More Bluebell leaves were appearing in Corner Wood on the 1st and 2nd. The Snowdrops around some of the Apple trees at the top of Forde Orchard were blooming. The cattle were due to be removed on the 3rd however, we recorded another first for the LLP when Harry, on his morning walk, met a newly born Calf with its mother on the path in the Main Field. The cattle were due to calve in about 3-weeks, after they’d left here, this one obviously hadn’t got the message. The grazier removed the rest of the herd leaving the mother and newborn here to enjoy the sunshine. A Grey Wagtail was seen flying upstream in Corner Wood. On the 4th, the grazier removed the mother and calf, and a female Kestrel was seen on the shortnened telegraph post in the middle of the bird food crop.
A Buzzard was seen perched on top of the polebox on the 6th, and Harry and Josh finished raking the cuttings from the orchid patch and saw the first Early Purple Orchid Spike. Two Ash tress with dieback in the Pensland Lane hedge were felled on the 7th. The first Celendines were seen in flower in the orchard on the 8th. There were 5 Greenfinch in the Kiln Close remnant hedge and 3 Bullfinch in the Blackthorn scrub on the 11th. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard drumming in Corner Wood. Harry and volunteer Steve had 3 fires to burn up brash from the hedge-laying and scrub clearance.
On the 12th, a Canada Goose flew West over the LLP, a farely unusual sighting here. Harry began the groundworks for the third, and final, field shelter in North Park. Approximately 20 Starlings flew over the crop on the 13th, and 2 Raven and an immature Herring Gull were seen flying over the Main Field. Harry and volunteer Steve replaced the fence posts and straightened the wire on the fence above the office, and added a stile into the rewilding area in North Park. A Buzzard was seen in Ford Orchard for a couple of hours moving from tree to tree, most likely hunting for frogs. On Valentine’s Day, a pair of Mandarin ducks were seen on the Flo Pond for the first time this year. They were there again on the 15th and, on the 17th, the drake was seen to fly off and the female was on the island.
