Tower and Town, August 2019 (view the full edition)In A Marlborough GardenSpring - a positive time of year. Leaves unfurl and the first flowers reveal their bright, happy colours. Daylight hours increase and a frenzy of wildlife activity returns to the garden. The small pond is full of frog spawn and newts are returning, unexpectedly, after the erasure of the Van Diemen's wildlife haven. A visiting heron has its patience rewarded by a meal of an unwary frog. Blue and Great tits squabble for the best nest boxes, while blackbirds, thrushes, robins and chaffinches start their dawn chorus. As the clocks change, nest building is well under way and birds gather moss from the unruly lawn. Insects increase in numbers - vital for the food chain. April rolls into May, hatching tadpoles crowd around the pond's edge whilst the first swallows and swifts announce their return. A green woodpecker hops around the lawn, probing ant nests for food. Finches squabble over the sunflower hearts while starlings boldly and greedily empty the window feeders. A blackcap patrols the wildlife hedge, his wonderful warble betraying his perch. Occasionally, a sparrowhawk swoops in for a meal! As summer arrives, juvenile birds beg food from harassed parents. The trail camera reveals visits of muntjac, foxes and hedgehogs. Bats hunt above the pond on balmy evenings. (Sadly, slow worms are yet to return following the recent school development.) Nights lengthen, autumn approaches, summer visitors depart and froglets leave the pond. Dragonflies lay eggs around the pond's margins, their wispy wings crackling on rushes and stones. With the first frosts, the natural hedge begins to drop its leaves revealing previously hidden bird nests. Foraging is restricted during the cold months as natural food becomes scarce. Small birds depend more on feeders. Sunflower hearts are favoured, along with mealworms and suet pellets. Loose flocks of finches and tits visit periodically, brightening up the winter scene. Hidden in the bleakness of winter, amphibians take up residence in the untidy corners of the garden; log piles give shelter to hibernating hedgehogs while ivy provides a roost for many birds and insects.  Fox by Pond (night vision camera) Spring is not far away... Trevor Dobie |