Nature notes February 2020 - stormy weather

Well, we've had a mild and quite soggy winter so far, with only a few short cold spells with frosty mornings. It now feels like we're heading into Spring, though you never quite know what the weather will bring (remember the Beast from the East that arrived in March a couple of years back!).

A walk along the bridleway involved negotiating some serious mud and huge puddles, but I was rewarded with a slow fly-by from a red kite, who was evidently inspecting me quite closely, plus a lapwing in the flooded field. I'd seen a big flock of finches and buntings a couple of days earlier when out for a run, but they were no longer in evidence. The nature-friendly farmer puts bird seed down to tide the farmland birds through the winter, and it's great to see so many thriving here as a result.

A little further down the bridleway is 'rabbit alley', and then on an open area of grassland I watched a fox making it's way slowly across the field, looking for a meal I guess. Was hoping to see it do the pouncing move but no luck!

We then progressed from one storm to another - every week it was high winds and rain...

And it didn't stop with Ciara and Dennis, it just carried on. So a very wet and windy February comes to an end with Storm Jorge. Here's to a better March!