NATURE NOTES: FEBRUARY 2024

LEAPING INTO ACTION!

A month when the wind changes direction and stirs hope, love and an unshaking of new life ...

Highlights of January: Frogs croaking; four herons standing together, heads bowed, as if discussing the floods of storm Henk which lapped at their feet; distinctive badger and deer prints in the receding mud; grey wagtails, just a day later, picking their way along now snow-kissed 'tide lines' of frozen twigs and sticks, dibbing their yellow rumps and bellies up and down, as they flushed out insects; frost-rimmed leaf skeletons and sculptural seed heads bathed in molten gold in the early crimson sun; foxes barking; a yellow necked mouse found tucked out of the bitter wind, still snoozing at dawn in one of my bird feeders; the stunning first full moon of the year - The Wolf Moon, lighting up crystals of frost at night.

Lowlights: high winds bringing down and smashing one of my garden bird boxes; less numbers of feathered friends noted in my garden this year during the RSPB's 'Big Garden Birdwatch; the local dairy farm continuing to rip out old established hedgerows destroying the homes of countless wild creatures and starving the cows of natural browse, shade and shelter - even as the Wildlife Trusts called for immediate action for essential nature protection on farms; badgers, having cubs this month, still being blamed for spreading TB despite a recent report that their culling's had no positive impact (210,237 deaths over 10 years costing £58.8million) and stating that 94% of infection is spread from cow to cow; wheels of red kites, buzzards, kestrels and sparrowhawks seen overhead but noticeably fewer flocks of fieldfare and redwings around the village - the churchyard holly tree is unusually still laden with berries as I write.

Key messages: Take a 'leap' of faith and endeavour to be extra thoughtful, kind, loving and giving to all. It's a leap year month, as well as Valentine's Day (Bird's Wedding Day), National Nest Box Week, National Random Acts of Kindness Day and the Climate Coalition's 'Show the Love' campaign.

What to see/hear in February: Pussy willow by our streams, wood mice in and around garden sheds, especially during cold snaps; tangles of black wood ants rebuilding their domed nests; roe deer feeding out in the open (the bucks in the process of re-growing their antlers); primroses, lesser celandine and sweet violets emerging from our soils; the cheery 'chink-chink' in the chaffinches mating song.

More like to see/hear: All types of birds singing - and fly pasts with beaks full of straw, moss and twigs; the sculptures and patterns of our trees still devoid of leaves but revealing newly budded limbs; frogs and toads emerging and trekking back to their breeding ponds; the loud buzz of a queen bumble bee who has emerged prematurely from her winter burrow, insects around snow drops, crocuses and/or cherry blossom.

Ways to get involved:

- Prevent ponds from freezing over by putting a float on the surface.

- Be watchful: put out food for Hedgehogs who may have come out of hibernation too early - and give all frogs and toads on roads a

helping hand to cross.

- Take part in the Field Studies Council's interactive 'Signs of Spring Survey.'