Dear Readers, February can feel like a very bleak month, but actually spring is stirring all over the place. Here are a few suggestions to warm the cockles…

Things to Do

• The snowdrops should be in full swing by the early part of February, and there are several places in London where you can really enjoy them. They really raise my spirits, and I hope they will do the same for you.
  • Chelsea Physic Garden normally has a snowdrop trail from when they re-open at the end of January, and you can buy many, many varieties in their shop. In my experience, the only way to get the little darlings established is to plant them in the green, after many, many attempts to grow them from bulbs, so this might be a good way to enlarge your stock. The bees much prefer the simpler single-flowered varieties, by the way….
  • Myddleton House Gardens in Enfield usually have a fine show of snowdrops in their Alpine Meadow, if you live in North London, or Eltham Palace is another excellent choice if you live South of the River.
  • If you’d rather not pay out to see these plants in all their glory, I’d head off for your nearest not-too-well-manicured cemetery. My local, St Pancras and Islington Cemetery, has a glorious selection of naturalised snowdrops in some of the wilder areas, and Tower Hamlets Cemetery is said to be a great spot too.
• If it’s too blooming cold to be out and about (and goodness knows this is often the case), February is usually a relatively quiet month at the Natural History Museum (though if you aren’t taking the children I’d avoid half term, when the queues outside can be most alarming). The museum itself is free, but I love the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, which has apparently been re-staged this year (I shall report back when I’ve been). I always find it inspirational.

Plants for Pollinators

For February, the RHS is suggesting goat willow (Salix caprea) and I can see why –  a tree at Crossbones Graveyard in South London that I visited a few years ago was absolutely abuzz with feeding queen bumblebees and honeybees. One of my big regrets is that I had a self-sown goat willow next to my pond, but took it out because I have so many trees in my small garden. Maybe I should have left it.

A few of the earlier solitary bees will also be out and about now, including several of the mining bee species.

Honeybee and goat willow

However, there is hope, as my front garden containers are full of early-flowering crocuses, another favourite. In my experience these bulbs are happiest in full sun – they are always a bit sad in my north-facing back garden, where the woodland bulbs such as fritillaries and wood anemones seem fine. Other plants suggested by the RHS are snowdrops (hooray!), the cherry plum, and Erica x darleyensis (also known as Darley Dale heather), another plant for full sun.

Bird Behaviour

Spring comes to the birds much earlier than it does to us mere humans, and although birds are unlikely to be actually breeding yet, they will certainly be pairing up and trying to stake out a territory. Woodpigeons will be singing their breathy songs, and collared doves will be chasing one another around, tooting like miniature trumpeters. One of my lasting memories of being a child in bed is waking up to the sound of the pigeons cooing on the chimney pot, their songs echoing down the chimney.

Collared doves and a furry visitor in the background

It’s worth watching out for breeding displays, too.  A male chaffinch performs a fluttering, moth-like flight beside a female that he’s hoping to impress, and then perches beside her and leans over to show her his belly. At this point the female can either stay for some more shenanigans, or leave to find someone with a more attractive abdomen.

Blue tits also perform a little display flight, usually from one perch to another – a male might flap his wings a little more quickly than seems strictly necessary, or even glide, quite a feat for such a small bird. These displays are so easily missed, but once seen they’re an obvious show of prowess.

And it’s worth keeping an eye open for the male dunnock’s ‘armpit’ display as well, plus all the general goings on with the females mating with multiple males and the males beating one another up.

And finally, crows might already be flying about with twigs in their mouths. They might not actually get down to egg-laying yet, but that nest isn’t going to build itself. You might also be witness to confrontations between crows and magpies over nest sites and building materials. There is a lot of drama going on in February, and it’s worth tuning into.

Plants in Flower

In addition to the plants mentioned above, keep a nose attuned for the sweet smell of Daphne, one of the most gorgeous of winter-scented flowers in my opinion. Some camellias will be coming into flower, but the rain damages the blossom, so if you see a pristine one it’s something to celebrate. Hyacinths will be bursting forth too, and sweet violets, and primroses. And the first shy white flowers of blackthorn will be putting in an appearance.

Other Things to Watch/Listen Out For

• By now, most female foxes are pregnant, and there might be a brief break from the shrieks and carrying-on of January. Vixens will be looking to find a safe place to have their cubs, and will also be very hungry. If you have foxes visiting your garden, keep an eye open for them looking a little thicker around the middle than usual. Males will also be beginning to look for food for the vixen, and later for the cubs, who are mostly born in mid March.
• Towards the end of February the first frogs will emerge if the weather isn’t too cold – the males arrive first (they’ve usually been hibernating at the bottom of the pond) followed by the females, who tend to overwinter in other places in the garden (probably to avoid being drowned by all the amorous males). You might even hear the first faint sound of frog-music in the evening.#
• Full moon is on the 5th February, and is known as the snow moon, the ice moon or the storm moon.

Holidays/Celebrations

• • 20th February is known as Collop Monday, Peasen Monday or Nickanan Night in various parts of the UK – it’s the Monday before Lent. In Cornwall, it was a night for mischief, with local boys knocking on doors and running away (though this was also a common practice all year round in the East End when I was growing up). On one occasion, Dad and his mates tied a piece of string to all the door knockers on the road so that they could all be knocked simultaneously, and very amused Dad was too. This was known as ‘Knock Down Ginger’ for some reason lost in the midst of time. Anyhow, in many parts of the country, pea soup was eaten on ‘peasen Monday’, along with foods such as eggs and bacon which would not be allowed during Lent.
  • Lent falls on February 22nd this year. Traditionally, this is a period of fasting and self-denial, and I find it interesting that it often coincides with the time of the year when there would be little food available – the autumn stores would be used up, and the spring crops wouldn’t yet be ready. Anything that reminds us that being hungry is not a choice for everybody is likely to be a good thing, I think.

