[cabbage]

Notwithstanding our recent cold snap - and the fact that round here February is often the coldest and snowiest month of the year - there are definitely signs that spring is springing!

Heard my first woodpecker drumming in the woods last week, and the great tits are in fine voice with their tea-cher calls. There are some very finely coloured male sparrows in amongst my local flock, noticeably brighter than the rest.
The buzzards are now very rarely seen singly, they are almost always in twos or threes and I saw my first display flight a couple of weeks ago. In fact all the birds are now very rarely seen alone.
The blackbirds and robins have redoubled their fighting efforts (if they both paid more attention to eating and less to fighting they could be very fat birds indeed!)
Seeing many more signs of badgers out and about in the local area (our local badgers certainly didn't hibernate but there are definitely more signs of them about now)

I'm hopeless with plants but the snowdrops are now well out and there's loads of daffs sticking their heads up.

Anymore round your ways?

[Jim Walker]

Certainly seems to be a greater urgency in bird calls, more so in this mild snap.

On the way home from work tonight it was noticeable that there was some light still in the sky. Roll on spring!

[Lefty]

The snowdrops are out here on the Wirral, too, and I've also heard the great tits' 'teacher, teacher'. Nice day for February, yesterday. Not seen any of the other things though - just lots of solo robins singing (with the occasional conflict).

[cabbage]

Managed to trample some crocuses this week while out, not flowering but not far off it. Birds are starting to take a good hard look at the nestboxes.

Badgers are out filling their latrines, something they seem to do less of in winter.

[Jim Walker]

Saw a pair of Dunnocks today with one following the other very closely, possibly a courtship thing (?)

I think the little warm spell has tricked the plants in my garden. There are leaf buds on the honeysuckle and my buddleia.

[cabbage]

First primrose out and flowering a week past Friday (it was then immediately crushed by a dangerous tree which had to be brought down unfortunately!). Loads of crocuses out. The badgers are getting more and more active, I've found signs of new activity out in my local woods (prints, scratching tree, foraging holes) but still can't find the sett!

Lots of movement with the local roe deer too, not sure if they become less active in the winter? Definitely seeing them out and about in a way I wasn't a month ago though.

[Jim Walker]

Crocus, Snowdrops, Daffs.

No more geese flying over, the last sizeable flock passed by about ten days ago.

I saw a buzzard yesterday carrying nest material. Also saw a buzzard fly across one of the busiest intersections outside King's Lynn and land on a fence on the edge of a newly built, huge, Sainsbury's store.

[cabbage]

Spring has been postponed, please try again next month.

Did see a sparrowhawk doing a fabulous display flight over some local woods though

[Jim Walker]

Spring has been postponed, please try again next month.

Not really seen much happening here.

The geese have gone now. At work we have noticed a couple of Muntjac, the effect is amazing. I usually get an excited phone call and go into the admin office to find ten people trying to look out of the windows for a good view!
Our work, while rewarding can also be very intense and at times quite disturbing. Seeing these two animals, in the middle of a town in a predominantly residential area, is a welcome surprise and one that instantly lifts peoples mood. You can feel the positive mood change in the office for hours after.

I did hear on Radio 4 that there had been research on the positive effects of being close to nature in the working environment. If anyone knows what it is I'd be grateful for the lead.

[carolet]

Hi cabbage
Despite dismal weather my downstairs neighbours bird table has been attracting a dunnock, a chaffinch, several robins and bluetits. A magpie was helping itself to their hanging basket for nesting material last week and this morning a female blackbird was also posing with nesting material in its beak.
Heard 4 woodpeckers in my local park last week in the space of 30 mins and a greylag goose is perched on 11 eggs. So it's all going on but slowly.
It's a real shame that the dog violets aren't out in my back garden yet as I had a fabulous clump last year.
But a sure harbinger of warmer weather on its way is my cat moulting which it hasn't begun to do yet...
Regards
Carolet