… mysterious jiggerypokery …

Coal tit

One of the wettest Januaries segued into a sodden early February.

No butterflies or bumblebees on the wing. Our feral honeybee colony was active with a handful of bees around the colony entrance.

A single March moth on the garage wall. Far too wet to put the moth light out.

Grey squirrels burdened with leaf litter for their dreys. A song thrush in good voice. Coal tits busy.

Mallards prospecting for nest sites..

On a garden stump a pair of mallards perched together, prospecting for nest sites. We were reminded of the section in Bitch by Lucy Cooke that detailed how mallard females, when subjected to unwonted sex from amorous males can, by mysterious jiggerypokery, send unwelcome sperm into internal cul-de-sacs so that only her chosen male fertilises her eggs.

Although mallards make breeding attempts here each year, the ducklings are almost-always predated by foxes, magpies, carrion crows or buzzards.