Nature’s stormcock on mistletoe duty

A mistle thrush has proved to be our foul-weather friend over these last few storm battered weeks. High winds summon it to the treetops, a row of limes, where it guards the mistletoe against all comers.

Up there it is chasing invisible thieves among the rocking branches, hurling out its rattling call of defiance that might be heard over the roaring gales by all the other birds.

But there are none; nature’s stormcock is alone in its crow’s nest of paranoia. In the calm of morning the bird is conspicuous by its absence, even though the mistletoe clumps are still and ripe for the taking.

A thrush-hop from the limes, our silver birch, taller than the house, has had all of its upper branches almost stripped of leaves. A countable number of yellowing remnants quiver in the light breeze, waiting for the drop.

Ours is a tree with a single quirky characteristic: every year one sizeable lower branch is out of seasonal step with its fellow boughs and remains fully dressed in green leaves right through to Christmas. Not even Storm Barney could loosen its aberrant resolve.

The tree has become a beacon for some people since it attracts a steady drip feed of so-called tree surgeons to our door. Last week I was told our birch was “top heavy”. Another expert warned us that it was “swaying in the wind”. Others claim it is too close to the road, that it is damaging the house foundations with its roots.

One offered to “take down your conifer, er beech”. Our response: “It’s a birch and no thank you.”

Ours is the only front garden around still in possession of a full sized tree; all the other trees are on public land. There are no perches and larders for neighbourhood birds, no softening and uplifting features to provide relief.

The ghost of next door’s cherry tree rose up from our lawn last week, a fairy crescent of toadstools feeding on the rotting roots.

I asked a proper arboriculturalist for his opinion on the safety or otherwise of our birch. He told me it might need looking at … in about 50 years’ time.