SKYLARK SUE’S REFLECTIONS OF NATURE 

January 2014

House sparrow in pyrancantha hedge at end of the garden

January 1st turned out to be a wet, grey day. The rain was heavy, and it was quite windy too. There were few birds around apart from the ubiquitous woodpigeons. However, the following day was a complete contrast, with sunshine for most of the day. The birds were more in evidence, with lots of sparrows in the pyracantha at the end of the garden, and blackbird, collared doves, pigeons and others on the feeders. Later the weather turned gloomy and more gales were forecast – it seemed as though this was going to be yet another windy month.

Crow in the tree opposite the garden

Dunnock on one of the bird tables



Bumblebee in the cyclamen

January 3rd turned out to be a crazy day, weather wise. We had sunshine, thunder, lightning, hail, strong wind and torrential rain. The squirrel came down when the weather permitted, as did the collared doves and wood pigeons. The next few days turned out to be a mixture of heavy rain, squally winds and sunshine. The usual birds, such as robin, blue and great tits, sparrows, starlings, dunnocks, blackbirds, collared doves and woodpigeons were visiting the feeders, and there was a crow in the tree across the road. On January 8th I was surprised to see a large bumblebee inspecting the cyclamen in the garden. I noticed that many fields were flooded near Stanstead Abbotts, and which had attracted plenty of gulls, while at Dobbs Weir there were lots of Canada Geese.

 

 

 

Gulls enjoying a flooded field near Stanstead Abbots

The BTO Survey - Our results

Flooded road at Sheering

Flooded road at Sheering

The 11th January proved sunny with plenty of blue sky, and was surprisingly mild for the time of year. We did the Dawn BTO Survey,which was to list the first ten species to arrive at the bird table. Ours were: First arrival, 7.40am Robin, then 7.48 am magpie, 7.50 am blackbird, 7.51 am collared dove, 7.51am sparrow, 7.53am dunnock, 7.55 am blue tit, 8.38 am starling, 8.46am  great tit, 8.56am wood pigeon. We decided to go to Hatfield Forest, knowing it would still be very muddy, and wondered about more tree damage. The road through Sheering was flooded, though passable. I can’t recall a winter that had so much water!

There were plenty of swans, geese and ducks on Hatfield Forest lake

The Chestnut bibs of the male mallards glowed in the sun

The light reflected beautifully through the swan's feathers

The trip to Hatfield Forest revealed nine mute swans on the lake, as well as dozens of Canada geese and mallards, and about twenty Greylags, There were also coots, black-headed gulls, grebe, moorhen and cormorant. In the trees around the edge of the lake, as well as a mistle thrush, blue tits, coal tits, great tits, jackdaws and rooks, we were pleased to see a small flock of fieldfares.

Great crested grebe on the lake

Coots at Hatfield Forest

This tree had many holes in the trunk

A beautifully sunny January day in Hatfield Forest

Plenty of squirrels were about, and there was a kestrel hovering over the grassy part of the forest. The light was beautiful, illuminating the feathers of the swans and emphasising the bright chestnut breasts of the mallards.  One tree had several holes up the trunk, I wondered if they were made by woodpeckers. Everywhere was very, very muddy. There was a frosty start to the following day, but it was sunny later, and the weather continued fairly mild. The sun and blue sky contrasted well with the pinky-cream and grey feathers of a wood pigeon.

 

Coal Tit in the forest

Mistle thrush in the forest

Hovering kestrel at Hatfield Forest

 

As the kestrel descends the sunlight highlights its feathers

Robin singing in the town park, Harlow



Wood pigeons feeding on discarded bread by the lake

Reflections in the lake

Mallards by the park lake

By 16th January, many bulbs such as snowdrops, daffodils and crocuses were shooting, and surprisingly, in the garden there were many plants still flowering from last year. Amongst them were polyanthus, pink, rose and pansy. On a visit to the town park the same day, I noticed that there were not as many mallards as usual; presumably they were finding the flooded fields more attractive. There were plenty of woodpigeons, including a group of eight or so making the most of some bread dumped by the lake. We also saw jackdaws, black headed gull, great tit, moorhen, dunnock and robins. Both robins and blackbirds were in fine song. There were squirrels chasing each other in the trees. White dead nettle was already in flower. It was so mild, it felt like a spring day; the weather had been in the low 50s for the past few days. Damage from the storms was evident, with broken trees and branches.

Storm-damaged tree

White deadnettle already in flower, in January



Blackheaded gull not yet in summer plumage

Grey squirrel

Moorhen by the lake in the town park

First garden snowdrop of the year

 January18th A pile of wood pigeon feathers on the grass verge near our house indicated that a bird had been plucked, probably it fell prey to a sparrowhawk. On the 19th the temperature had dropped a little, but at 44 degrees F, was still mild for mid-January. On January 21st, surprisingly, two robins were already collecting nesting material; one particularly plump one was on the bird table. There was a snowdrop in flower, the first I’d seen in the garden this year and primroses were in full bloom on the grass in the front of our house, which gets most sunshine.

Primroses on the front lawn

The sparrows enjoy the sunshine on the pyracantha



This robin was catching small insects in the conifer

January 22nd, the two robins were about again. One spent a long time in the ornamental conifer, and seemed to be catching insects – there were gnats around. There were two long-tailed tits on the fat feeder; it’s always such a pleasure to see these pretty little birds in the garden. My observation about the robins collecting nesting material on the 21st was read out and commented on by Michaela Strachan on Winterwatch. The weather turned a little colder on the 24th, but it was dry, and our garden visitors included long-tailed tits, a couple of magpies, dunnock, robin, pair of blackbirds, sparrows, great tits and wood pigeons. We’ve had a blackbird around with a black beak instead of a yellow one. I asked naturalist Chris Packham about it, and he said he thought it was European. On the afternoon of the 25th, we suddenly had terrific winds, heavy rain, thunder and lightning, and later discovered that a mini-tornado had passed through the area, ripping roofs from several houses further down the road and felling six enormous conifers that protected a play area. The following day the weather was calmer and we had visits from many of our ‘regulars’.

Broken trees after the 'mini tornado' that whirled through Harlow

 January 31^st. Over the last few days we have suffered torrential rain. Many areas of the country are flooded. Our lawn is like a quagmire. Between the rain outbreaks, the usual birds – robins, blackbirds, blue tits, magpie, pigeons and others –have been down. The crocuses are beginning to bud and the daffodils are shooting, a welcome sign of spring. Apparently this January has been the wettest in southern England since records began in 1910. Many people are in temporary accommodation as their homes are flooded, and the storms have caused thousands of trees to fall or to be broken down.

Collared dove in the garden