Winter on the Local Patch

Winter, once a time of bleak coldness and a desolate beauty, formerly a time of little respite for wildlife hanging on in the cold, has now all but disappeared as a season. A season of mild weather has truly confused life on the Patch, with temperatures rarely going below that of a balmy spring's day. Along with this the winter also has the distinction of being very wet, with floods in less dry areas of the country, and with no less than three named storms moving through in February. This confused medley of mild yet unsettled weather, may be something we can look forward to with climate change, or it could possibly be a short term thing, I doubt anyone can decide.

A makeshift bridge over a flooded area

The patch is mainly arable, but being on the edge of town, there are trappings of civilisation. There are several cottages, some farmyards and lots of horse paddocks. The countryside hasn't survived the ravages of intensified agriculture too well, there are few hedges, and they become less and less each year. There are huge arable fields, deserts where nothing can live or grow, except crops. There are few fallow areas which would allow nature to breathe, a couple of unkempt corners, although First Field has been left uncultivated for a couple of years. However this usually means they plan to build houses on it.

The Patch is full of horse paddocks

 

There is one area of ancient woodland, Rede Wood, but it is so small it can't really harbour any woodland birds to any great extent as small populations in small habitats die out easily, The Suffolk Punch Field has permanent pasture with scattered bushes which provides the best bird area of the Patch.

 



WILDCAT

 



Birdwatching on the Patch has been difficult purely because this mild weather has confused all avian life. Due to calmer weather on the continent, birds have tended to loiter there, rather than being forced west, to Suffolk, to milder climes. So a lot of birds, like winter thrushes, have become noticeable by their absence. There have been odd flocks, but little to compare to the numbers of yesteryear. It might not mean anything, I mean future harsher winters could lead to bigger numbers returning again, nature is so hard to predict.

 

BLUE TIT

 

Birds on the Patch usually consist of the odd BLACKBIRD, maybe a MAGPIE, a CROW or a GREAT TIT. True farmland birds, such as YELLOWHAMMERS are hanging on by a thread, it was only five years ago I was seeing flocks of fifty, now its just the odd few birds.
It can be tough going when you have nothing to see, a bit demoralising. Its the state of our countryside, that away from the nature reserves birds are present in such low numbers. Surely there is room for both food production and wildlife to live side by side, a sentiment many people wouldn't disagree with. And to be honest it doesn't take much to attract birds, an overgrown hedge, a weedy corner of a field, small things make great benefits. If only the landowners could see what good effects implementing a bit of habitat change could make, human and bird side by side, we would all benefit.

 



Some beautiful BLACKTHORN

 

FINCH flocks are a feature of winter with groups of birds hanging around and then passing through once they have engorged themselves. These flocks are mainly of LINNET and GOLDFINCHES, whilst a flock of 12 GREENFINCHES hung around the hedge in First Field, not something to be sniffed at when the population of this bird has plummeted. On 19 Nov there were a pair of BULLFINCHES by the Pond, a bird that has become scarce again, it was not that long ago when they nested on the Patch.

This is always the first shrub to flower, marking an important time in spring

 

The mild weather has really confused the birds with some SKYLARKS tentatively singing from as early as the 12 Nov on Lark Field and from the 27 Dec SONG THRUSHES had started singing. However this was just a premature thing and the birds soon returned to normal. The second week of March is when the birds, all on queue, start to sing their little hearts out, ready for the breeding season.
A flock of 30 SKYLARKS were in Lark Field, but unfortunately the field had been sown with Autumn crops, so the height of the vegetation will be to high for any larks to nest in come Spring, such is the hardships of intensive agriculture.

 

SNOWDROPS growing in the church cemetery

 



A GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER spends its time on the tall trees around the pond. This is a favoured "drumming" spot where the bird will bang out a tune on a tree to attract a mate. It doesn't nest here, but in the nearby trees around the hall, rather it uses the trees around the pond as a kind of amplifier, making its call echo out over the Patch.

 

With all the heavy rains this Winter, the stream flooded over for the first time in my memory

 

BUZZARDS have spent the winter on the Suffolk Punch Field, with another pair at Rede Wood. These are the apex predator on the Patch, sitting on top of the food chain, mighty lords of the Patch. Along with them there are some KESTRELS which hang around the Suffolk Punch Field, and the occasional SPARROWHAWK moves through without lingering. 

 

Wildlife on intensive farms: a single MAGPIE in a desolate arable field

 

On 28 Feb a male STONECHAT, a new site record, was present on the field behind the sport's centre, an area of open rough grassland. This species is a classic early spring migrant, usually one of the first of the year. Who knows, maybe it will go to the foothills of Scotland, or to the shingle beaches of Minsmere for the summer. This is a good time to be a stonechat, one of the few species of bird to be increasing in our countryside, thanks to the great work gone into restoring our heathlands.

 



Farmer poisoning the land

 

Its not just birds that use the Patch, there are also some records of mammals here as well. These are usually animals passing through this area of countryside, they don't tend to linger due to the lack of habitat. On the 1st Jan, a BROWN HARE was on one of the prarie fields that border Old Norwich Road, whilst three ROE DEER were on the deserted horse paddocks behind First Field on the 7th Feb. I have seen single individuals of the deer before, but this is the first multiple sighting.

 



BLACKBIRD taking a bath in the Pond

 



BLACKTHORN, an indicator of spring, was out extremely early this year, appearing on the 17 Feb. The white flowers that grace our hedgerows, are a celebration of the end of winter. Usually they appear in the second week of March, so being confused by the mild weather they have appeared prematurely. SNOWDROPS were actually late this year, waiting for the snows that would never arrive, and were found in various wooded places, and yellow LESSER CELENDINE were around the wooded areas, another early flower.

 

Stately trees grow beside the Pond

 

The twin threats of intensive agriculture and climate change is having a damaging effect on our countryside. Small popultions due to lack of habitat for food and nesting, means that they can't survive the brunt of what's to come. The thing is that creating the right habitat for our farmland birds isn't difficult, but for some reason there is this psychotic need to have everything in our countryside so clean, so tidy, which is an anathema of nature. Farmers have so much responsibility as custodians of the countryside, more than just producing food. Its not too late, but it soon might be, and we will be the worse off for the disappearance of nature from our fields.