A Mild and Muddy End to January 2018

OUR AIM IS TO PROTECT OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE HABITAT IT PROVIDES FOR WILDLIFE ALONG THE RIVERSIDE

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Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Our Meet on 28th January 2018 was again very productive after the Christmas break. The weather was very mild but overcast and damp with river banks very muddy after several days of rain when the water level had risen considerably - but was now receding. The river was still flowing fast and muddy.

At the end of our meet it was good to look up from the pile of bags of rubbish we had collected and see one of the first and certain signs of spring:

Long Hazel catkins forming lambs' tails, with tiny red flowers at the base where, in early autumn,  young green hazelnuts will form. Most will be devoured by wildlife without fully ripening as they usually form well before acorns and other nuts - and taste sweeter too.

The shopping trolley was not the easiest item to be hauled up from a deep, muddy and fast-running river.