Tuesday 29th January
Ray gave a talk to the Royston Wildlife Group this evening about our Naturetrek birdwatching trip to Kazakhstan (and I read one of my poems). Highlights were numerous, but include Pallas' sandgrouse, Himalayan snowcock, Himalayan rubythroat, lammergeier, Eversmann's & Guldenstadt's redstarts (just for their names alone).
Monday 28th January
The milder temperatures and rain over the weekend have thawed almost all the snow, but the wind is very cold. This morning we walked up on to the heath, down to the sports club, up to the high point where the square metal seat is, across the golf course and back via the wooded strip.
Going down Lancester Hill we were entertained by the sight and sound of many skylarks, getting ready to nest as soon as spring arrives. Some of them soared upwards singing their hearts out, others flew about much closer to the ground. They like to nest in the long grass that grows on this hillside, although they are at risk from dogs running off the lead.
Where the line of trees runs down towards Ivy Farm, where the new houses are being built, we saw fieldfares and redwings in the trees, then on the ground, about 30 in all, about 18 fieldfares and 12 smaller redwings. These migratory thrush family birds have been around since late autumn, but it is still good to see them here - they like feeding on berries. We checked a flock of chaffinches but couldn't see any bramblings amongst them.
There are still small patches of snow on northern slopes of the heath where the north-east wind blows very coldly. However there are a lot of mole hills all over the place so the ground can't be too frozen for them to be active, searching for earthworms and insects - apparently they do not hibernate. The beech leaves and mast lie thick on the woodland floor, deep bronzy brown, gold and dusty grey as they slowly rot.
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