Gardening

    

Gardening

Jay (Garrulus glandarius) taken a few years ago

It was a beautiful day yesterday, and the sun is shining brightly again, today. though not as warmly. Therefore, out into the garden we ventured to bring the wilderness into some sort of order. That entailed pruning (polite word for savaging) several innocent shrubs and trees. We have an hour’s extra daylight now. I jest – it’s only half an hour.

Anyway, it looks a little tidier now. There’s still much to do, but, oh, boy! I ache. I must be getting old. (Must I? Do I have to?)

There is much activity outside. Butterflies flutter by, birds sing fit to bust and chase each other round and round, and squirrels scamper through the still bare oak tree highways.

For three days now, a jay (Garrulus glandarius) has visited our garden. It’s unusual at this time of year. We see them in the autumn, when they’re collecting and caching acorns, a habit responsible for the rapid spread of oak trees after the last Ice Age, around 115,000 to 11,700 years ago (that was a cruel, harsh winter!)

It was probably eating insects. Fortunately, it is too early for the stag beetles to emerge – they are in enough danger without becoming a tasty snack.

Jays are the most colourful of the European corvids and always a joy to see. They are shy, woodland birds, unlike their bold strutting relatives, the smartly dressed magpies, and the clever, cunning, soberly clad crows and jackdaws.

Jay is an archaic term, from the early seventeenth century, for a foolish or dim-witted person. In the 1900s, in the US, it was used to describe an unworldly person, particularly from a rural area, not accustomed to the hustle and bustle of city life, and unaware of the dangers inherent in crossing a busy road.

From that meaning arose the term, ‘jaywalking.’ Jaywalking, or crossing a road against the lights, or not at a designated crossing, or simply, carelessly, is frowned upon in many cultures and can lead to a fine.

Popinjay derives from an Arabic word, babbagha, meaning parrot. A person described as a popinjay was considered conceited and overly absorbed with their appearance. It also indicated someone who talked much but said little of import, an empty sounding vessel. It was in common use for several hundred years, from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It is a word which could be brought back usefully into the modern lexicon.

‘Jay’ is also modern slang for a joint, or hand-rolled cigarette containing cannabis.

A to Z challenge 2023 – J is for . . .

 

A to Z challenge 2023 – J is for . . .

My theme for this challenge is Nature in all much of her wonderful diversity. My posts will reflect the fact that I am resident in the south of England.

All photographs in this post are the property of the writer.

J is for Jackdaw (Corvus Monedula)

The jackdaw is the smallest member of the corvid family, widespread across the British Isles, apart from the far north-west of Scotland. It is an adaptable bird, living in habitats as diverse as coastal reaches, woodland and towns and gardens, and nesting on cliffs or in holes in trees or chimneys.

                                               Best foot forward . . . 

The jackdaw’s diet consists of seeds, fruit, insects and carrion and occasionally eggs, hatchlings or nestlings.

                   Jackdaws will also inhabit church steeples, which habit was remarked by the 18^th century poet, William Cowper:-

‘A great frequenter of the church,

Where bishop-like he finds a perch

And dormitory too.’

In parts of Wales the jackdaw was considered sacred because of this practice.

A legend among early Christians was that all corvids were originally white and took on black plumage after the crucifixion of Christ, with the exception of magpies, which were too busy stealing to mourn properly and only turned black in parts. I don’t know where jays came in the equation, though!

 A jackdaw on the roof may announce a birth or might equally be a portent of death (or possibly, macabrely, both) If a jackdaw stands on a cathedral weather vane it is foretelling rain, and if one is encountered on the way to a wedding it is considered good luck.

Jackdaw high in an oak tree

The common name jackdaw first came into use in the 16^th century and probably derives from ‘Jack’ meaning rogue, or small (as in jack snipe and jack knife) or from the sound it makes (tchack), and daw, once used to describe a simpleton.

Jackdaws have an affinity with humans and can recognise individuals, a skill they share with other corvids.

 This smallest of the crows is credited with intelligence, mischievousness, shrewdness and thievery – all other attributes it has in common with (some) humans!

 

Jay (Garrulus glandarius)

                                      This Jay's crop is quite full!

The jay is the most colourful of the corvids but is shy and therefore not often seen in gardens. In autumn jays forage for acorns and bury them in caches to provide food in leaner periods. Those that are not found are left to grow into oak trees. The rapid spread of oak trees after the last Ice Age is thought to be a consequence of the jay’s habit of caching and leaving.

