NATURE NOTES

Following heavy snowfall on 5 January, Twelfth Night found all but the most determined confined to the village until the snow plough came through at 10 o’clock.   Houses, gardens, fields and paddock were shrouded in white; a local walker comparing the covering on Plum Tree Piece to a duvet. It certainly seems a wasted opportunity to go out without a camera at the moment, whether to capture Christmas card scenes or freeze-frame some wildlife.  The snow extends our daylight hours - the fox skirting the edge of the paddock in Back Lane might have been missed at five o’clock on any ‘normal’ January day.

It has become much easier to see birds in our snow-covered gardens.  With food in short supply, they linger if not disturbed. The field birds are taking more interest in bird tables:  a redwing spent a good few minutes scraping around for grubs at the foot of our lime tree while a fieldfare surveyed the opportunities from above.  The scene took on a more dramatic twist as a buzzard swooped into Back Lane from the Old Vicarage garden, skimming the snow-topped walls in its search for breakfast.

Seed heads and grasses are attracting bullfinches - usually seen in pairs, they will stay in position for some time while ’grazing’ on the swaying stems. The male bullfinch, like the yellowhammer and the robin, will catch the eye immediately in the dull winter landscape - no problems with identification or need for a field guide!  The regular complement of tits - long-tailed, great, blue and coal - swing from tree branches, and peck in the crevices of stone walls with few leaves to obscure our view.  

If you are feeding the birds during this severe weather, be sure to continue until conditions have improved as they very quickly come to rely on any new food source - your reward is the increase in visitors to your garden   Your garden pond is probably frozen over at the moment - if you need to allow oxygen through to your fish, avoid doing so by breaking the ice.  Instead, place a pan of hot water on the surface; the ice will gradually melt without giving your pond life a headache!  Once you have a hole in the ice, drop a ball into the pond - it will keep a patch clear of ice if it freezes again.

While you are contemplating the garden through frosted panes and planning your spring planting, there is an opportunity for considering the plants that will attract wildlife to your garden.  If you love butterflies, bear in mind their favourites - buddleia, flowering herbs and also nettles - a small patch of these by your compost heap will not disfigure your landscaping but will ensure colourful visitors in the summer, such as the Small Tortoiseshell, which was attracted to ‘Jo Pye Weed’ (Eupatorium maculatum) in our garden last year. Other frequent visitors included Painted Ladies, Large and Small Whites, Peacocks, Gatekeepers, Commas and Red Admirals.

If you would like any sightings included on ‘Nature Notes’, please let me know at beryl day@tiscali.co.uk

If you have any sightings to report please let me know at berylday@tiscali.co.uk