January blues?

So, it’s a new year with our new government and as I find a little time today to do some work in the garden I realise that the problems in our environment are ongoing and from looking at the reserve/garden today I see that it is having an effect on us here in Surrey, all over the country and the whole world.
For a few weeks I had been looking at the amount of green vegetation that was still growing and obviously not dead despite it allegedly being the middle of winter.

 

Now , I’m fully aware that I write about the weather in pretty much most of the articles I have written here but Im sure you all understand the importance that our weather plays in the natural world and the un-natural world that humanity has created. For all ages of people who read this, there have been have been significant changes within their lifetimes. The statistics are ever changing with temperature and rainfall records being broken on a regular basis.

And if you take a look around the world at this precise time we see Australia burning, Delhi experiencing record low temperatures and Jakarta flooding to name a few examples of the extreme weather conditions that are now occurring around our globe with more regularity. I won’t repeat myself but looking at the reserve garden I can see the effects of climate change here, where we live.

When I was out the back looking at the plants I could see that some species had set their seed and had died off normally possibly caught by the couple of hard frosts that we have had in early December.

 

For these species the chances of seed production should be good and hopefully ready to start growing in the spring. I noted that many species were still growing new basal leaves, and the usual suspect, Creeping Buttercup were actually invading ground that I had cleared ready for the spring and were starting to undo some of the work I’d already done. I spent 20 minutes digging a few hundred of them out but there is every chance they will regrow if the weather stays mild.

Creeping Buttercup

Looking at this I thought about the articles I have read about how climate change is now confusing many of our species about when to breed or flower. I can see this on the reserve and along with the vegetation some of the local resident birds were in full song and behaving in a territorial manner and although Mistle and Song Thrushes routinely sing and hold territories during the winter months I was slightly surprised to hear Blackbirds in full song just before Christmas. We are living in some rapidly changing times and we are still not totally sure of what the results of this will be and how it will affect the environment and humanity its self.

Back in song Blackbird by Steve Duffy

Well despite all of this the natural world will keep on trying to survive and as I said the resident birds are starting to prepare for the breeding season and along with the already mentioned species I am also hearing Nuthatches, Great, Blue and Coal Tits, and Dunnocks, Wren and Robins on most days.

Blue Tit by Steve Duffy

This winter I have put very little bird food this winter as it’s been so mild and I don’t want a rat invasion again but I have noticed regular Wood Pigeons, Robin, Dunnock and was delighted the other day to see 6 House Sparrow feeding on plants in the reserve and I’m fairly sure these sparrows were feeding on poppy seeds that I had left to go to seed. The plan is coming together and various local species of various wildlife groups are using the area. The regular badger motorway cafe is established and I spotted one the other night on the road out the front the flats on her/his way to search for the next meal. I’m looking forward to see what other species of wildlife I can see in 2020 and will continue, in my own little way, to improve habitats for the local wildlife and see what I can attract to the area. As I’ve said before if people made their gardens more wildlife friendly, we could all help the dwindling wildlife populations and apologies for repeating myself about it but we can all help by doing our bit

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