A Year in the Wilds of North Devon: January to June
A holiday where experiences are genuinely wild: Guests staying in Beer Mill at Stone Farm enjoy more than the usual comforts of a well-maintained rural holiday cottage. Where most countryside properties offer a lovely garden, this remote holiday cottage between Bude and Clovelly in North Devon gives its guests their own conservation area to roam. No matter in which month you choose to travel to this little West Country paradise, there’s always something to discover as you wend your way from the woodland glade to the chuckling stream of this natural (occasionally muddy) rural wonderland.
Let’s start early in the year when things first begin to stir...
January, February, March – you might be forgiven for thinking that there’s not much going on in the wilds of North Devon at this time of year; most wildlife is hunkered down or hibernating while we humans are huddled indoors waiting for the winter to pass! Well, think again! We venture out along the nature trails of the Beer Mill Conservation Project every day, and when we’re not there, we have ‘spy’ cameras out, capturing the wildlife activity we miss when we sit indoors sipping tea.
Here’s a glimpse into what you might be missing: in early January, for several years running, we have sent in the first records of frogs spawning in Devon from as early as the 4th of January! The frogs are singing, and you have to be quiet to hear them, but it’s pretty remarkable. For us, it’s a sign that the nights are already shrinking.
These native amphibians are filling the ponds, ditches, and even tyre tracks with frogspawn, which is the next generation! In a healthy ecosystem, it’s not surprising that this busy activity attracts attention from other wildlife. We see this plentiful food supply (sorry, frogs!) falling prey to otters, tawny owls, foxes (they don’t like to get their feet wet!), buzzards, herons, corvids (usually cleaning up after the others) and the graceful grey herons.
These winter months are a great time for capturing the strange light that is only here when the sun is low in the sky. Wild snowdrops abound in the hedgerows, and redwing, fieldfare and starlings flock together, moving from field to field feeding. Common snipe, visiting from colder climates, fly out unexpectedly, making their distinctive alarm call as they are disturbed from their hiding places in the wet grasslands, which provides them with shelter and camouflage. Woodcock return loyally to their winter hiding places each year and are startled awake as we pass through the woods.
Through these winter months, we are already looking out for the first glimpse of a butterfly: we’ve spotted brimstone, peacocks and red admirals in February.
A Red Admiral butterfly spreads its wings for the camera.
Soon after, the first flight of orange tips appeared, taking advantage of the woodland flowering plants such as common dog violet and miniature wild daffodils in March. Of course, some of the flowers get trampled by the rolling antics of the badgers who put their heads above ground to play, groom, stretch, feed and do a little housekeeping! Meanwhile, moles, who live solitary lives, are getting together to make babies and molehills appear in groups across the rough meadows, perfect for our school groups to make into molehill palaces! There’s nothing like a good spring clean and a belly full of beetles.
Before you know it, the toads are spawning, and it feels like spring is here. The toad spawn is laid in long strings and looks very different from the frogs. It all seems to happen rather suddenly, with the toads forming large ‘balls’ of animals as many males each try to mate with a female; she is often overwhelmed!
April, May, and June – Busier than an international airport! Winter migrants are leaving, and summer visitors are arriving from distant lands. We welcome swallows, house martins, passing swifts, chiffchaffs, blackcaps, whitethroats, grasshoppers and willow warblers when they return from their travels to nest, swelling the numbers of resident birds. The dawn chorus is worth waking up for and jumping out of bed for! (but not every day).
English Bluebells form carpets of blue in the woods
Wildflowers abound, especially in the woodlands, before the trees become leaves. Our native bluebells spread out across the ‘ghost’ ancient woodland, sanicle lines the pathways of the Woodpecker wood, marsh marigolds and wild garlic fill up unlikely spaces, and the air fills with some powerful perfumes.
With longer daylight hours and the sun’s warmth, invertebrates are breeding, providing food for the birds and mammals further up the food chain. Herbivores are fattening on the new green growth of grasses and shoots, and babies are everywhere while hunters, both large and small, are out and about, needing to feed their families.
Find North Devon holiday cottages to enjoy memorable winter and spring breaks in this beautiful, unspoilt corner of the West Country.
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