It seemed quite a cold month to me, but it was a bit warmer than average, 4.7°C, with the average being 4.1°C. It was also quite dry with only 31mm of rain, which happens to be the average for February, our driest month.

The seed barley and seed oats that we grew on our organic land last year must be made suitable to supply to other organic farmers to grow. Before we harvest it, we walk through the crops twice, with two or three of us walking ten yards apart, pulling up any unwanted plants by the roots, with the main plant being wild oat. In the barley crop, cultivated oats or wheat plants are removed and in a crop of oats, we remove any barley or wheat plants.

Once harvested and put into store, the crop must then be inspected by the merchant to make sure it is of good enough quality. A few weeks before delivery, the merchant will take a sample to their laboratory, to make sure at least 90% of the seeds will successfully grow. Fortunately, both the barley and oat crops have passed all the tests this year.

We started organic farming in 2000, because I thought it would bring the birds back. Farming organically means there will always be weeds in our crops and birds need the insects that feed on the weeds, to feed to their nestlings. No weeds in our crops mean very few insects and then the birds start to decline. This is the main reason for the decline of our farmland birds. However, our organic farming sadly hasn’t brought the birds back, because we must do more cultivations, and every time we cultivate the soil, we kill insects.

You may have heard of regenerative farming, which is farming without cultivating. The principles include minimising artificial fertilisers and chemical use, minimising soil disturbance, increasing crop diversity and keeping living roots within the ground where possible. This doesn’t suit all soils, but we have started farming one farm this way. Yields may well be less for a few years, but as the number of insects in the soil increases, yields should get back to normal.

We have been taking delivery of all our seed potatoes these last two months and the farmers who were growing the crops for seed would have to go through much the same sort of tests that we did with the oats and barley. Seed potatoes are in short supply this year as not so much seed was grown last year because growers were fed up with the miserable prices they had been receiving over the past few years.

Shelduck

Several people have said to me, ‘I’ve lost all my birds…’ I ask if they have chopped the ivy off their house. If the answer was ‘no’, I then ask if they’ve had a garden makeover. Again the answer is usually ‘no’. However, when I ask if their neighbour has had a garden makeover, quite often the answer is ‘yes, a new family have recently moved in.’ Birds, especially House Sparrows, need bushes or shrubs to gather in, or to dive into if danger appears. Their usual habitat may have gone if the new occupants have renovated their garden. If conversations between neighbours were had before garden makeovers, there would be less garden birds disappearing.

During the first 20 days of February, birds were at our feeders all the time, as the temperatures were so low. When the mild weather came, we only had half the numbers visiting. Quite simply birds have to eat more as it is the only way to keep themselves warm. We need to eat a bit more when cold too, and we can also put on another layer of clothing and we will use more oil, gas or electricity to keep the house warm.

Barn Owls have been struggling to find enough food; I have seen one or two most mornings hunting along our grass margins, or in areas of vegetation that haven’t been disturbed for a few years. If we get a few days of wet and windy weather they will really suffer as when the wind is blowing or it is raining they cannot hear the voles moving about in the grass. Because they can’t hunt successfully when it is raining, they have not evolved to have waterproof feathers and I can’t think of another bird that doesn’t have waterproof feathers.

Lapwings, Oystercatchers and a pair of Shelducks have taken up territories on our wetland and Redshanks should arrive in a few days. Last year the Shelducks also took up territory, nesting nearly a mile away and then walked their young to the wetland, so they are guarding this area as a place for their young to feed. They won’t nest on the wetland, as they nest in a hole, usually a rabbit hole. That is why the female Shelduck is brightly coloured like the male – when nesting in a hole she doesn’t need to be camouflaged. She won’t lay her eggs until the end of April and both parents will look after their young.

Judging by the numbers of drake Mallard that are about, most of the female Mallard are already on eggs. She will be looking after the young by herself, relying on the camouflage to protect herself and her family, slinking away if danger appears. Both of the adult Shelducks and ducklings are brightly coloured and feed out in the open and if danger appears they go for it. Nature has it all worked out.

On Thursday 20th March, I will be giving a talk on Farming and Wildlife in our Café, starting at 7pm. Tickets are £12, which include coffee or tea and homemade cake, and can be obtained from our website here or by phoning 01775 630208.