Finally!

W00t, I've finally moved! Plenty of stress and upset, but I should probably be grateful that it was far quicker than most other people experience.

In total it took almost exactly 10 weeks from getting the solicitor sorted to moving in. So in total it took us 10 weeks and 4 days from seeing the house, putting an offer on and then moving in.

It's just a shame I'm now in 30 year's worth of debt!! Lol

Not to worry quite so much, as I didn't stretch myself so it means there's room for over-payment to help it go down faster.

I haven't moved too far, just to the other side of the area I was already in, so perhaps 5/10 minutes away. Unfortunately I'm now no longer next to the park (not that I'd get much of the birdlife anyway) and I will really miss my Nuthatches ]:

Instead though I now have many, many Sparrows, Blackbirds and the dreaded Pigeons! But this time they're feral Pigeons, but there are still Collared Doves in the area.

The first morning after moving in the first birdie I saw was a Long-Tailed Tit, so happy! Of course I didn't get a good shot, because the camera was on the wrong setting (must've turned the dial by accident during the move) and it all blurred - sods law anyone? I've seen them again but I didn't have my camera at the time and they were silhouetted against the sky.
I've also managed to catch a female Blackcap on camera without even knowing it - It was just a bird in a bush to me. I've never seen a Blackcap before, male or female.

There are plenty of places for the birds to hide, lots of hedges, climbers and such for them to escape into, but I do plan on having my own Hawthorn or Beech hedge to attract the birds, it just means digging out a rather pathetic Privet hedge (Oh how I hate Privet) so I'm unsure whether to have a temporary fence to help the new hedge grow??

Now I just hope we get some of the other Finches, like Chaffinches or Gold, even Green would be nice as I've never had them either. They must be nearby as I'm really not far away from where I was before.

So far I've seen:

Feral Pigeon
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Magpie
Rook
Starlings
Blue Tit
Long Tailed Tit
Blackbird
Sparrow
Wren
Blackcap
Dunnock
Mistle Thrush (Well, I heard its alarm call!)

I think we could do with some Great Tits and other finches really. Does anyone have any ideas on how to attract those birds? (Including good trees/shrubs/plants not only food)

I have seed feeders with mixed peanuts, sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts, grains and dried mealworms. I also scatter ground food which has cereals, sunflower hearts and sultanas etc in. So I already have a wide variety of food, perhaps I need some suet balls too. I'm steering clear of ground feeders/trays in general as I don't fancy having flocks of Pigeons swooping down, shame but there are a lot around! (Unless of course I buy a cage for the feeder so they can't fit in…)

I've ordered some wildlife friendly plants, they should come in the next week or so:

Yarrow
Meadow Clary
Verbena
Ox-eye Daisy
Chocolate Clover
Teasel
Hardy Geranium

And then some more, just because I love them:

Granny's Bonnet (Aguilegia)
Angel's Fishing Rod

I'm feeling somewhat lost with the size of the garden I need to tackle, I've never had something this size before, so I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed even though I love gardening. I don't know where to start and have lots of pots that have come with me that ought to be planted but I'm just lost. Lol

Who'd have thought it?!