February

Weather Stats

Max Temp =  9.8 deg C               Min Temp =   - 6.1 deg C            

 Max Wind  28.6 mph              Max Rain in 24 hr Period = 19.1mm

 Max Rain in 1 hr Period = 4.1 mm          Total Rain For Month =  140mm

Diary

27th.  Tidying up within the garden has been the main project at the moment. I cut down a lot of the larger stemmed plants like the purple loosestrife, Buddleja, hemp agrimony and other tall woody plants. I had kept a lot from the previous season as I have bought a shredding machine which now allows me to recycle the garden even more so than in my compost heap. The shredder performed superbly as the fine mulch was spread amongst the woodland edge patch. I had, for the first time, left all the plants stems alone from the years growth for several reasons, firstly to give a home to one or two insects, secondly for the effect of a more natural "untidy" look and thirdly to allow any birds to take advantage of any seed heads. I have to say that I will be repeating this system as it has given the garden much more interest through the winter and has kept the empty garden feeling you get at winter time.

I managed another quick getaway with my digiscoping gear over the weekend as Mandy and I walked around out local Reservoir, Cowm. Mandy took her camera gear only to find that she had replaced her batteries with "dead" ones...whooppsss! The day was mostly cloudy with few opportunities for photos as a lot of dog walkers had also had the same idea as us. 24 species were recorded in total with the Common Buzzard being the star bird. I also managed to let a photographer know of it's presence but I think it to far away to get any meaningful shots. It was enjoyable non the less and only the second time I had seen a Buzzard on my local patch, this being Mandy's first time.

I spotted a lone robin in song at the top of a tree and slowly set up my scope and camera. The Robin moved around and after a few failed attempts at Goldcrest and Long tailed Tits my attention returned to the Robin. I took a few pics and on my return home I was pleased with the results.

Matters back in the garden started hotting up as the Frogs began much croaking and signs of Frisky buisiness as they thrashed around the pond waiting to pounce on anythink that dare move. I presume the recent night time temps of 7 or 8 degrees have helped as tonight the frogs are rather sedate as the temp has dramatically dropped to 0.3 degrees as of 20:00. It is all a precurser to events yet to unfold and the contiuing presence of the hedgehog has made my thoughts turn to Spring. I have started to put food out for the Hog with a few dried mealworm being spread in the garden during the evening for the Hog to find. I have also noticed that the Frogs are also partial to mealworm!

21st. Matters outside of the garden have kept the entries few and far between but that does not mean I have not taken note of a few developments over the last few days and nights. The temps are very high for this time of year, typically February is the coldest month, with the temps reaching a daytime high of 9.8 deg at 13:00 on the 20th. It is staying quite dry although not much in the way of sunshine is evident although the last weekend did spoil us with many sunshine hours.

A major purchase took place last weekend with an addition to my optical equipment being added to. At last I have a descent Spotting Scope that I can really feel the benefit from, not just for use as a spotting scope for bird watching, but also as a extension of my digital camera to allow my digiscoping to climb a notch ...or even two! The scope I have bought has taken much deliberating over but I feel that I will not be dissapointed. The scope is a large Zeiss with an objective lens of 85mm which in terms of spotting scopes is quite large. This extra lens size allows for better light levels which helps with contrast and resolution. I tested the setup out at Leighton Moss on the 18th. I took 151 shots in total using my Samsung NV3 camera attached via a modified bracket affair with a cable release system attached.

Out of the 150 shots I took only about 10 are keepers but one ot two pics I am really pleased with. Below are a few I am happy with along with a shot of the illusive Bittern that I managed whilst the floor of the hide was shaking due to the stampede to see the bird.

                                    Female Kestrel                                                            Song Thrush Bathing

The distances to the subject birds did vary with between 40 - 70 feet which, in my opinion, was quite amazing. For me the Song Thrush made all the poor photos worth while.

                                          Mute Swan                                                                       Bittern

I will update the photography page to give a little more detail as to the new optics as I have also some more adding and rearranging of that section.

I also managed a few pictures of the garden regulars as the Mistle Thrush take up residence in the garden. It feeds on the Starling table 4' off the floor at the very back of the garden or, as i hoped, they feed on the Blackbird table at closer quarters and on the floor. The poture in the picture was taken due to alarm calls of a Blackbird which spooked quite a few birds.

