Jane at Levant: It's ABC Wednesday and F is for Fabulous Flowers and Feathered Friends

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

It's ABC Wednesday and F is for Fabulous Flowers and Feathered Friends

F is for Fabulous flowers - a carpet of snowdrops in my header pic and a bright yellow Hamamelis or witch hazel to some flowering for the first time in the border- see pic below.

Just look above at this fantastic little fighter - my Torbay Palm - originally stood approx 10 metres tall -raised from a tiny pot plant and taken by the severe UK weather in 2010-2011 and was cut to the ground only to now begin new growth - next to new plant on the block - the witch hazel.

F is for Feathered Friends - the following are a few pics of frequent visitors calling by for a feast A greenfinch and a goldfinch tolerate each other on the feeder -

A starling swoops down for a raisin

A blackbird joins the queue for the raisin dish

We have a small colony of house sparrows in the clematis at the bottom of the garden - I love to hear their cheerful chirping - we also have a sparrow nesting box - it is a double dwelling - which is supposed to attract them - but all we get to nest in there is a bluetit ! Finally F is for Friendship far and wide - have a fantastic week I am linking to ABC Wednesday and Nature Notes along at Rambling Woods why not come along with me and meet more friends

14 comments:

Posie21 February 2012 at 05:22
Hello....lovely to catch up...very fitting that f is for friendship far and wide!! Love all of the birds in the garden, we have yellow hammers here just now, it feels like spring is just around the corner. Lovely photos as always x
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Jane and Chris21 February 2012 at 07:08
I am amazed at the snowdrops WOW!
Does the witch hazel have a scent?
You know I loved the birds shots..are the finches year round visitors?
Jane x
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jane21 February 2012 at 09:09
Yes Jane the witch hazel has a light perfume - the finches are with us all year round - we do get a bull finch as well but I haven't managed to get a decent pic of him as yet Jane x
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photowannabe21 February 2012 at 09:32
Love the pictures of your "friends". I never saw a green finch before.
Nice to see your palm coming back too.
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Roger Owen Green21 February 2012 at 11:09
You're right. The flowers DO look like snow FLAKES.

ROG, ABC Wednesday team
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Molly21 February 2012 at 13:12
The carpet of snowdrops look so lovely. It really does look as if Spring is coming round at last,
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EG CameraGirl21 February 2012 at 13:44
I'm envious that you have snowdrops blooming already! They truly are fabulous growing in the woods. :)
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Kim, USA21 February 2012 at 19:26
I planted snow drops last year and hope to see them this year. ^_^

Letter F
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Chubskulit Rose21 February 2012 at 20:39
Fantastic feather friends you've got.

Forty Three

Chubskulit, ABC Wednesday Team
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Carver22 February 2012 at 05:43
Wonderful shots of the fine feathered friends and flowers. Great way to combine the two themes.
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Dianne22 February 2012 at 08:30
the header shot is wonderful
and all the birds!! so sweet
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Rambling Woods22 February 2012 at 09:08
There was so much damage to so many parts of the world...Mother Nature doesn't have favorites when it comes to her weather...

I love all the birds and didn't know that starlings eat fruit..I have about 20 house sparrows here and of course they should be living in your country and I understand they are in trouble there....

The little dark bird in my snowy photo is a dark-eyed junco which breeds up north in Canada and spends the winter more south in my area. He was all puffed up due to the cold...

Thank you for posting to Nature Notes Jane..Have a great week..Michelle
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eileeninmd22 February 2012 at 14:16
Hello Jane, I love your feathered friends. And your header shot of the snowdrops is beautiful. Thanks for sharing your nature photos. I hope you have a great week, what left of it.
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cathy@home23 February 2012 at 00:56
Lovely Snowdrops and you do have a lot of visitors to your garden.
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FAIRY -LED

The fairy people flouted me,
Mocked me ,shouted me
They chased me down the dreamy hill and beat me with a wand
Within the wood they found me ,put spells on me and bound me
And left me at the edge of day in John the miller's pond
Beneath the eerie starlight;
Their hair shone curd -white
Their bodies were all twisted like a lichened apple tree
Feather -light and swift they moved,
And never one they loved,
For all were full of dreams and dark designs on me.

With noise of leafy singing
And white wands swinging
They marched away amid the grass that swayed to let them through.
Between the the yellow tansies
Their eyes,like purple pansies,
Peered back on me before they passed all trackless in the dew.

Mary Webb - from the Spring of Joy

Three softly curved white sepals veined with light,

Three green-lined petals,guarding frugal gold,

And all so strong to fold or to unfold!

Snow thunders from the bending pines.How slight

This frail,sheathed stem! Yet all unbent it springs,

So swift in stoopings and recoverings.

In the pale sunshine,with frail wings unfurled,

Comes to the bending snowdrop the first bee.

She gives her winter honey prudently;

And faint with travel in a bitter world,

The bee makes music, tentative and low,

And spring awakes and laughs across the snow.

Mary Webb

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