We have had a very dry sunny autumn, so much so that many farmers delayed the sowing of their crops until there was enough moisture in the seed beds to allow germination. Due to higher temperatures in October/November most crops have now caught up, especially oil seed rape, which has put on more growth than usual.

The first flocks of Redwings that I saw arriving from Scandinavia, was on 23rd October. Redwings and Fieldfares seem to be in smaller flocks so far this year - if the weather gets colder we may see much larger flocks. There are a lot of hawthorn berries for them to feed on. There has been an abundant supply of wild bird food this winter up to the present time, but it will not last that much longer, so from now on the birds will begin to use the feeders we all put out for them. We already have up to 30 Goldfinches eating Niger seeds at one of our feeders.

As I write this (Dec 6th) we have had a “fall of Woodcock”. Woodcock migrate from northern Europe, usually during quieter weather periods, and coinciding with a full moon (Dec 2nd). They are very tired and hungry when they arrive. I think the description “fall of woodcock” is just about what they do, as they are so exhausted when they come, they just flop down! Some stay all winter whilst most continue west after recovering for a few days, a lot of them going as far as Cornwall to over winter.

The signs of spring are already evident with the bulbs beginning to grow again, and soon the days will begin to lengthen. We did not have enough frost in November to ‘bear a Duck’, so the rest of the winter should not be “slud and muck”
'Ice in November to bear a duck
And you get a winter of sludge and muck.'
As I look out of the window, that old saying does not seem to hold true, but time will tell! However, we do need a lot more rain as the ground water reserves are still very low.