Despite some pretty heavy downpours yesterday morning I couldn't help looking out the office window and wishing I could be outside, so at lunchtime I escaped and headed for Highnam. I took a walk up the hill onto the public footpath, admiring the piles of brash in the recently felled coppice plot on the way, to check how it was looking after contractors tackled the massive tree that had fallen over blocking the path earlier in January. The tree has been cleared enough to get through without clambering now and passers-by now get the see the cross-section of the trunk - huge! As I was appreciating the emmense power of nature I suddenly noticed the the emmense delicacy of nature too in the form of snowdrops blooming on the side of the path. I'll always enjoy my first view of these, as they are so closely linked with lengthening daylight hours, and the onset of spring, and the excitement of another breeding season.
As the black clouds gathered overhead again I headed back down the hill to top up the feeders for the marsh, blue, great and coal tits and other birds that delight visitors to the hide. On the way I listened to song thrush and blackbirds, got great views of raven and buzzard, all of which re-inforcing that idea that spring isn't far away. Imagine my surprise then when rain turned to snow in the forest, and then I realised it was settling! The rapid drop in temperature means that there are still patches of white a Nagshead today, but I'm sure it won't last long, and it certainly hasn't prevented song and mistle thrushes from singing proudly, and blue and great tits shouting determinedly as we approached nestboxes!
There is plenty of fresh evidence of boar around too, especially around Cleave Hill) the point at which the long trail crosses the forestry track, but look out for their rootings around the bases of dead trees - they've obviously got a taste for something there!
HM
Firstly we would like to wish all of our followers a Happy New Year. Hopefully 2012 will be a fantastic wildlife packed year for all!
The weather so far this winter has been quite remarkable, the past week has felt more like early spring than the beginning of January. Mistle and Song Thrushes have been singing their hearts out at dawn and dusk at Nagshead and other birds like Goldcrests seem to be singing non stop at the moment. This year we may see a bumper breeding season for species that typically suffer in harsh winters if this weather continues, it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds. Crossbill numbers seem to have increased on the reserve again after a bit of a lull in December, these birds are best looked for feeding on Larch cones on the long trail, usually amongst Siskins and Lesser Redpolls.