Winter came . . . and went!

February is proving to be a very odd month this year. There has been very little precipitation in this area, either rain or snow. Reservoirs are very low and the water companies are talking about a hosepipe ban very soon.

There was very little sign of winter until a couple of weeks ago when we got a covering of snow - only about 2 cms. Enough to look pretty for a while.



The temperatures went down to -12C for a couple of nights. The following week the temperatures were up again to +12C during the daytime. Last week they reached a balmy high of 16C - very unusual for February.

These extremes are having an interesting effect on the wildlife. Two hares have been cavorting round the garden in "Mad March Hare" style, or should it be "Mad February Hare" style? Mr Pheasant has been harassing the Mrs, showing off his beautiful colours and chasing her around the lawn. There were badgers out and about on the roads last night when I was driving home, sadly one of them had been hit by a car :(



I have never understood why, but in February we seem to get larger numbers of roe deer in the garden. A few weeks ago, I counted six of them. It's a pity that I could only capture three of them in this photo.

A large flock of redwings also passed through. There must have been at least two dozen of them. On the same day, I spotted some Lapwings in the field at the front. They did not come into the garden but it is the first time I have seen them around here. Too far away for a good photo, unfortunately.

Finally, I have been working very hard on my new web site. My English Country Garden web site (www.english-country-garden.com) is looking a bit old fashioned and in need of a refresh. I have been rebuilding the site with a new design including some new photo galleries. It is proving to be a big job. The web site has more than 500 pages and it is a lot of work to transfer all of them to the new design. It will not be completed for some weeks yet but watch this space for the relaunch!

Badger Prints in the Snow

Last weekend the snow gradually disappeared, just to return again a couple of days later. Luckily not so much this time and it did not stay long. There was enough, however, to find some excellent badger prints across the back lawn.

It is not a brilliant picture, but you can quite clearly see four of the five toes with the long claws and the kidney-shaped palm print.

Two roe deer have been hanging round the garden this week, but no photo opportunities, unfortunately. I also saw a fox today but they are rather elusive. I have yet to get a good photo of a fox.

Finally, after being buried by 8 inches (20 cms) of snow for two weeks, these rather brave snowdrops emerged unscathed. They had just started to flower when the snow first fell, but their built-in anti-freeze protected them from the freezing cold temperatures.

I hope this is a sign that spring is on its way.

Not Yet Weaned!

I mentioned seeing a new baby muntjac deer a couple of weeks ago. Well, I was in for a real treat today. Mother and Junior were both on my back lawn and I was lucky enough to capture a picture of the little one suckling. What a wonderful sight!

Sadly the photo is not these best, but it was late afternoon and starting to get dark.

The snow is still deep and it is still very cold, so the fawn must be a tough little thing to survive.

The next picture shows the fawn when it ran across the lawn before disappearing into the flower bed next to the house. It looks as if it is sitting down, but actually the snow is so deep that it was sinking up to the top of its legs. I think it is probably about 8 weeks old and should be weaned very soon.

Bird on a Wire

The temperature dropped to
-11 degrees C (12 F) last night, so the snow is not going to disappear quickly.

I was watching a buzzard (Buteo buteo) this morning. He was sitting on the electricity cable that feeds power to our house. Not a very good photo, but he flew off when I tried to get closer.

The wildlife is finding it difficult in the snow. There were lots of animal tracks leading to sheltered spots underneath the shrubs in the flower beds next to the house. This weather cannot be easy for them.

Glorious blue skies and sunshine today, but it did little to melt the snow.

Worst Winter for 25 Years

What an amazing winter this is turning out to be. Some say it is the worst winter for 25 years. Last night eight and a half inches (21cms) of snow fell. I went out and measured it on the patio table this morning.

This may not seem noteworthy to those who regularly have hard winters. However, most years we get a maximum of one fall of snow which usually disappears the next day. Some years we get no snow at all.

The birds are not happy. I went out and sprinkled more food for them this morning and I was surprised by how many turned up for the feast. Not just the usuals, but also goldfinches and long-tailed tits. I did not get any photos of them or of the 2 roe deer that made a brief appearance.

The forecast is to be colder tonight, so although the snow has stopped falling, it will freeze overnight. I guess it is here to stay for the next few days.

Winter Wonderland

What a difficult couple of days. More snow started to fall yesterday afternoon and about 6 inches (15 cms) fell in a few hours.

The UK can't seem to handle snow for some unknown reason. Every seemingly minor snowfall causes complete chaos on the roads and yesterday was no exception. I spent three and a half hours picking up my son from work - 6 miles away! The roads were competely gridlocked.

Just before bedtime last night the electricity went off. It was a very cold night so we lit the wood-burning stove in an effort to keep the house warm.

The electricity was still off this morning. Frustratingly, we found that for most of the village the power had come back on within a few hours. There were just a few of us without.

We don't realise how much we rely on electricity until we find ourselves without it. It was a big relief when it came back on at 4.00pm.

We had such a bad experience after the hurricane of 1987 when we had no power for 7 days, that I always fear the worst when the power goes off!

On the plus side - I managed to get out for a short time with my camera. The trees look very pretty with their white winter coats against a beautiful blue sky.

Winter with a Vengeance

Winter arrived with a vengeance on Thursday night. The temperature fell to -8 degrees C (17 in fahrenheit) according to the thermometer attached to our kitchen window. It does not often get as cold as this.

The snow came from the east and most of it dropped on the east side of England. By the time it reached us, it left only a couple of inches (5 cms).

I did not manage to get out in the early morning to take photographs and by the time I took this photo the sun was going down and much of the snow had disappeared.

There was another half inch (1 cm) last night, but because the temperature is not rising above freezing during the day, the snow is not disappearing quickly.

The birds are in a frenzy on the feeders and I noticed a couple of new robins encroaching on the territory of the usual one and causing a bit of a stir. So, I went out and sprinkled some food in another part of the garden to try to keep them apart. Robins are very territorial and the only time we see more than one together is during the mating season.

It would be nice if the snow lasted until Christmas. I don't remember the last time we had snow on the ground at Christmas.

First Snow of the Winter

The first snow of the winter fell today. There was not much of it and it did not stay around long, but this male green woodpecker (Picus viridus) did not look too comfortable.

There has been a lot of wildlife around recently. After seeing no deer for several weeks, a herd passed through a few days ago. Firstly, the roe doe with her adolescent fawn (male, I think) crossed the lawn in one direction.

Half an hour later about five or six roe deer came racing through. It was misty so I was unable to count them exactly.

The muntjacs have also been around - the buck on several occasions, but there were two of them on the lawn yesterday.

My neighbour told me that while we were away, there was a big fight between two buzzards on our back lawn. When he went to investigate, they were fighting over a hare. I was really annoyed to miss this spectacle, but rather sad at the demise of the hare. That's nature, I suppose.

Footprints in the snow

One of our rare snowfalls has caused chaos in the region. Rather than venturing out amongst the panicky motorists, I prefer to stay in the garden and try to identify what is out and about in the snow. I can recognise some of these tracks but would appreciate some help.

I believe these are pheasant tracks.




















Roe Deer?













Badger?





























Badger?