Is Spring Around the Corner?

It almost feels like spring today, the sun is shining, the snow has gone overnight and I’ve even put some washing on the line at the bottom of the garden.

If you’ve read my blog before you will know that I live in the country and love animals, birds and wildlife in general. The disappearance of the snow has revealed a little animal – Mr Mole !  His trail of molehills can now be seen all over the garden and, of course, in the middle of the  lawn. The dogs love it and Ice has been mole hunting this morning, sniffing the most recent mounds of earth in search of the little fella.

Moles are industrious diggers and can create 20m of tunnel per day. They leave characteristic mounds of earth on the surface as they excavate their tunnels. Large chambers within the tunnel system are lined with dry grass and used for nesting during periods of rest. Moles feed mainly on earthworms, and inhabit deciduous woodland, grassland and farmland – wherever the soil is deep enough for tunnelling.

We also have another, much rarer, visiter to the garden today – a Goldcrest, who appears to be nesting in the trees at the side of the garden.

Goldcrests vie with their cousins, firecrests, for the title of the UK’s smallest songbird. Look out for the striking crest colour – orange in males and yellow in females – on this occasional garden visitor.  The harsh winter weather takes a heavy toll and populations can suffer some pretty drastic losses, however levels can quickly recover in milder times.

Now I`ve written this it will probably snow again tomorrow so I`m off to enjoy this lovely day while it lasts.