February 2008
Weather Stats This Month
Max Temp = 12.3 deg C Min Temp = -6.7 deg C
Max Wind 29.9 mph Max Rain in 24 hr Period = 31.5 mm
Max Rain in 1 hr Period = 7.7 mm Total Rain For Month = 128.9 mm
Diary
17th. The sun continues in the garden but a sting in the tail also as the temps have dropped to a more seasonal level with the coldest temps so far this year being recorded last night. A very chilly - 6.1d C was enough to give the garden a real "wintry" feel and with this drop in temps so it brought in a few more birds. I decided to have a go at photographing some of the visits with the Nikon 600mm lens I have yet to decided on purchasing. The light again is the main issue as the garden sees little winter sun with only the far back North East geeting the much needed sun. No matter I thought it worth a try.
The Mistle Thrush & Song Thrush are regulars to the garden but whilst the Song is quite timid the Mistle more than holds his own even against the Starlings numbers!
The House Sparrow is an irreguler visitor but this mornings cold brought him to the garden to stock up and after a few cheery chirrups' of he went.
This Dunnock evaded most picture as he skulked most of the time in the woodland edge of the garden. If it was not evading this it was moving fast to court another bird.
The Blue Tit & Goldfinch stopped briefly to fill up and they too were soon
As I write this at 18:00 the temp has aleady started it's downward spiral as already the days high of 4.8 d C have now slipped to - 0.5 d C. I presume another cold night is in store unless a little cloud cover rolls in. The pond has remained frozen all day and whilst inspecting the pond I noticed that a cat strike had occured!!!!!!. It looks like a Blackbird has sucumbed to the marauding neighbours cat. I just wish a bell would be fitted at least. It waits in ambush in next doors garden and when a bird sits on the fence in just the right spot it seems a fair bet the cat is to quick. It sadens me as I have noticed that a lot of birds are now VERY nervous around the garden and I wonder if the cat in part has something to do with this. The Greenfinch are almost scared witless and have made so many failed attempts at the feeders as they turn back mid flight.
14th. I had the chance to take a few more pictures in the garden as the weather again allowed a chance to see some very welcome sights. Back on the 11th I had the afternoon off and in the warmth I noted my first Butterfly for the year as it flew beyond a neighbours garden. I was also surprised to see a Bee species wandering around next door's garden. I think this must be the earliest I have ever seen either around the garden. I took the chance of sitting waiting for any birds to show up in front of the lens but they were a bit shy so I was limited to what I could capture.
This Ladybird was making the most of the warmth with a foray through a Lavender plant. It was quite unaware of it's early showing so I managed this poor shot of him. My new Nikon P5100 is not as good as my previous Nikon compact cameras for macro work which is a real shame but I shall test it more in the summer when the light is better.
This wren Posed for a short time as a shaft of light hit his face. It is always amazing of they can cling to such upright structures so well. This is one of a pr of Grey Wagtails that has now found it's mate! They love sitting by the pond and travel just about all over together. It's song is quite a strange affair with many high pitched whistles and notes thrown in to somehow come together to make an attractive and very " look at me" arrangement.
10th. Back in the garden and the sun has finally showed his face. Today the temps have beeb a very nice 12.3 deg C which is the warmest of the year. This followed minus 1 temps overnight so quite a recovery but the wall to wall sunshine helped. It allowed me to sort out a new camera in one of the new nest boxes whilst also altering the amount of light entering the box with the addition of frosted perspex panels. This allows the low light cameras to give better quality colour images. The ironic thing is that the only nest box with any interest being shown in it is the one in the Sycamore tree at the back of the garden where a pr of Blue Tits are already showing signs of claimed terratory with aggression being shown to most bird in close proximity to the box. We wait in hope to see if the 3 boxes with cameras in them will attract a visitor.
A chance to show some of the plants in bloom at the moment with many of them clearly enjoying the strong sun.
Snowdrop, Mahonia Aquafolium(Oregon Grape), and the Wild Primrose
It's a small taster of the things yet to happen but a combination of Sun, flower blooms and warmth have almost wiped away the feelings of the constant rain as the record amount of rain to fall during last month are distant memories already! One thing I am well aware of though is the fact that traditionally February is normally the coldest month of the year with lows of -6 regularly seen. This is also a month of dry weather and at the moment the sun is set to stay foe at least a week or so horrah!
A small note as out resident Grey Wagtail has now turned up with a mate and both are tucking into the mealworm. I wonder if this is the same paring we have seen for the last two seasons or whether it is the same male with a different partner every year. Now that the pond has been opened up a little they spend some time dipping into the shallows.
3rd. It snowed on Friday which was great...but not great enough as I could still manage to get to work! This is the scene I quickly captured through the upstairs window.
I tried in vane to ignore the weather and headed on out over the weekend to see Waxwing, Slovonian Grebe and the Great Grey Shrike. I tried for the Waxwing in Burnley, a surprisingly common spot for them to turn up, but to no avail. It seems they were there earlier in the day but it seems like they may have moved on as when I returned on Sunday they were still absent. I visited the Sovonian Grebe on Sunday again in the hope of some decent pics but a combination of many things conspired to make it a fruitless journey. I still have not managed to get to the Shrike so all in all I feel disappointed. Whilst waiting for the Waxwing to return to a Rowan tree I snapped this Blackbird eating some berries.
The snow has already gone and the rain looks likely to return. I am now cheesed off with the weather as I hear of many parts of the country are being treated to sunny bright days. When I took up a career in a small town it never occured to me that Waterfoot would be such a descriptive term for a place!