Andy Goodey saw a Pipistrelle bat flying back and forth around the Rookery Ponds at 1.00pm on the 17th February a warm and sunny afternoon.  There have been reports of bats flying all this winter in England even when we had the very cold spells.  The books will tell you that UK bats do not normally fly during the day or in the winter months when they should be in deep hibernation.  It is feared that the poor weather we had during 2008 reduced insect numbers and hence the food available to bats.  The bats then entered the winter with low fat reserves and have been emerging during the hibernation period to forage for food.  Andy also saw a Barn Owl at the Discovery Park at Great Notley, unfortunately it was close to the A120 Rayne by-pass.  Andy also flushed a Woodcock in the field opposite the Cock.  Andy has also seen a Treecreeper along Mill Lane and 6, probably feral Greylag geese flying over the A120 footbridge.
Peter Lane, Brunwin Road, reported his first frog spawn on 21st February, despite many reports to the contrary the average date of the first frogspawn recorded throughout the country has remained constant despite the effects of global warming and our previous mild winters.  Peter like many has also seen Bumble and Honey Bees out foraging during the sunny days we have had this winter.

Allan Spooner New Road, watched a Barn Owl hunting the field to the north of his house every morning at the beginning of March.
Ken Turner saw a cock Pheasant holding a harem of 5 hens behind Kings Farm.  The hens will find it difficult to rear any young as the number of Foxes and Badgers in the parish are very high this year.  There have also been many reports of that other predator of ground nesting birds the Stoat.
Robert Bucknall who farms on the Rayne boundary has a Barn Owl in one of his buildings his men have also reported a Snowy Owl on the Farm.  The latter is obviously an escape unless it decided our winter this year was more to its liking.  It is only a very rare winter visitor to this country. Robert has also seen a Short-eared Owl on the farm.
Phil Monk has had regular visits from Blackcaps to his garden; Carolyn Sheldrake who has a garden nearby has also had a visit.  There is every chance that they will breed nearby.

At Goulds I sat looking out of a window and saw a Tree Creeper climbing up a Poplar tree, I have never seen one before in the garden and this individual was only seen on the one occasion.  We have for many years had a high population of Frogs and Toads in the garden.  On one occasion we had 57 mating pairs of frogs at one time in one small area of water.  Frog numbers have been in decline for several years and this year we have not yet had a single patch of spawn.  I suspect the main reason is that Grass Snake numbers have increased considerably and the frogs are a major part of the snake's diet.  Also Herons make regular early morning visits and mating frogs in shallow water make an easy target.  One always believes that nature will find a balance but it rarely does.  The Toads unlike frogs have poison glands in their skin and that probably deters predators so we still find them in the garden.

The Blackbirds are eating the last of the Ivy berries.  As the remaining ones are on the end of the Ivy stems there is not a firm foothold from which to attack the berries.  So the Blackbirds fly up to a berry grab it in their beaks and then hang on until the berry parts company, in many cases they do not easily break off.  As I write this 5 birds are trying this tactic of getting the last berries.
This morning I watched 3 Hares chasing each other round the garden.  I suspect it was 2 males chasing a female.  They say `mad as a March hare' and watching the chase one can see why.  The trailing Hare lost contact with the leading pair and wildly chased off in the wrong direction.  The other two continued their mad chase and then disappeared into the farm yard.  I think this is a positive sign that spring will soon be with us.

Roger Jiggins Tel. 01376 324 311, email mailto:r.jiggins@btconnect.com  (please put Wildlife as the subject)