The weather has turned wintery with flurries of snow, frosty mornings and chilling winds. Only three weeks ago there were the last of the seasons butterflies still on the wing (2 peacocks at Fenham le Moor) and a few roadside plants were still in flower (e.g. hogweed, knapweed and creeping buttercup). One or two spring plants are attempting to flower, with coltsfoot and snowdrops attempting flower in Glanton. At the time of writing, there must be a crocus or daffodil in flower somewhere in our patch.
One of the sites of the late autumn / early winter has been the number of Scandinavia thrushes especially blackbirds, song thrushes and fieldfares. The 'northern' blackbird appears larger and blacker and can often be found looking for berries in our rural hedges. This year, the thrush flocks have been a combination of fieldfares and blackbirds, with smaller numbers of redwings and starlings. There also appears to be more mistle thrushes at the moment. Individuals are keen to defend their 'berry' bushes from all-comers. If the winter gets colder or we have a period of prolonged snow, then many of these thrushes will move further south and west.
Norway Spruce is popularly planted for use as a Christmas tree. Every Christmas, the Norwegian capital city, Oslo, provides the cities of New York, London, Edinburgh and Washington D.C. with a Norwegian Spruce, which is placed at the most central square of each city. This is mainly a sign of gratitude for the aid these countries gave during the Second World War.
Many birds roost together for warmth and safety. These include starlings, rooks, jackdaws, carrion crows, pied wagtails and even wrens. The best time to track down bird roosts are from an hour before sunset, when you can see numerous birds all flying in the same direction towards their communal sites. One of the biggest gatherings I know is in the Powburn area. Jackdaws and rooks have already started to gather. Currently there are at least 1,000 Jackdaws and at least 2,000+ rooks. Last February, this roosting flock was at least 5,000 birds. The trees were covered with birds, in and around the village, after sunset. It was very reminiscent of a Hitchcock film. I have always wondered how far these birds have travelled. There is some indication of this in the mornings when the flock disperse to all points of the compass. Large numbers of Jackdaws swirl in excited flocks over Glanton as they move south in the mornings. A large proportion of these appear to be heading towards Rothbury. Do they go as far as Rothbury or even further a field? I am sure that this would be an interesting Ph D project for someone. In Anglesey, there is a large flock of ravens that gather in a conifer plantation. It has been suggested that the ravens communicate with each other telling their neighbour where and how good the feeding has been that day. Is this the same at Powburn? Jack Daw.