Friday – Home – I am still pretty much housebound by the torn calf muscle. Off for a shuffle around the garden. After a night of rain, the sky is mainly brilliant blue and the sun is slowly drying everything. The ornamental quince near the old stables is glorious, covered in cerise flowers. The nearby winter flowering clematis is almost finished but the jasmine still has bright yellow little stars. More snowdrops have emerged. Hellebores are in flower.
The garden needs work, but it will have to wait. The fruit trees need pruning. Several of the vegetable beds need clearing. The pond could do with a sweep with the net to removed the rotting leaves. There is no sign of any frogs yet. Fresh shoots continue to appear on the kale and chard. Robins are in song, a couple in the garden and more down the street. The surprise of the day is a blue egg from Russet.
Saturday – Home – The chicken house is cleaned out every Saturday and Wednesday. A simple job that means the newspaper laid on the floor of the house is changed and the old paper and droppings put in the compost. This always attracts the attention of the Warren who comes and peers through the house door.
The sky is mostly cloud and it is mild. A Song Thrush is in full song in the Ash tree, its fluid phrases each repeated several times. Montague called the bird the “Throstle”. It was also commonly called “Grey Bird” or “Mavis”. I recall the excitement as a boy in finding the neat, mud-lined nest with its clutch of black-spotted china blue eggs. I am not sure if this thrush nests in the garden; I tend not to look so as to minimise disturbance.
Late afternoon spots of rain appear. Another surprise, this time it is a green egg with the Warren’s brown one. However, when the eggs are side-by-side, I am not sure they are not both green, the earlier one just a bit more to the blue side. Doubtless all will become clear.
Saturday – Home – A visit to the seed swap in the Priory church where I get a few packets and leave some beans and squash seeds. The chilli plants in the bathroom, Curry, are pricked out and transplanted into individual pots and brought back in. A tray of Piri Piri Vermelho seeds from the seed swap, someone’s home saved seed, is sown. These are a hot chilli and having searched Google, the only sources are Iberian, so I look forward with interest to see what we get! The tray of lettuces from indoors are pricked out into the troughs in the greenhouse.
The autumn planted garlic is looking good with strong green shoots. The chard plants are still putting out new leaves although a lot are dying back. The same applies to the Uncle Bert’s Purple Kale. Some purple-sprouting heads have appeared but it will not be a great crop. I now need to be patient and not rush ahead with sowing more seeds; it is still too early!
It is clear that only Emerald and the Warren are laying, no blue eggs but maybe soon?
Sunday – Home – The decision as to when to sow tomato seeds is always a bit of a conundrum. Too early and the plants grow leggy in the bathroom whilst it is still too cold in the greenhouse, too late and the season is shortened and fewer ripen fully. As to the possibility of late frosts and cold spells…
I decide to take the risk, which ever way, and sow a tray. In go Whippersnapper, a bush; Texas Wild, another bush; Sredne Jevelika, an indeterminate cordon smallish beefsteak type from Ljubljana, Slovenia; Dixie Golden Giant, another indeterminate cordon beefsteak type; Iraqi Heart-shaped, an indeterminate cordon using seed saved from last year; Black Russian, another indeterminate cordon beefsteak type and some saved seed just labelled “Beefsteak”.
Monday – Leominster – The sky is grey and threatens rain. The wild winds of recent days have subsided although more storms are predicted. Down past the White Lion where a Hazel tree is festooned with yellow-green catkins. On to Butts Bridge. The water level in the River Lugg is fairly high. A few bunches of Snowdrops gleam white against the grey-brown undergrowth. The residence Song Thrush is living up to its name. A Cormorant lifts off and flies upstream. Shortly after a pair of Cormorants appear from the east and fly downstream. There is not a great deal of birdsong and it is difficult to hear what there is over the constant noise of the bypass. A Manchester bound train draws into the station. Blue Tits are at the top of a tall Alder searching the seed cones.
The sky is growing darker in the west from where the wind is blowing. The arrowhead shaped Wild Arum leaves have emerged. Into Pinsley Mill. Dunnocks sing from the far side of the railway track. Into the Millennium Park. Large swathes of Snowdrops run right along the base of the churchyard. They seem to be shouting, “Hang on in there, spring is on its way”. A few Daffodils are in bud. The Kenwater is flowing fast and brown. The fruit trees on Pinsley Mead have been pruned and the branches are now being shredded and sprayed behind the hedge that lays on the former course of the Pinsley Brook.
Into the churchyard where Snowdrops have spread to cover a large area. A Robin sings and a Greenfinch repeats its wheezing call. Chaffinches fly up into the trees. Common Buzzard flies up from Millennium Park into the trees. The alarm for the crossing gates in Mill Street can be heard and soon a South Wales bound train slows for the station. A large patch of young Foxglove leaves are growing under a tall Wellingtonia. By the southern wall of the churchyard large quantities Wild Arum have emerged.
