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.
On the 17th and 18th Harry continued the groundworks for the 3rd field shelter in North Park. Over 20mm of rain on both the 19th and the 20th meant that the ground was saturated again and the River Ashburn increased rapidly in height overnight. A Hawthorn branch crossing the bridge in Corner Wood had come down. A pair of Mandarin ducks were enjoying the downpour on the Flo pond on the 21st at 10:15am. They were picked up on the trail camera again in the evening. An Otter was also seen on the trail camera at 8:55pm swimming just past the camera towards the stream (between the two ponds). A Peacock Butterfly was seen near the Wildlife Tower on the 22nd where it had probably been overwintering.
Over 50mm rain (1.96”) on the 23rd, raised the river again and turned all our muddy gateways into quagmires. Lots of small branches were down throughout the woodland, one small dead sycamore came down. On the 24th a Tawny Owl was picked up by the trail cam in the early morning and there were more of Orchid leaves visible in Kiln Close by the 24th.
Mateo led a Winter Bird Walk on the 25th with 6 visitors and they recorded 21 species – Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Chaffinch, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Blackbird, Mandarin, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Jackdaw, Goshawk, Buzzard and Herring Gull. Pip and Kate continued pruning Apple trees in Forde orchard whilst Josh cut back the Forde Orchard hedge that was laid last year and Harry started clearing out the bonfire pit.
February felt cold and very damp here with the ground saturated much of the time. The mean temperature for the month was 6.1°C, lower than our 20-year average of 7.09°C. We had 17-days with 156mm of rain, higher than our average for the month of 126mm, but significantly lower than 2024 when we broke our February record with 271.8mm.
