Freezing Weather

We seem to have escaped the worst of the snow, in fact we’ve hardly had any. There was an hour or so of heavy-ish snow fall the other day, it was enough to turn everything white-at-a-distance, and since then the freezing temperatures and daily frost have maintained this wintry landscape, without causing too much disruption.

I remember going to Sweden in April some years ago and being told that in the previous month they’d had temperatures of -30°c. That sort of cold was unimaginable then, but after this winter…well, I still can’t imagine it, but checking the thermometer at 9am to find a temperature of -9°c is a cold the like of which I don’t recall experiencing. For the average low lying areas of England, I seem to remember anything like –3 or –4 seeming more or less impossibly cold. So, in summary, it’s very cold. A short walk in the pasture field towards the young woodland just south of Oakham presents plenty of birds, carefully searching hedgerows for food. Lots of chaffinches. Blue and great tits also. Chittering gold finches higher in the trees. Clacking fieldfares over head, a looping green woodpecker making its way from tree to tree. Plenty of black headed gulls, that seem to have boundless drive to wheel around and cry at each other. Carrion crows and wood pigeons over fly in pairs. Ponds with broken surfaces show ice inches thick, white frost clings to every twig and stem of the long grass.

In the back garden the feeders are busy. Reed buntings make their first appearance of the winter. Tree and house sparrows take turns on the perches and throng on the ground. The garden birds are naturally twitchy and flighty, but in this weather economy is also important. Economy of movement, flying only when necessary to make the most of the carefully foraged food. I know they can’t help it but it’s frustrating to see blackbirds and robins waste so much of their energy, chasing and threatening others of their species. They can’t know there will be a plentiful supply of food in this garden throughout the winter.

One pair of robins seem a little half-hearted in their aggression. One makes a brief fly at the other, skimming over its head before landing some 12 inches away. They then sit, puffed up balls of feathers, facing each other out, before one flies a few feet away to continue feeding and the other remains in place. Maybe something has been resolved, maybe they are both just hoping the other will go away.

The freeze continues and is set to continue for days more. Many small birds will die. Apparently this year was a good breeding season for many species. It’s looking like they’ll need another one next year.

Reed buntings taking seed from the tray.