Nuthatch.

At last a dry day in the garden and a chance to catch up with the pair of nuthatches which are regular visitors.

Ginkgo biloba

I'm a little late posting these leaves of one of our Ginkgo biloba trees but like 

most of the trees in the garden there autumn colour has been spectacular.

Winter Robin

Finally it has stopped raining so I had a productive afternoon in the garden with my camera. This Robin was the star, he really posed well for me, I didn't realize there tongues where so long.

Work in Progress

At last I am getting some pictures of our Nuthatches, they seem to be getting used to the noises of the camera. Still not captured the classic Nuthatch pose but "it's work in progress".

Coal Tit on Burdock

A brief gap in between days of constant rain and a chance to get my big lens out from it's summer hibernation.

Fiery Smoke Bush ( Cotinus coggygria ).

The colour of the leaves on our Smoke Bush have been amazing this year, really living up to it's name.

Autumn Rose

Rosa Kimono still flowering in November and covered in morning dew.

The Last Leaf

The last leaf on our red acer palmatum tree hanging on by a thread. The red acers in the garden have really been quite vivid this year adding a real splash of colour to both the front and side gardens.

Yes, another grey squirrel shot. The leaves are now falling off the Acers providing a nice carpet of colour to photograph the squirrels on.we now have four regulars visiting the garden including this new guy who has half his tail missing.  

Pretty in Pink

Late October and these Japanese anemone flowers are still looking beautiful in the garden. Sometimes called windflowers it is difficult to get them to stay still in the wind so I brought this one inside to photograph.

Annual Squirrel Nut Festival ( 2nd - 4th October ).

With the beginning of the autumn equinox last week, the first weekend of October is now the annual " Nut  Festival " in Gizzies Garden. All the squirrels are very busy gathering and burying nuts, here one has stopped for a moment to actually eat a peanut. Have a great weekend everyone.

The Squirrels are busy.

Autumn must be early this year as our grey squirrels are already in full nut burial mode.

Young Blackbird.

One of our many pairs of Blackbird ( Mr B and Becks ) have successfully reared two lots of youngsters this year. This is one from there second brood.

Indian Summer.

Summer has been back again this week and the plants are blooming again. These Osteospermum have really been the star flower of the year providing a hint of colour even on the rainiest of days.

Trailing Geraniums

These single geraniums have really added a splash of colour to the pots on the patio and are still flourishing when lot of the other plants have sadly finished a little early this year due to a rather damp cold summer.

Pretty in Pink

Sidalcea malviflora a new plant for the perennial bed this year.

Blue Tit on Hornbeam.

We have had a lot of Blue Tit's in the garden this year. This one is perching nicely for the camera on one of our young Hornbeam trees which we planted a couple of years ago.

Summer is here again.

Summer seems to have returned again this week bringing out all the flowers into bloom again.

Heleniums

The Heleniums are now fully out in the garden, hopefully the temperatures next week will match there fiery colours.

Busy Becky

One of our resident Blackbirds has been very busy this week providing food for her youngsters. The live mealworms go down at treat, it is just a case of how many mealworms can she get in her beak in one go !

Oxeye Daisy ( Leucanthemum vulgare ).

This beautiful white daisy is growing in the flowerbed on the patio probably self seeded from the wildflowers in the bottom garden.

Flowers Galore

There where almost too many different flowers to photograph this week in the garden but I chose these delicate Astrantia flowers which are one of my favourites. They are so delicate looking but are infact very tough little guys, slug proof, very hardy and weather proof to a certain degree.

A New Bench

Our new garden bench arrived just in time to sit out in the sun now summer has arrived.

The Take Over

One of our grey squirrels took over my photoshoot in the garden this evening.

Here comes Summer

So officially it is summer on Sunday although the current temperatures do not seem to to reflect it.

Female Blackbird

The blackbirds are very busy at the moment feeding there youngsters, we have at least three nests on the go at the moment. We are missing Casper's presence in the garden keeping all the cats out.

Casper

A very sad day, today we said goodbye to our twenty year old tabby cat, Casper or Mr Casper as he preferred. He was an amazing cat and guardian of the wildlife and keeper of the peace in our garden. He kept all the other cats in the area out of the garden whilst not bothering with the wildlife all around him. I remember last year a blackbird actually landed on his head when he was asleep and our grey squirrels often approached him for some nuts on the patio. Rest in Peace Casper.

Blue Tit and Apple Blossom.

Tonight a chance to combine flower and wildlife photography, just a shame you can only see one leg on the Blue tit but you cannot have everything.

Two's Company

This Robin and Coal tit seemed happy in each others company in the garden. I was surprised how much bigger the Robin is to the Coal tit.

Acers in Leaf

                 Our acers trees seem to have come into foliage overnight all at once.

Robin with Bee

It looks like our garden birds are already nested and feeding, both the blackbirds and robins seem to be collecting beaks full of insects and worms.

Coal Tit on Pot

One of the Coal Tit's in the garden investigating one of our old plant pots.

Time to get ready for spring

Time to get ready for spring, I pruned these hydrangea heads today along with the Buddleia down to a good bud so hopefully they will provide us with good blooms later in the year.

Winter Visitors

We have some winter visitors to the garden, a small flock of Redpoll have taken over the niger seed feeder.

Winter Heathers

These winter heathers have really added a splash of colour to our patio, planted in September they are still going strong in February, when everything else is shivering with the frosts.

Snow Bonnet

More snow this week, this little Daisy flower was sticking out of the snow this morning. I liked it's little bonnet of snow.

First Snow

From first frost to first snow in less than a week, this Pieris japonica is very hardy and provides a hint of colour even when covered in snow.

Snow Time

You cannot have snow in the garden without trying to get a picture of one of the Robin's who visit us for food everyday.

First Frost

The first real frost of the winter covering the leaves of this Pieris japonica shrub in the garden.