A Nutsford Diary : January

My new year’s intention is to do a monthly post on life and nature here at Nutsford throughout 2026. James is evidently sceptical that this will continue beyond March, but this adds to my motivation. 

A diary feels particularly appropriate, because something that comes hand in hand with being more connected to the countryside around you is a greater awareness of the rhythms of the year. A sense of what to expect from the weather, plants, birds as the year progresses. Being more observant becomes a natural, rather than a conscious act. It brings a keener sense of when the natural world around me feels out of sync with the usual pattern. I don’t have quite enough resolve to record this in a scientific way, but I intend to start being a bit more deliberate about noticing how the year plays out in nature.

The new year started cold and bright here, with snow, ice and blue skies. It was beautiful, if impractical. The big oak in front of our house looked stately and imposing, silhouetted against the pink morning skies. The witch hazel is at its fluorescent, spidery best and snowdrops are already starting to poke through on the path to our Cabin-in-the-Woods (which will be ready for bookings this summer). The long-tailed tits have made a welcome return to the garden after being strangely absent in 2025. These are my favourite birds to watch as they squabble and play around in their big gangs. The owls have also been particularly active this month. Although we hardly ever see them, we hear the tawny owls from before dusk right through to the morning. James heard the characteristic screech of a little owl yesterday.

However, in terms of birds, my focus has been more on the domestic front and my chickens. Chickens can be monstrous sometimes. As the old rescue hen is ailing, the others have turned on her and pecked her terribly. So I’ve separated her, and she’s been hanging out with me in the garden as she grows back her feathers. Like all birds, chickens evolved from theropod dinosaurs, the group that includes T rex and Velociraptor. Apparently they have very similar chromosomal structures to their dinosaur ancestors, and have skeletal similarities. I find this completely believable based on the last few weeks. 

As I write, the cold snap has thawed and it is milder, grey and muddy outside again. Not quite as pretty, but it must be a welcome relief for all the animals and birds (and Velociraptors).