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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Flora ......... and, er, um.... little Jack.

 Frilly Blackcurrant Poppies

 Crocosmia 'Lucifer' ~ the wasp, whose bottom you can see, was sitting on my hand as I took the previous photo :O)

 Young, fresh nasturtium leaves and buds ready to burst into flower ~ This is Nasturtium 'Alaska' with its distinctive mottled/variegated leaves

 The Strawberry Patch ~ the little blue pansy grew there all by itself ~ the photo can't convey the wonderful sound of buzzing bees and hornets


A Nasturtium flower at close quarters ~ art at work in nature

........ and this is the one you've all been waiting for.  Come on, admit it!  Here's the little boy himself, only not so little now.  A few days ago, his wildness was becoming more evident and he refused to let me feed him.  He's now feeding himself all the time.  I've transferred him to the greenhouse where he can have some space to grow stronger and exercise his wings until he is able to fly off in safety.  Don't worry, I've got the windows open so he doesn't cook! The windows are closed at night to protect him from cats.  Jack's safe in there for now, but he avidly watches the comings and goings of the other sparrows and cheeps excitedly when he sees them.  I'm glad to say that my earlier worry about him becoming imprinted on me is now forgotten, as his natural instincts are developing daily.  I am absolutely amazed at the difference in him now since a couple of weeks ago when he toppled from his nest.  I'm looking forward to the day when I can take a photograph of him sitting on the fence with all the other sparrows.  Way to go Jack!


11 comments:

  1. Your garden looks lovely and great news about Jack.
    You've done a fabulous job rearing him and I'm sure he will be sitting on your fence in a couple of days

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  2. You eased my worries about Roast Spuggy immediately.
    You've got a heart breaking event coming up mind.
    BUT very fulfilling.( i think that's how it is spelt)fullfilling, fullfiling, fillfulling.......i'll stick with the first one.
    Did y see that bloke with his wild turkeys on telly last night.....i was thinking of you.

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  3. Hello David. :) Thank you! I didn't think we'd get the garden looking anything like this yet, considering the state it was in when we moved here. I'm so pleased, and especially glad that all the heavy work has been done. As soon as Jack's sitting on that fence, I'll post a photograph. :D

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  4. Hi Johnny. lol, roast spuggy. :O) I'm not sure how I'm going to feel until the time comes. I just hope that it has been so fullf.... fulf.... filfu..... worthwhile that any sadness on my part is momentary. Unfortunately, I have no access to the t.v. remote control in the evenings, so I didn't see about the turkeys..... what was that about?

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  5. I had my doubts over the wisdom of hand rearing a sparrow................I was wrong. Great!

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  6. I agree with you Adrian - hand rearing wild baby birds is not to be advised or encouraged. It very rarely ends in success. Part of me kept thinking, would it have been kinder just to leave him there that night. That thought has been with me all along. I think Jack's continuing survival is down to him having been quite strong to start with and he's had minimal handling from me. I wont be 100% happy till he's flying about with the other sparrows.

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  7. Wonderful images of your garden Lesley dear, I especially love the nasturtiums.
    That is such lovely news about Jack and I hope he will be flying around your garden and sitting on the fence with the other sparrows very soon. You have saved his life and my heart goes out to you for your kindness to this dear little bird.
    xoxoxo ♡

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  8. Thank you Dianne. :) I love nasturtiums too. They're bright and cheerful and both the leaves and flowers are pretty. I hope I'm posting soon with even better news about Jack. :D

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  9. I am sooo pleased everything continues to look good with little Jack. The next time I get a little waif or stray I will have to come to you for advice..the last one I had was a newly fledged chaffinch that had flown into my window. It seemed to be doing well but after a few days it suddenly dropped down dead.. hope it was nothing I did wrong. Loved the garden pics especially the one of your strawberry patch..very pretty.

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  10. Hi Helen. :) Sorry to hear about the baby chaffinch. They get really shocked when they fly into windows and I've seen birds lie around for up to an hour before coming round. I've got fancy stickers on my windows to try to alert them that it's a solid substance, but it sometimes still happens.

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  11. Lesley, what a beautiful garden!!! Thank you for sharing the photos. I'm looking forward to hearing more about it! I also love to garden.

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