Warm sun brings out an early Peacock butterfly

The warm sun last Friday (3rd Feb) brought out this splendid Peacock butterfly, seen sunning itself by Andy whilst walking around Lagden's Grove on Granta Park. The sun also opened the profusion of snowdrop and catkin flowers, which seemed to have been primed, ready to go, for some weeks.

Birds around the village - Robin & Bullfinch

Peter took this photo of a Robin on 22nd January:

and Jennifer took this one of a Bullfinch on 6th February

Blackcap on bird feeder

This male Blackcap was seen on the bird-feeders in Andy's garden today - the first one to visit his garden this winter - possibly pushed into looking for food there due to the cold-snap.

Trees in Sluice Wood

In mid-December, three volunteers cleared some frees and debris from the river in Sluice Wood.
In early January, a much larger tree came down over the river. taking some other bits with it - and, by 13th Jan, debris was collecting behind it:

Several people commented... so David arranged a work party on 16th Jan to clear it, with permission from the landowner. The river is once again clear!

Hypholoma toadstools on Granta Park

Andy M saw these toadstools on a rotting oak tree stump near the river on Granta Park,  The caps were around 3-5 cm across, and he believes them to be one of the Hypholoma genus, possibly the so-called 'Brick-Tuft' toadstool (H. sublateritium), or maybe the 'Sulphur Tuft' (H. fasciculare).

Starling mini-murmurations on Granta Park

In recent evenings, Andy M has been watching 'mini-murmurations' of starlings above the lake in Granta Park. Just before sunset, several flocks each numbering a few hundred birds, start to arrive - each performing their swirling, aerial manoeuvres for several minutes before finally dropping into the reeds.  Over 30 minutes or so, around a thousand starlings had crammed themselves into the reedbed, all chattering noisily before settling down to roost.

Siskins return

Anne D-N reported having three Siskins in her garden for most of the morning – mainly visiting the water feature by her pond, but they have also been on the feeders.  These are the first Siskins of the season, possibly coming into her garden now after the recent colder nights.