It has been a pretty cold and damp start to the new year which has prevented me from getting out and about around the county with my camera due mainly to either ice or excessive rainfall, which has caused some disruption around our part of North Yorkshire. We have had at least three named storms hit the Barff so far this year and I am sure we will have a few more before the winter ends. Fortunately, I have been able to get onto the Barff every day with Meg and Gracie without any problem other than having to tolerate some wet and cold mornings.

As I mentioned earlier it has been a cold and damp start to the year with ground frosts every night for the first week of January with the frost penetrating deep into the ground. Despite several Yellow weather warnings for snow and ice it has been the ice which has caused most disruption for our part of the county. The East Coast including the stretch from Bridlington up to and past Whitby saw several inches of snow, which caused the usual disruption with schools being closed and cars skidding of the main roads. Despite the colder weather it has remained dry and bright throughout the week with limited sunshine most days alas the daytime temperature not getting over 5c. The sun has been rising over the Barff around 8.20am this time of year and were short lived due to low cloud.

Storm Goretti hit Southern England, Wales, and parts of Eastern Scotland, during the second week of January which didn’t affect us though despite amber and yellow weather warnings for the Yorkshire area for snow and ice our part of North Yorkshire escaped without any significant disruption, the light covering of snow we had around the Barff was soon washed away after twelve hours of persistent light rain. After the snow had disappeared the temperature started to rise to highs of around 9c, although the ground remains quite badly frozen. Despite the cold and wet weather there is still plenty of food about on the Barff for the resident birds with red Hawthorn berries, Holly berries and Rosehips looking quite large and edible and provide good nourishment for the Mistle Thrush and Song Thrush. Hazel Catkins continue to grow apace especially along the bypass trail with some being more than three inches in length. Hairy crust fungi continue to flourish despite the cold weather, along with several varieties of the birch polypore fungi. The Gorse bushes continue to flower and add a welcome splash of colour especially on the dull and overcast mornings of late. Birdsong remains vibrant within the woodland. I have heard and seen the Buzzard out and about flying around the surrounding fields. Robin, Wren, Blue Tits, Great Tits and Long Tailed Tits along with Blackbirds, Crows, Woodpigeons Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, and Magpies can be heard most days. The Grey Squirrels population has remained active throughout the year on the Barff; they do not hibernate and can quite often be heard either squabbling with their mates or busily playing amongst the leaf litter and scurrying up and down the tree branches.

The third week of January was quite depressing really, the weather can only be described as dull, grey, and very wet with very little sunshine during the week, the persistent rain causing the river levels to rise to such levels as to cause flooding in York again. It was slightly warmer though the morning temperatures for the week remained below 5c. By the end of the week most of the ground frost had melted and the ground was becoming waterlogged again and very wet, slippery and very muddy. I had to revert to wearing wellies for my morning outings with Meg & Gracie due to the wet and muddy ground. It has been good to hear the Mistle and Song Thrush around the woodland, and birdsong continues to be vibrant despite the damp and wet mornings. Grey Squirrels are becoming more visible and active throughout the Barff be it scampering amongst the leaf litter or running up and down the tree trunks and along the branches at breakneck speed.

As January draws to a close the cold, dull, grey overcast mornings continued with the morning temperatures ranging from 0c – 5c. The Barff remains waterlogged and is still very slippery and muddy underfoot especially along the main perimeter and smaller tracks running across the centre of the woodland. Except for maybe a couple of days the sunrise (A few minutes after 8.00am) has been shrouded in a low mist and heavy cloud which has often lingered throughout the day. Fresh Molehills have been shooting up daily and several varieties of Fungi including Turkey Tail, Hairy Curtain Crust, Sulphur Tuft, and Yellow Brain fungi are currently showing in the similar places to last year. We had another yellow weather warning for snow and ice which didn’t really materialise on the Barff other than a light overnight frost. Storm Chandra hit the county on the 27^th bringing with it some strong winds reaching 25mph in places across the Barff, fortunately not causing too much damage to the trees, although we also had another twelve hours of rain, fortunately it didn’t cause much of a problem other than topping up the water levels. We have seen well over 50% more rain than usual this January with rainfall recorded on at least 25 days of the month. Development and construction work on the Barff has been very quiet on the summit meadow, although I do not walk across the Barf summit every day, the times I have done the security gates to the compound have been locked with no sign of activity. On a brighter note, birdsong has remained vibrant and never fails to put a smile on my face, the Mistle Thrush and Song Thrush have been particularly vocal, accompanied by Robin, Wren, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Nuthatch and Wood Pigeon to name just a few. It is good to see the Bluebells are slowly emerging through the leaf litter, a sure sign that Spring is just around the corner, so I will be changing our usual walk pattern so as to not disturb the delicate green shoots, several clusters of Daffodils are growing nicely especially on the Barff summit and weather permitting will be opening up within the next few weeks.