Despite the cold weather in mainland Europe there are very few Smew around in RX land - just 2 each at Dungeness and Castle Water. Yesterday this pair was catching small Perch just in front of the Castle Water hide (where a tangle of willow branches was submerged a few years ago to act as a fish refuge).
The worst morning of the recent weather conditions, for us here at Rye Harbour anyway, most of the morning has been spent feeding and watering our 23 goats. Highlights while doing so have included 6 Woodcock, 2 Jack Snipe, 40+ Snipe, 3 Marsh Harrier, 2 Bittern, 500 Lapwing,180 Curlew, 50 Skylark and 45 Meadow Pipit.
Skylark picking over uneaten molassed goat feed on Harbour Farm.
Back in the 1970’s, admittedly in the north, I used to look for newts turning up in ponds in March/April. Over the past few decades in this area their first arrival has got earlier and earlier and it is not unusual to find animals in the pond in November, and eggs in December. So what impact does this frosty weather have on these animals?
Given that they used to breed late in the spring there was presumeably a selective advantage to this behaviour, (or were herpetologists less inclined to look in the ponds so early in the winter?). Certainly eggs laid near the surface of the pond are likely to be vulnerable to freezing, which is bad news for frogspawn.
Last spring there was a Read the rest of this entry »