This year's Big Schools' Birdwatch is underway and students across Greater London and the rest of the UK will be peering through their dusty classroom windows to see what birds they can spot enjoying the weak winter sunshine.
It's certainly very different from this time last year, when the street where I live was buried under snow. That was the first time in more than a decade of city living that I've experienced an urban white-out. My trusty cycle went un-used for about a week.
Those freezing cold snaps of 2010 and 2011 brought a swarm of fieldfares and redwings in to London gardens; seeking food. I suspect they'll spend their winter elsewhere this year. Mind you, temperatures are dropping again this week and if history teaches us one thing, it's never to rule anything out. Both America's Western Union and Britain's Post Office dismissed the invention of the telephone stating it would never catch-on.
A story from south London this week was a good case in point. It concerned a skylark nest on the site of a new M25 service station at Cobham. Skylark's don't nest until March and the photo of the nest showed clover in bloom. I hadn't immediately ruled out the possibility of a new UK record nesting attempt by a skylark, because the media was full of unseasonal events; such as flowers blooming and bees in flight as a result of the mild weather. A quick investigation found it was an old story somehow given new life.
But it is amazing what's out there. Nature constantly adapts to cope with conditions, so get ready for the Big Garden Birdwatch at the end of the month, when we'll welcome your sightings of birds. The results are always interesting as a snapshot of what's sharing our living space. Even better is adding the results to our timeline of species populations, which then reveals longterm changes. For too long now, house sparrows and starlings have been on a downward trajectory.
There are lots of ways we can all help nature. Step-up your action with us and remember that nature is what provides your food, the clothes you wear, the air you breathe, the home you live in and the water you drink. Ignoring this basic fact is a lesson that would be very costly to ignore.