A couple of weekends ago I was driving down to Surrey. There was snow in the fields and snow and ice on the branches of the trees. The wind had been consistently from the east for days. It was a grey and chill day.
As I drove south down the M1 I passed through several wooded cuttings between Northampton and Milton Keynes.
The trees on the right hand side of the road had smatterings of snow on them, but nothing very noticeable. On the left, though, close to the motorway, the lower branches were weighed down with inches of snow and ice. The landscape, grey and black and white, showed the impact of the winds which had been blowing from left to right across the motorway for days. On the right-hand, western, side the wind had cleared most of the snow. On the left-hand, eastern, side of the road the lower branches were sheltered and had kept their white coverage.
It was a case of only being able to explain the present through knowing about the past. Life’s often like that.
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Yesterday’s Ravens were not a sign of spring. I was sheltered by my little wood [arboretum] so called out to the leading bird. Down it came with only 30 yards to spare from me. Up it flew as soon as it saw me but sadly that would have been a dead bird if I had been a keeper. The pair flew on still calling back to me but no sign of a nest or territory. May be it had already been shot out. Snow slowly creeping up the fell with not a pipit in sight.
This is going to seem odd coming from me of all people Mark but your last couple of post’s have had a copule of slight issues, this post “grey and chill day” was that supposed to be “grey and chilly”, and on “I hope they sink (iv)” “stick with this contentious issue” should that have been “stuck”. Have a god wekend:)
Is Spring finally here? Just seen a brimstone in my garden!!
Chris – thank you. One in my garden today too. Pity it wasn’t me who saw it!
Three swallows on Thorne Moors today.