Mistle Thrush

Other visitors are still being noted by the Song Thrush and theGreat Spotted Woodpecker. I had a late night strole out into the garden at about 22:00 on the 20th to have a look for any signs of Frogs and as soon as the back door was opened I could hear the amorous calls. They are very sensitive to any movement so as I made my way up to the pond they swam for cover. I sat waiting totally still but all I could hear was a scraping scratching noise. I turned round to see a Hedgehog moving around in the woodland edge patch, possibly finding uneaten mealworm. This is the first visit by the Hedgehog this year so i willl keep an eye out for any tell tale droppings! I have helped them out with any foraging as i have left a small dish with Hog food out for them.

I have moved the roaming cam to near the pond to watch the activity and hopefully get a little more croaking noises transferred back inside the house via a microphone within the camera. As of 21:15 tonight little frog activity has been seen which is also the case with the Hog activity.

11th.  A gap in the diary due to the garden not really throwing anything unusual up. I have also been preoccupied with projects in the house. I have taken delivery of a new office setup which allows me to work whilst being able to keep an eye on the garden. Whilst I was moving the computer around I took the time to change the nestbox cameras display properties. I have been using the computer to view and record the goings on within the nestboxes but have never been totally happy with the performance so I have now reverted to an AV switcher which allows four video inputs and and four audio inputs. On the computer setup this only allowed for four video inputs but only one audio input. I then run these signals to a 14" monitor where a better picture can be viewed. The AV switcher can be set to automatically switch between the four inputs which can be displayed for my own predetermined time span or I can flick through the inputs manually. The only thing I cannot do is show all four cameras on screen at the same time. The switcher does give me the ability to have a second output attached, so I may well in time use this and run it back to the computer so that I can use the software on the computer to record images for the garden diary.....but as of yet little interest has been shown in the box!

Well after the relative quiet in the garden it all changed as temperatures plumeted with a minimum of minus 6.1 degrees being noted. The temps stayed low for some days which encouraged a few less regular birds to venture into the garden. These low day and night temps were accompanied with fantastically clear sunny days with cloudless blue skies. This triggered several birds to begin a warm up for the breeding season as song seemed to rule the days. Dunnocks, Song Thrush, Robin, Wren and even the Tit family courted us with a liitle taster for was is to come...and I can't wait. The weather then turned a little warmer, hovering around 0 deg which led to a snowfall on the 9th. It fell form about 18:00 right to when I had gone to bed. I was hoping it would contiue through the night but sadly as i looked through the blinds in the morning a thaw was already underway and was pretty much complete on the 10th.

As I said though a few visitors were noted with a pair of Mistle Thrushes now taking advantage of the copious amounts of sultanas and these were also shared with a very nervous Song Thrush. The Blackbird count also increased with Mandy counting 10 at first light. Mandy was also quite happy by the fact she had returned home for lunch on the 9th to find a Great Spotted Woodpecker tucking into....peanuts?......fat cakes?....no..... sunflower hearts in a tube feeder. This individual I was told was clinging to the tube feeder for some time taking the hearts quite comfortably. I have heard others mention this but due to the lack of visits by a woodpecker I had not witnessed this. All visits in the past have been true to form with the peanuts being the order of the day. Maybe this female is of the new generation that knows sunflowers has a very high calorific value.

She returned this morning (11th) and again chose to feed on the sunflower hearts where she stayed for a good 5mins. I was also treated to the early morning sights of the Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush and a reluctantly welcome visitor in the form of a Female Sparrow Hawk. She whipped through the garden ignoring the small birds and went straight for the Blackbirds....I never knew the result as the chase led away from the garden. I wonder if a strike has occurred of late as I noticed a lot of feathers on the ground feeder where I feed sultanas. I hope it was the Sparrowhawk and not the local cat which stalks the garden regularly. As I mention the cat I have found something that it does not like, chicken poo pellets which I have used for the feeding of the hedgerow plants. I noticed the cat had not been in it's usual spot for hunting and then realised I had spread the pellets around there. I presume it is the smell as to be honest it is very strong and quite vile. I shall use this in the future to help with this cat"n"mouse scenario I try to end.