This Month
March can be a tricky month in the Valley weatherwise when one-day newborn lambs are gambolling in warm spring sunshine, and the next they are huddled behind a stone hedge sheltering from driving hail.
Warm days seem to even fool the bumblebees that are venturing out ever earlier in the year to explore the nectar potential of spring flowers like primroses.
March in the Valley is the main daffodil month here when it is hard to find a view without the delightful yellow nodding heads. They are a picturesque addition to hedgebanks and woodland floors where their presence in rows is often the last reminder of former glory days as a market garden.
On the farm the pace is increasing with spreading of granular fertiliser to speed grass growth on pasture and some drilling of spring cereals. Cereals sown in spring are a real asset to some birds like skylarks who find a good nesting opportunity on the bare ground between rows of emerging plants and can rear their chicks long before harvest. Unfortunately most cereals are now autumn sown and the plants are too far advanced to be of use to the skylarks. Incentives to farmers such as bare skylark plots are now available and make a huge difference to these shy and lovely birds.
Buzzards are increasingly active this month as they prepare for breeding. They usually choose tall mature trees close to their feeding range over farms and woodland. They are thriving in the valley and their call is a characteristic cry in this part of the world.
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