strands of honeysuckle and rose fight
each other for space and light, and, occasionally, a beautiful flower appears amidst the tangle.

The lawn is equally overgrown; the long grasses are dotted with foot high daises and coltsfoot. It
would be imposable to mow this lawn as the grass beneath the apple tree is dotted with windfalls. I pick
up a small amount of apples to cook with the blackberries, which are now plentiful. Soon, however I must
go, as I will be moving to a small flat and leaving behind my bountiful garden. I will have a lovely outlook
over green fields and there is a garden to be shared with other residents.

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Garden Moments Pamela Chadbourne

My garden has always been blessed with numerous birds, partly of course because I feed them and also
because there is plenty of cover. It is usual to see numerous birds on each of the hanging feeders, others
waiting in the greenery and many more ground feeding birds busy underneath picking up all the pieces
dropped from above.
The birdbath which is on the ground but on a slightly raised flower bed sees a queue for drinking and
bathing and is often the scene of blackbirds, ring doves and starlings pushing ahead of the smaller birds
and emptying all the water overboard as they bathe.

ThIs morning, having my coffee as I watched all the usual delightful and amusing comings and goings, I
suddenly became aware of a sparrowhawk. It was walking towards the birdbath where four young
sparrows were sitting around its edge. Two flew away as it got to the bath but the others stayed and
watched the hawk drinking hardly inches away. I just held my breath not really believing what I was
seeing and worrying what would happen next. However, the baby sparrows decided to leave and the
hawk stayed surveying the scene for a while before disappearing under the Acer.

It was all over far too quickly but it was just such a special moment

One month later ………… it’s a very different scene now. Just the odd pigeon and the occasional tit on the
feeders to watch. Sometimes I notice the sparrowhawk patrolling. I think he has a perch on the church
tower a few gardens away.

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