Spring Today.

Winter is beginning to release it's grip. After the blisteringly cold periods between November and February, it warmed just a bit for a few days.... enough to fool me.... and then popped back around the corner last week to bite at my fingers and nip my nose when I took the dogs up the hill.

But today is lovely. It started with a bite to the air and frost silvering the hilltop, then the sun melted away the chill and suddenly the air smelled of clean soil and sunshine.

The buzzards are back. I know it doesn't sound very romantic, but I became rather attached to them last Autumn, and an area that supports six top predators can't be entirely unhealthy. Certainly I found plenty of pigeon feathers in the hedgerows last summer. Over winter they vanished. I must check up on what they do/where they go in winter.

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Listening to "Farming Today" over the last few days, they've been reporting on the RSPB's annual farmland bird count. They use 20 signature species as a proxy for general diversity. The which the skylark is one of these. As I walked by the pond, a pair suddenly flushed out from the marshgrass. I must try to track how many pairs we have. Again, today is the first time I've seen them this year, although to be fair, it's been so bloody cold that I seldom got past the lower fields over the last few months.

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The list makes interesting reading. This is taken from the DEFRA report "Wild bird population indicators for the English regions: 1994 – 2006" I'm going to try to contribute to this for future years. My main problem is that the two lists includes a number of "LBBs" (little brown birds) and I'm not sure that my identification skills are up to dealing with those.

Farmland List

Corn Bunting, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Grey Partridge, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Linnet, Reed Bunting, Rook, Skylark, Starling, Stock Dove,Tree Sparrow, Turtle Dove, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Yellowhammer, Yellow Wagtail, Marsh Tit, Nightingale, Nuthatch, Redstart, Robin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spotted Flycatcher, Tawny Owl, Tree Pipit, Treecreeper, Willow Tit, Willow Warbler, Wood Warbler, Wren

Woodland List

Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Hawfinch, Jay, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Whitethroat, Lesser Redpoll, Lesser Whitethroat, Long-tailed Tit, Marsh Tit, Nightingale, Nuthatch, Redstart, Robin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Spotted Flycatcher, Tawny Owl, Tree Pipit, Treecreeper, Willow Tit, Willow Warbler, Wood Warbler, Wren

Still, some of them we certainly have at Vine Tree Farm. Since the land is farmland edging onto woodland, I'll track both lists.

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I'll keep up a running report on this. So far I can definitely say that we have:

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Farmland List

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Skylarks (at least one pair), rooks and wood pigeons.

Woodland List

Blackbird, blue tit, chaffinch, some variety of woodpecker, robin, dunnock.

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When I've brushed up my identification skills I should add more. In the meantime, I'll read the report.