February Nature Notes

The New Year came in with an icy blast that has still not released its grip. Heavy snow, frost and ice has made life difficult for local wildlife. Birds have relied heavily on garden feeders with more and more not so common species taking advantage of the food on offer. Woodpeckers, nuthatch and siskin have all been making more than their usual visits with pheasants becoming regular visitors to some gardens, clearing the ground around bird tables of dropped seeds and other scraps.
So bad has it been out on the moors that many grouse have left their natural habitat and taken to farmyards and lowland fields looking for a meal.
The seasons move on however and the first snowdrops are now braving the weather, their nodding white, green flecked heads gracing many a local hedgerow and bank side.
Birds are making their first tentative attempts at song in an optimistic challenge to the weather with rooks already establishing nesting sites in the woods and copses. Tawny owls are particularly vocal as they stake a claim to territory.
A nearby badger sett shows evidence of soft bedding being dragged down into the underground chambers, a sign of cubs this year and if you look carefully you will see the first daffodils pushing their blue green shoots through the leaf litter.
It has been a hard winter but nature is telling us that spring is finally on its way.