On to the Grange. My slowly healing calf is beginning to feel strained now. It begins to rain.
Wednesday – Leominster – The full moon hangs low to the west with dark clouds moving across it. It is the Snow or Hunger Moon. Venus shines brightly in the south eastern sky.
Bodenham Lake – Dark, louring clouds drift across the sky. The fields south of Leominster are saturated but not flooded. Flocks of Redwings fly to and fro. We await Storm Dudley although it will hit the north of the country rather than here. However hard on its heels will be Storm Eunice which also threatens widespread damage and rain.
I decided not to attempt to get to my normal hide as the slippery slopes are too much of a risk to my calf. Through the gate and round to a new hide built at the eastern end of the lake. The air is full of the calls and songs of House Sparrows, Robins, Song Thrush, Dunnocks and, in the distance, the cackling of Canada Geese. The approach to the hide is a new track of large pieces of gravel. Blue Tits flit to and fro and a shiny Blackbird with bright orange-yellow bill watches from saplings.
The hide is an open screen looking out over the new islands in the boating lake. The Canada Geese are on the islands and several Greylags swimming across the lake. An Oystercatcher stands asleep with its bill under its wing on a small patch of mud. A Moorhen swims between the islands. Several Mallard sleep on the furthest island. The Oystercatcher awakes and starts preening with its bright orange bill. A Grey Heron stands on a dead branch over the water. Three Goosander, a drake and two females, are near the boating jetty. The wind is gaining strength and the sky is darkening.
A Great Tit calls from the Silver Birch saplings and a Robin sings nearby. Back along the track. Sheets of corrugated metal have been laid on the open areas beside of the track hoping to attract snakes and lizards. Past the old offices and depot for the gravel extraction company now being used by the wildlife trust. In the undergrowth is a large rusting transformer which powered the gravel extraction operation.
Thursday – Home – Despite being on the lower edge of Storm Dudley, the wind blew hard and long through yesterday evening and night. This morning is quieter but Storm Eunice approaches. A female Blackbird is gathering nesting material under the Yew tree in the garden. There is no sign of any activity in the pond. Snowdrops are now in full display – a wonderful sight!
Leominster – Overnight it appears the River Arrow has now burst its banks and the fields south of the town are under water.
Home – By mid-afternoon the sky is a luminous grey and the wind has almost died away. Wood Pigeons are getting frisky in the Ash tree and Jackdaws are flying to and fro.
Friday – Home – During the early morning Storm Eunice approaches, the atmospheric pressure dropping considerably to 968mB. The Met Office has issued rare “Red Warnings” for the area to the south west of us and now for south and east England too. A record wind speed of 122mph has been recorded off The Needles. Here the trees lash around and the weather is all over the place – heavy rain followed by sunshine followed by more rain. The Friday Market in Corn Square consists of the fishmonger, fruit and veg stall and the flower man. Of course, no-one is putting up tarpaulins – they would not last five minutes.
Sunday – Leominster – Following the chaos caused by Storm Eunice we have another gale blasting through the night. At the height of the storm, in the early hours of morning, calling geese fly over. Heavy rain falls but by dawn it has eased off somewhat. A Blackbird sings lustily from the rooftops, Jackdaws chack. The sky is grey with darker clouds flowing rapidly eastwards. Down the twitten to the railway bridge. A Dunnock sings.
Unsurprisingly the water level in the River Lugg has risen substantially close rapidly and coloured a yellowish grey. Blue Tits chatter, a Song Thrush and a Robin sing.
Into the Millennium Orchard. A Grey Squirrel bounces across the grass. A good number of Dunnocks are in song all along the edge of the railway way. A Magpie flies off. A few brown balls of mush are all that remains of the fallen apples. Hazel catkins have lost their vibrant yellow and are now a dull buff colour. The Snowdrops are at their peak. A Common Buzzard flies off of one of the standing stones in the Millennium Park. Its departure excites a chattering Magpie. A pair of Bullfinches slip away. Blue Tits work their way through the branches of the bushes at the base of the railway embankment. The first Daffodils are opening among the Snowdrops.
The water level in the Kenwater has also risen; the brown water racing along. A Yew tree creaks in the breeze on the corner of the churchyard where the Pinsley Brook once took an unnatural right angle turn. Into the churchyard, the ground squelching underfoot. It is quiet. Winter Thrushes seem to have gone and the Blackbirds that search the grass in good numbers are missing.
Monday – Leominster – Storm Franklin moves through. This is the first time three named storms have occurred in a week since the naming system was established in 2015. Dark stormy clouds are moving away to the east with blue sky appearing in the west. The wind is still gusting ferociously. The sun appears and Robins sing either side of the railway track. The River Lugg has risen even further overnight and flooded parts of Easters Meadow. A large tree trunk speeds underneath Butts Bridge and off downstream.
