A mishmash

Deep drift blocking path,  Leckhampton hill

Sub zero temperatures and plenty of snow over the past week put paid to any countryside work with the NT. However being a lover of snow from past skiing feats this motivated me everyday to get out into my local Leckhampton and Crickley hill countryside while the white stuff lasted. Although the snow in Cheltenham was a few inches, up in the hills it was considerably more and where it had drifted  as much as 8 feet! The most I have seen in over 30 years in Cheltenham.

Devils chimney, not far from hunting barn owl

 Away from the many youngsters and parents enjoying the sledging opportunities, plus the usual dog walkers, I managed to spot quite a few birds working hard to find food in fairly harsh conditions. The highlights for me were:
 A goldfinch so happy to have found something to eat in the snow it allowed me to approach really closely {sadly on this day I had broken my rule, leaving my camera at home},
A treecreeper and nuthatch on adjacent trees searching hard for insects, and lastly but not leastly,
A barn owl surprisingly on the hunt early {mid afternoon}.

Glad I was walking, gritters don't reach here

Also squeezed in a quick visit to the Sherborne water meadows before the snow disappeared. Good news was the water levels were down to manageable levels so only had the snow to contend with. This proved too much on one of the Barrington estate paths where the snow depth was knee level and even deeper in parts. However I managed to see quite a bit of wildlife although the raptors were mainly in the trees rather than the air. Still no short eared owls or hen harriers but I enjoyed sights of : 6 Red Kites, 3 Buzzards, 1 Kestrel, 1 Heron, 4 Cormorants, Lapwings and Fieldfares (plus lots smaller birds I have yet to ID). Add to this 1 magnificent male Hare (great condition and size) and a herd of fallow deer.

I was amused by an article in one of the Sunday papers where the Environment Secretary Owen Paterson was pleased to declare the start of  tough new controls on tree imports stating " I want to ensure we can quickly trace and destroy diseased ..". Bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted but the various contagious incurable fungal diseases like Chalara - dieback, Phytophthora (and no doubt other strains continue to add to the existing threats to our scarce woodland) from imports means these measure are still crucial although maybe a  bit too late!