It's supposed to be spring

Just when we thought winter was properly behind us - with the first signs of spring flowers on their way - then another icy blast hits us. We ventured out into the Arctic wastes to Old Sarum, for expected snowy views.

It seemed that this time the snow had clung to vegetation, rather than forming big drifts on the ground. The beautiful forms of snow on branches and ivy were as if someone had been busy with the paintbrush in this starkly monochrome world.

Life appeared to be carrying on as normal - after all, if you've started to build your nest, or are already incubating eggs, you're a bit committed at that point. So the swan couple feeding peacefully on the river as we passed were oblivious to the white landscape around them.

Reaching the hillfort itself, the snow-clad bushes were alive with birdsong, taking shelter from the exposed ramparts. We were able to watch a treecreeper jerking along branches, searching for tasty invertebrates - an unusual site and a first for us.

Ascending the slippery slopes to the top of the hillfort, the wind was biting, so we didn't hang around and quickly looped back around to return home.

Snow is beautiful, but I wonder what the repercussions will be for our birds this year.

Still snow?!

Last Saturday, with intermittent drizzle, and the understanding that the ground was still going to be rather soggy, we opted for an afternoon walk starting at Garston Wood RSPB reserve.

This is my usual bluebell wood, and although it's way too early for this spectacle, it serves as a good starting point for some walking further afield. We did spot some primroses, but we also spotted - in several points along our walk - patches of snow. It was clear that the Beast had caused significant drifts in places up here - it must have been amazing.

The reserve and wider woodland through which we walked contained numerous fresh green shoots of typical ancient woodland indicator plant species. Lots of bluebells and ramsons (wild garlic) of course, but also the often-overlooked dog's mercury. The route took us through the Rushmoor Estate's lovely ancient woodland, where it is clear much is being done to enhance it, through deer fencing to prevent copious nibbling, to recent coppicing to open up areas for more ground flora. We passed the small fort, which last year I had 'discovered', with the ramparts cloaked in ramsons, and the surrounding land in bluebells. Obviously, this was not as stark today, and actually the uniform carpet of green seemed to diminish it slightly in size.

We also encountered the strange butcher's broom plant - very spikey 'leaves' are in fact extensions of the stem, with the red fruit appearing in the middle of them. Another ancient woodland indicator of our chalky woodland fragments.

The route took us along woodland edges, with sweeping fields and pastures, and ancient sunken droveways with beautiful old oaks and beeches.



It's a wonderful part of the country to explore, and I can't wait to see it at its best in the spring, with a riot of colourful blooms.

The Thaw

It was quite a dramatic thaw, with balmy temperatures causing rapid melting. That said, such was the amount of snow, that even now some icy lumps persist at the edges of fields, representing locations of previously-deep drifts of snow.

Having slogged through the slush into town the day before - not pleasant and tough going - we opted for a less-soggy Sunday potter around Langford Lakes, to see what birds were about. Although very few of interest were, what greeted us was spectacular.

You see, most of the lakes had frozen over with a thick layer of snow during the big freeze, with the consequence that when we visited, much of the lake surfaces were still covered. The rapid melting was producing interesting patterns in the ice, and making for interesting bird access! Our approach to the lakes was also lined with a pretty avenue of diminutive scarlet elf cup fungi.

It was interesting to see how certain lakes had almost completely thawed, whilst others had really yet to get going. I'm putting this down to differences in depth and volume. Oddly, most lakes were devoid of any interesting bird life, bar the odd tufted duck or great crested grebe, instead they seemed to have made way for a Canada geese invasion.

Although their incessant honking was terribly annoying, their antics on the slippery slush were entertaining, and we whiled away many minutes watching them.

Just as well, because that afternoon, our planned additional walk in farmland around Stapleford on the A36 just outside of Salisbury was curtailed through being drenched by a sudden sleety downpour. Time to call it a day until the countryside has properly thawed out!

From Spring to the Beast

What a difference a few days can make. Last Saturday I was walking in the sun, and now I've just got back from battling the blizzard of the Beast from the East (what a silly name).

I started the weekend by walking with friends at Testwood Lakes Nature Reserve near Totton - although a bit boggy, it definitely felt as if Spring was in the air, as we watched a pair of Great Crested Grebes warming up for their courtship dance. That afternoon, I walked along part of the Clarendon Way at Farley Mount Country Park, just south of Winchester, before looping down through woodland and along farm tracks. It's a lovely route, with stunning views across the downs, before moving into ancient woodland and droveways. The route back features a great view of the strange monument that gives Farley Mount its name. Apparently, beneath it's gleaming facade lies a horse that survived leaping into a chalk pit during a fox hunt in 1733, was renamed 'Beware chalk pit', then the following year won a notable race.

Contrast all of that with the scenes today, as snow swirls around the flat, with the cats imploring me to make it stop because they want to go outside. My original walk in the New Forest had been cancelled, and as I was on a mission to get some new gloves (bad time to lose one as everyone has already bought them it appears!) I decided to walk into town along the Avon Valley Path.

Apart from being a tad slippy - despite my full outdoor gear - it was a pretty walk and surprisingly quiet! My way was accompanied by robins, blackbirds, wrens and dunnocks, all trying to find food. It was on the way back that the snow really set in, forming an icing-sugar dusting on sheltered spots, but whipped up into swirls in the gusty easterly wind.

Pretty though it is, prolonged bouts of cold conditions can really hinder certain bird species, particularly those that rely on invertebrates for food - let's hope the thaw is quick.