The Natural History of Keyworth Meadow

January 2010

A covering of snow such as we experienced at the beginning of January really makes the larger mammals easier to spot, though just two brown hares trying to remain inconspicuous in their forms, amid a sea of white, and looking like clods of soil from a distance, makes me wonder if their numbers are declining again. A fox foraging along a hedge bottom a little later would have almost certainly done so without me having any suspicion of its presence, though, in the still air the scent of others was still hanging.

Several Snipe were present during the cold spell. Normally these would be on their favoured still-water marshes but ice always drives them to pastures new – especially those with some flowing water where they can probe deep into some soft mud with their sensitive bills. Skylark numbers reached around 50 in nearby fields and Fieldfares and Redwings became very conspicuous in the unmanaged, berry-laden hedgerows. There was a noticeable movement of Lapwings, triggered by the conditions, but such cold-weather movements as they are known, once involved thousands rather than the few dozen individuals that I witnessed.

Neil Pinder