Well we are into February … the second month of Lockdown and the local patch keeps serving surprises!! The last week or so has seen some of the coldest winter weather so far this year ; with a covering of snow and some bitter night time temperatures getting down to -10 ; However spare a thought for Braemar in Scotland last Thursday night 11th February saw a reading of -23 degrees Celsius; the lowest since 1959 !!!! With day time temperatures barely above freezing the local barn owls have been seen on a regular basis hunting during the day anytime from 230 pm onwards. It has been spectacular watching these silent hunters quartering their territories in search of a vole, mouse or rat and being completely oblivious to human presence – as long as you are quiet and don’t make sudden moves. Exciting stuff!!
Another surprise was flushing some local Jack Snipe ; you don’t realise they are there until you nearly step on them!!!! One bird that has been very noticeable this past week is Redpoll or to be more specific Lesser Redpoll. At this time of year it is very common to see these small finches in either Dalby Forest/ Cropton Forest which are both very close to Pickering here in North Yorkshire. But due to Lockdown rules it is not possible to visit either of these sites at the present time. However, due to the hard weather these small finches have increased their feeding ranges and it was great to see a small flock feeding on some Rose Bay Willow Herb seed heads the other day on a recent local walk.
Another finch that loves feeding on seed heads is the Bullfinch and the males especially this time of year brighten any winter walk with the flash of a white rump and a bright red breast off set by grey wings and an inky black cap.
As I said at the start of this post our local patch keeps serving surprise …. none more so than a gorgeous Red Fox with a full bushy tail. I will make a confession now it is the first Red Fox I have seen in the wild for nearly 13 years and it was a great thrill to see. I must admit I was never a hunt supporter, yet at the same time I cannot condone the widespread and indiscriminate shooting, poisoning and snaring of foxes that now seems to be in lieu of fox hunting by dogs since its banning. Now we have ‘Lamping’; fox shooting at night with night vision, thermal imaging and high powered rifles with many hunts recording kills into double figures for a single night’s hunt. I appreciate that farmers do need to control foxes in some areas as the damage they can cause to poultry and new born lambs can be very distressing to the farming communities whose livelihoods depend on the prosperity of these farmed animals. But this indiscriminate shooting on such a mechanised basis is surely not the answer. The Red Fox after all is surely one of our most iconic animals and synonymous with the British countryside. The irony now is that you have more chance seeing a fox in an urban environment than you do in a rural setting. The fox I saw seemed very healthy, he had a gorgeous red coat peppered with grey down his flanks and was very alert to our presence. All I can hope is that this beautiful animal has a healthy and productive life ……….
