Birds Announce the Arrival of Spring

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

To find nature notes and records for wildlife - click on

Hills Farm Wildlife Conservation

Sunday 23rd February 2020 was an overcast day with misty light rain, clearing later. There had been very strong gales overnight and it remained too windy for our banner to be displayed during our Meet, for the first time ever since it was made. The river levels had receded somewhat but the water was still flowing fast and muddy.

Despite the amount of rainfall and lack of sunshine, many birds were heard singing loudly, including wrens, dunnock, robins, nuthatch and of course song thrushes and house sparrows. Mallard duck were about and many quietly croaking common frogs were seen with growing patches of frog spawn in the sheltered margins of the ponds. It certainly looked as if spring was advancing.

The broad leaves of Wild Garlic growing strongly on the river bank, usually one of

the first signs of spring, but quickly overtaken by other plants

- the wild garlic flowering much later.