Nature Notes February 2022

Total monthly rainfall: 51 millimetres. Maximum daily rainfall: 14 millimetres on February 14th.

There were 12 days when measurable rain fell, and 17 days when cloud-cover was 100% for at least part of the day.

 

Maximum temperature on the warmest day was 15C on February 2nd. Maximum temperature on the coldest day was 7C on February 11th. Overnight frost occurred on the 5 days leading into February  5th, 11th, 12th, 23rd and 26th

There were strong winds on February 6th, Storm Eustace on the 18th, and Storm Franklin on the 21st – all of which brought down various sized branches in our wood. The combined damage, however, was far below that of the October 15th 1987 hurricane, which created greater devastation because the leaves still remained on the trees.  

February remained very much a dormant month, with our first primroses flowering on the 2nd, a few clumps of bluebell leaves reaching 2 centimetres high on the 8th, hazel budburst beginning on the 17th, and hawthorn following on the 27th. There was also a bramble leaf-miner, which we photographed on February 25th.

Two insect species appeared this month, both on February 9th:  A buff-tailed bumblebee flew indoors when the outside temperature was 9C, and we saw a spring usher in the wood – the only moth we saw during the month.

Interesting wild bird observations during February were hearing a great-spotted woodpecker drilling into a woodland oak on the 8th; a grey wagtail alongside a woodside drainage ditch on the 17th – the first time we have seen one here at this time of year; finally, a song-thrush in our woodland on the 19th.