It was a mild february, free of air frosts, and the most notable feature was the dampness, with rain on all but four days. Consequently, the fields were fairly waterlogged, though with surprisingly little standing water, but shallow flooding of stretches of the riverside path did deter most of those without wellies; cyclists and runners tended to splash their way through regardless.
It was disappointing to see so few birds making use of the wet conditions, with highlights being 29 mallard on 8th and a pathetic two herring gulls on the hay field on 17th – the first I had seen on the ground this winter. 250 black-headed gulls (some starting to acquire their handsome, brown, summer hoods) flew over on 2nd, perhaps responding to the changing feeding opportunities locally as more areas became attractively soggy.
Only one snipe was seen all month, and tufted duck were scarce on Tonford Lake for much of the period, but with a peak of ten on 8th. Other wintering birds were also in short supply – 12 meadow pipits on 2nd were reduced to a single individual six days later. However, I did record 14 fieldfares and nine redwings one morning, reminding me that winter hasn’t yet released its grip, and the presence of at least seven greenfinches on 17th was probably an indication of opportunistic foraging rather than preparations for staking out spring territories.
A mistle thrush in song on 8th was my first record since December 2024, and a reed bunting on 17th could also be viewed as a portent of milder spring days, while we can but hope that the buzzard on 25th may soon be settling in, giving us exhilarating views of these rather majestic small eagles spiraling upwards on thermals in their courtship displays. Also of note was a little egretfeeding in the river a couple of times.