Signs of spring - but winter's not done yet

February has already thrown snow and gales at us, but with settled weather this week, it has felt slightly like Spring, and we're eagerly looking for the first frog spawn in the ponds or the first butterfly on the wing. Several song thrushes are in full song each morning, their repeated melody ringing from the tops of trees still bare of greenery, and a sign that the breeding season is coming as the northern hemisphere tips towards the sun.

For now, though, the wildlife still has a distinctly wintry feel. Last night (Saturday), for the first time in many weeks, there was a reasonable roost of starlings at dusk - around 6,000 birds that chattered away in the reedbeds as we closed up. Earlier in the day, a golden plover had been spotted among a flock of lapwings, a skein of pink-footed geese flew east (perhaps heading for the Lancashire Mosses, a staging post en route to Iceland?) and a redwing was the first of the year. A pintail on Friday was another signal that birds are starting to move from their wintering areas back towards their summer homes.

Clear nights have brought the first sustained frosts of the winter, and with ice forming around the edges of the pools, water rails have been easier to see. Much of the water has remained open, however, with goldeneyes and red-breasted mergansers displaying, and up to four great-crested grebes. Around 40 black-tailed godwits have been here this week and a small number of ringed plovers, a stonechat was seen on Thursday (5th) and the overwintering firecrests were seen by the Bridge Pond, most recently on Wednesday (4th).

If you do spot signs of spring on the reserve, such as the first celandines or a bumblebee, do let us know, either by social media (Twitter or Facebook) or by leaving a note in the diary in the Visitor Centre; that way, we can share your sighting with other visitors. And if you take photos at the reserve, we love to see them, either through social media or on our Flickr page, as Mal Delamare did, who took this atmospheric shot of lapwings and black-tailed godwits.