Listening . . . 

Before oak trees were planted commercially, jays were the main source of distribution and propagation, a single bird having the ability to spread more than a thousand acorns annually. They have been recorded carrying single acorns a distance of 20 km (almost 12½ miles)

In addition to acorns, jays eat other nuts, seeds and insects, and like their fellow corvids, they will sometimes take eggs and nestlings from nests.

Though their natural call is unmusical, a screech rather than a tune, jays are gifted mimics, reproducing the songs of small birds, and the alarm calls of blackbirds. They can also imitate everyday domestic sounds, like dripping taps, humming machines and humans whistling.

An interesting habit that jays share with more than 200 species of birds is that of ‘anting’. Birds may practice ‘active anting’ in which they pick up ants in their beaks and rub them on their bodies, or they may use ‘passive anting’, when they lie with wings outspread in an area rich in ants. In both cases, the ants react defensively, secreting formic acid, which acts as an insecticide to kill off parasitic mites in the feathers.

ABC Wednesday Q is for Quercus and Quince

There was a flowering Quince (Chaenomeles) already in the garden when we bought this house, more than thirty years ago. It has survived rather than thrived, usually producing a few red flowers and three or four yellow fruits. I have never attempted to do anything with them since I don’t think it’s worth the effort to produce probably less than one egg cupful of quince jelly. The fruits are impossibly bitter, difficult to peel and take a long time to cook but aficionados declare them a rare treat. They can also be pickled.

View of oaks from our garden

There is an abundance of Quercus in this area. They are mostly English oaks (Quercus robur or Quercus pedunculata) producing acorns which nestle in cups at the ends of long stems. The pedunculate oak is a long-lived tree native to most of Europe. It commonly measures its life in centuries, the oldest two in UK, in the New Forest of Hampshire and in Lincolnshire, being around 1000 years old.

Fresh leaves in April

Oak supports more than 400 species of insects, more than any other British plant and is an important food source, in the form or acorns, for many small mammals and birds. 

Jays (Garrulus glandarius) were the principal propagators of this oak before the development of commercial planting. It is a hardwood tree grown for its long-lasting heartwood which is much in demand for interiors and furniture.

We often see squirrels racing round the trunks or leaping from branch to branch

The English oak is a national emblem, its importance originating in the oak tree in which the future Charles II hid during the English Civil War. From that time it was known as the Royal Oak. May 29^th is Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day and was so named by Act of Parliament more than 350 years ago. You can read more about it here.

Two of our oaks being cut down on a very cold January day

‘The Royal Oak’ is one of the most popular names for English public houses and eight Royal Navy warships have been commissioned with the name Royal Oak. In Tudor times oak was the main construction material for warships and the Royal Navy’s official quick march is ‘Heart of Oak.’



Come, cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer,
To add something more to this wonderful year;
To honour we call you, as freemen not slaves,
For who are so free as the sons of the waves?

(Chorus)

Heart of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men,
we always are ready; Steady, boys, steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again

The oak is the commonest woodland tree in England but must grow for 70 to 80 years before it produces its first acorns.


Click here for more Qs

ABC Wednesday J is for . . .

Jonquil (Narcissus jonquilla) in April

Jasmine (Jasminum beesianum) 

This jasmine flowers profusely in June, July and August and is very attractive to bees and other insects. Its sweet smell wafts on warm breezes and combines with honeysuckle and roses to create an intoxicating scent. The flowers are tiny and are succeeded by shiny black berries.

Juvenile robin in June. The trademark red breast is just beginning to develop colour.

Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) aka Eurasian Jackdaw, European Jackdaw or Western Jackdaw – sometimes just known as Jack and named for its harsh ‘tchack’ call.

This year a family of four visited our bird table for many consecutive days to feed on ham fat and dry bread – a feast indeed! Jackdaws are opportunistic feeders and are known to steal eggs and bright, shiny objects. Hand-reared birds are friendly and will not fly off with wild jackdaws.

Landing or taking off?

Jay (Garrulus glandarius) Magpies are handsome but Jays are pretty.

There are many jays in the forest but occasionally we have one visit our garden to feed from the feeders or to probe for insects in the grass.

Click here for more Js!