A field in Shropshire, England
Today we had a delivery of some more native English fish to join the roach already resident in the pond: some three-spined stickleback and perch. Hopefully the pond will be big enough for them all to avoid each other as much as possible, as the perch are rather partial to eating small fish.
—
A brief visit to the owl box last night by a new pair of love-struck barn owls. We’re not sure where they are from but they both have identification rings on their legs so they’re definitely not the adults from last year. One of them could be one of the youngsters from last year’s clutch, but owls don’t normally stay where they were raised. Wherever they’re from, it’s good to see that the owl box has potential tenants.
—
These freshwater shrimp are having fun wriggling around upside down on the underside of the ice in the old pond.
We know: they’re not actually shrimp and probably not the native Gammarus pulex but rather the interloper Crangonyx pseudogracilis.
—
—
An unnaturally warm day, though the sun is welcome. We do need a decent cold snap soon to clear the air and cleanse the ground but it’s only just January so plenty of time for frosts and snow! The croft isn’t completely quiet even now: the fish are still rising, birds chattering and barn owls going to and fro at night. The ground is thoroughly waterlogged and muddy which is quite normal but makes it hard to do any serious work at the moment so we can just sit back and enjoy the view for a bit.
