Our garden is a tiny patch of green in the urban landscape around. Most gardens up and down our street are paved and walled, an uninviting sight for any wildlife. But wildlife does come to us. The thick ivy hedge at the bottom of our garden is home to two feathered visitors every year. The blackbirds, who we have named Steve and Stevetta, arrive in early spring to gorge on fallen crab apples and start nest-building. Using the “wattle and daub” method, they weave grass into a rough bowl and plaster it with mud. It takes around two weeks to build and the result is an unusually solid nest. After a while we hear chirps and cheeping and know that the chicks have hatched. Then the parents are a constant sight, darting in and out of the hedge.