Back round to the Millennium Park. Chaffinches fly up into the trees, Robins and Dunnocks sing despite the violent gusts of wind. Further along, a Goldfinch and a Greenfinch are both singing. River Kenwater has risen to the top of its banks and sweeps past the lawn of the house opposite. It starts to rain.
The Kenwater rushes under both the Priory and Kenwater Bridges, just a few feet below the top of the arch of the latter. By mid-afternoon, the wind is beginning to drop and the sun shines.
Friday – Leominster – The speed at which floods come and go is quite extraordinary. On Tuesday morning there were large pools of water on Easters meadow and the fields south of Leominster were flooded as far as the eye could see. From Knightwick to Broadwas in Worcestershire the River Teme had flooded fields for miles. Yesterday most of the flooding on the Teme had receded and this morning Easters meadow is drying out. The River Lugg’s water level has fallen six to eight feet.
White clouds drift across the sky and the sun shines down. Birds singing around Butts Bridge – Robin, Song Thrush, Great Tit and Blackbird. Chaffinches and Blue Tits fly up into the trees in Easters Wood. A Wren bursts into song. A Rabbit grazing grass on the path dashes for the bramble thicket. Water flows in the channel that runs down from Eaton Hill at the end southern end of Easter’s Wood; it is the first time in many years I have seen any water in this channel. Pools of standing water are on the horse paddocks. The pools have attracted over 30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (all the Western European Graellsii sub-species) and a single Herring Gull. Pied Wagtails stalk the edge of the pools. Lesser Celandine are coming into flower at the path’s edge. A hidden Moorhen chirps from the river.
Up onto Eaton bridge. The rubbish that had gathered beneath the bridge has been swept away by the high water including the large gazebo jammed there for many weeks. Along the old A44. A Magpie and a Bullfinch fly cross the road. What seems to be a single Long-tailed Tit is calling noisily from an ancient much pollarded Ash tree. Finally there is a response from another tit further back down the hedgerow. Up onto the old road bridge. A Pheasant croaks from the edge of Lammas Meadow. The charity shops on the station trading estate are very busy.
Home – The recent sowing of tomato and chilli seeds has been a bit of a failure, so I try again. Another tray of lettuce, Butterhead and Bronze Arrow are also sown. Daffodils and crocuses join the snowdrops in the garden. A Great Tit bobs up and down on a branch emitting a constant stream of tzchew calls. A Blue Tit baths in one of the bird baths on the patio wall. Jackdaws seem to have discovered the feeders again. They only visit intermittently, possibly they find the continual wing flapping required to remain on the feeder is more trouble that it is worth. A Robin watches all the action from the cover of a laurel bush.
Sunday – Leominster – The sky is entirely cloudless, blue from horizon to horizon. The bright sun is burning off the light overnight frost. There is, however, a cold easterly breeze. Jackdaws chack from the rooftops. Pairs guard their potential nest sites on the chimney stacks. A pair of Coal Tits squeak in the great London Plane opposite The Chequers.
House Sparrows chirp in the bushes in front of the railway station. Robins sing in the trees. A Wren explodes into song from the brambles beside where are the old railway line ran along the former third platform, now just a track. The water level in the River Lugg continues to fall though less dramatically now. A Great tit calls its see-saw song. Wood Pigeons coo insistently. A Goldfinch sings upstream. Back past the garden of the White Lion where a Dunnock sings.
Into the Millennium Park. The snowdrops are already beginning to fade; their brief moment of glory over too soon. But here come the daffodils to take their place. The water level in the River Kenwater has also dropped some five or six feet. Into the churchyard. Jackdaws chack, a Carrion Crow caws, a Great Tit repeats its song and a Magpie flies past silently.
Into Church Street. Cloud is beginning to build in the west. The Minster bells start tolling. Entering Corn Square it is apparent cloud is building everywhere.
Home – Pruning continues. The cherry and apricot in the fruit cage and the crab apple are all tidied up. Cutting up the prunings is back breaking work. The rose on the bower had come away in the recent gales and is retied back to the frame – with the usual thorns in fingers and scratches on the arms. Violets are coming into flower, tiny purple jewels peeping out of the grass.
glorious, covered in cerise flowers. The nearby winter flowering clematis is almost finished but the jasmine still has bright yellow little stars. More snowdrops have emerged. Hellebores are in flower.
deal of birdsong and it is difficult to hear what there is over the constant noise of the bypass. A Manchester bound train draws into the station. Blue Tits are at the top of a tall Alder searching the seed cones.
eased off somewhat. A Blackbird sings lustily from the rooftops, Jackdaws chack. The sky is grey with darker clouds flowing rapidly eastwards. Down the twitten to the railway bridge. A Dunnock sings.