Dear Readers, when I was growing up (not in 1875 I hasten to add) we usually got a copy of ‘Old Moore’s Almanac’ every year. Inside it was everything from the tide tables (very useful for us in Stratford, East London), the phases of the moon, predictions for the next year and all manner of other miscellanea and trivia. My grandmother, in particular, was insistent that we buy a copy – she was capable of charming warts and performing faith healing, but was also extremely superstitious (no new shoes on the table (not that we had a table), green was an unlucky colour, no lilacs in the house because they would cause the annihilation of every living creature within the walls etc etc). Old Moore’s Almanac gave us the delusion that, because it predicted the future, it somehow gave us some sort of control. Hah! If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that the only control we have over many events is how we react to them.

But I digress, as usual.

This year, I thought that I’d look at various things related to the natural world throughout the months: things that we can get involved in, plants to look out for, animal behaviours that we might witness, and, in general, things that will link us to the cycle of the seasons. Let’s see how we get on.

January

Things to Do

• From 31st December to January 3rd, the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland asks if we would spend a few hours (maximum) recording plants that are in flower – this has been invaluable in tracking the earlier flowering times of many plants due to climate change. You can download the app from here . I will probably do it this year for the first time, so let’s share any experiences! Apparently you can see the results on the website as they come in, so it could be quite exciting. You can also join an organised Plant Hunt if there is one in your area (again, details on the website).
• The Great Garden Bird Watch will be from 27th to 29th January this year. What a great opportunity to watch all the rare and unusual birds disappear from your garden for the hour that you’re recording, only to return as soon as you’ve sent in your data (at least that’s usually my experience :-)). This data is useful for measuring the rise and fall of species, and as we know from my Red List posts, a lot of what we think of as common birds are actually in trouble. You can find out all about it here.

Plants for Pollinators

• My RHS magazine this week has a very helpful list of possible plants for bees for each month of the year. For January, it’s suggesting winter-flowering heather, winter aconite, Clematis cirrhosa (otherwise known as ‘Freckles’ and various other varieties), Viburnum tinus and good old fashioned hazel, as its pollen is collected by bees. At this time of year, bees will be limited to the odd honeybee and an occasional queen bumblebee, but it’s still good to have something for them to eat if they do pop out. Let me know if you’ve spotted any bee activity in this most unlikely of months

Bird Behaviour

• As January progresses, you can sense a speeding-up of bird activity – at the moment the only bird regularly singing is the robin, but as the days grow longer, the thoughts of most birds will turn to reproduction, especially on milder days when the higher temperatures reinforce the message that spring is on the way. In particular, birds such as great tits, dunnocks, wrens and song thrushes will be singing before the month is over.
• The residents in the garden may well be joined by lots of visitors from Scandinavia, and the usual highly territorial squabbles may be put to one side if there’s a spell of bad weather, though not as the end of the month approaches, as blackbirds are some of the earliest birds to breed.
• It appears to be a very good year for waxwings, which have been spotted all over the east coast of the UK as they irrupt from Scandinavia, so keep your eyes peeled, they certainly seem to be heading south and west (though I note that when some waxwings turned up in East Finchley it was in April, so you might need to keep them peeled for a while :-)). They are particularly fond of berries from plants like pyracantha, so they are sometimes known as the ‘supermarket car park’ bird.

Waxwing on the County Roads in East Finchley in 2017

Plants in Flower

• Well, as recent studies have shown, a lot more plants are in flower in January than there were a few decades ago, but the old reliables, such as snowdrops and winter aconites should be putting in an appearance by the end of the month. There are already catkins on my hazel bushes, plus the earliest crocuses, witch hazel, sweet box, mahonia and winter clematis. There may, by some miracle, still be berries on pyracantha and cotoneaster, if the birds haven’t stripped them (see above)

Other Things to Listen/Watch Out For

• Foxes – it’s peak breeding season, and you might hear the screams of vixens and, my personal favourite, those little barks that foxes make to keep in touch with one another. There’s a fine selection of different calls here.
• This is the best time of the year for star-gazers to see Mars, which should be high in the southern sky (if you’re in the northern hemisphere) early this month. You might even be able to see that it’s red.
• Full moon will be on the 6th January, and is called the Wolf Moon or the Stay at Home Moon.

Holidays/Celebrations

• January 9th – Plough Monday. Traditionally, this was when the farmer workers went back to the fields following the Christmas celebrations. In The Almanac, compiled by Lia Leendertz, it’s explained that during the 15th century a plough would be pulled through the streets to raise funds for the parish – this would pay for ‘parish lights’, candles that were kept burning in church to bless those working in the fields, upon whom so much of the subsequent year’s abundance would depend.
• January 22nd – Chinese New Year. This is the year of the Black Water Rabbit, and it is apparently going to be a peaceful and relaxing year for all of us, but particularly if we are Goats, Pigs or Dogs. I am a Pig (no comments please) and so the world is clearly my oyster in 2023. If you’re unsure what sign you are, and would like to check, there’s a handy calculator here (scroll down a bit :-))