A rare winter visitor…

A thing happened at Newdigate Brickworks Nature Reserve in December that has not happened for a very long time. Around the second weekend, unseasonably mild weather gave way to real cold.

The ground, the lakes and the ponds froze and then it snowed, and it settled, and it stayed. For a whole week the reserve was a glory of winter white. We have not had snow last that long in these parts probably since 2010 – even the Beast from the East in 2018 didn’t drop much (although it was very cold). It was no doubt tough for the wildlife, but perhaps the reserve was also a haven for some.

We had practically the national collection of Mallard on the ice of the north lake that week, many more than we usually see. With them were Gadwall, Coot and Moorhen, Tufted Duck, a couple of Mute Swans and Widgeon. The north-east corner of the lake just about managed to stay ice-free and maybe it was the one place in the area they could still forage.

The snow and ice eventually gave way to unseasonably warm and wet weather. The drought of summer 2022 a distant memory by then with the ditches running fast, the lakes brim-full and water everywhere. Some of the residents got ahead of themselves and thought spring was in the offing!

These days they call the Cuckoo the harbinger of spring. In fact, since it arrives after spring has started, it is more a herald of summer than spring (a fact our medieval forebears knew well, “Sumer is icumen in/Lhude sing, cucu”) and I tend to think the Great Tit has a better claim to spring, though he’s often somewhat too early. This year, though, he wasn’t the only one: a wren was singing by the carpark on 5^th January.

Wildlife spotted at the reserve

Two Cormorants were resident for a few weeks in late autumn, and I thought I saw a pair fly over in mid-February, but I’ve not seen them on the lake since the snow. Canada Geese have been here on and off all winter and a Grey Heron regularly fishes the south lake. Shovelers have passed through.

There were Roe Deer in the woods and at the woodland edges were Blackbirds, Robins, Long-tailed Tits and, just once in the second week of January, a Goldcrest.

Around the grass and scrubland, we had Redwing and Fieldfare, a flock of Linnet from time to time and a Green Woodpecker browsing for ground invertebrates. Early in February, I disturbed a middling-sized, mottled brown bird from the grassland near the north pond. Did a Woodcock raise a Woodcock? I think so, but I’m not sure. I don’t have much contact with that side of the family and don’t know them that well.

Poised to spring

It got colder again in the second half of January, then warmed and dried into February. On the water, the pair of Great-crested Grebe were both back before mid-month, while the permanent residents of the scrubland now had more of a claim to have spring in their sights. Greater-spotted Woodpeckers were drumming in the woods and the woodland floor was showing the first new green: dog’s mercury, bluebells and, at the edge of the ponds, the first sharp tips of this year’s reeds.

Newdigate is a place of sounds not only of sights

The birdsong and bird-chatter gathered over February: Dunnocks, Robins, a Song Thrush, Wrens, Great Tits and Blue Tits, cheeping Sparrows, the Woodpecker still drumming. At times, it got quite raucous on the water with squabbling Gadwall, honking Coot and geese, and the Moorhen’s liquid warble from the reeds.

At dusk, the birds call from the water and late incomers announce their arrival, sometimes reaching the lake unseen in near darkness, while a male Tawny Owl hoots in the trees beyond. The lakes are a stop-off for many weary travellers: a pair of Egyptian Geese passed through in the second half of the month.

Spring greens

By early March, Celandines, Nettles and Ramsons were showing in the woods and Willow buds were opening. I thought I’d try the bat detector one evening, but it was still too early in the year, or too cold that day. Following the success before Christmas, Proper Winter decided on a comeback tour, but it wasn’t the same as the glory days and was quickly cancelled. As I write, that was two days ago and yesterday it was spring again, albeit a coolish, dank and dull one. Once again, the place is awash. But no matter the ups and downs of the weather, it’s all-change from here on. Yesterday, I saw my first flowering Primrose of the year here in the woods at Newdigate.