IS SPRING DELAY SNOW GOOD FOR WILDLIFE?

Where has spring gone? It seemed to tease us with a brief appearance, but has now been banished by the return of winter.

The recent cold weather has certainly affected the wildlife, as some of the birds that had paired up are now simply feeding instead of flirting with each other and seeking out potential nest sites.

On a positive note it seems that the timing of the new house sparrow nestbox being fixed to my house has been pretty good. I’ve not seen any birds investigate it, but they will have noticed it while feeding in the garden and given the cold weather, might investigate it as a potential roosting site.

This in turn could then be the catalyst to give it credibility to become an actual nesting site. Time will tell, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

The nestbox that has been used for the last five years, well every year since it was put up in 2008, has once again become popular with both blue and great tits.

I first recently noticed that a blue tit flew into the nestbox, looking like it showed its mate where their nest should be.

The following day I saw a great tit pair flirting around the nestbox and in the bushes near it. I’m sure they will too have checked out the nestbox, but while the camera is out of action I can’t be sure.

So will this weather delay the ‘start’ of spring? Only time will tell but the recent weather forecast suggests that it may be April before we see the temperatures start rising and spring finally being sprung.