1 Day, 2 Seasons?

Today in the morning of the 11th March 2013, the climate in my suburban garden, in the space of about 1 hour, went from fairly Spring-like conditions with a relatively mild, green and blossoming atmosphere to a very Wintery snowy scene with all signs of life retreated or hidden away behind snow and ice.

The term Seasons is almost indefinable in the UK anymore. They all seem to mix into one sort of blur consisting of mild-ish overcast drizzly weather. Ever increasingly we are seeing cooler and wetter Summers, warmer and drier Winters, and Spring mixing into somewhere in between. Last year we saw a very warm Spring with a very warm late March then in Early April temperatures plummeting into wet and cold again shortly afterwards, with some areas seeing snowfall. This had devastating for many British species including Invertebrates (particularly Butterflies), Migrating Birds and Amphibians.

The last two weeks haven't been quite the same but with a mild past couple weeks and then the arrival of snow and ice early this week, some similar effects will no doubt take hold on some wildlife in the area.
For instance in my garden, the Frogs and Newts have arrived out of Hibernation last week as temperatures had risen slightly to near 10c, but this week temperatures have dropped below 0 again, and now the ponds are frozen. If it stays like this for a good couple weeks, this will no doubt have some effect on the frogs spawning this Spring (maybe pushing it back later) and possibly even affect the individuals themselves, as the water may be too cold for them.

Below are a few pics from this morning, in order of being taken, showing just how quickly conditions can change, and the effect it can have on various species. Under the ice of the snow there are currently c40 breeding Common frogs and c10 Smooth newt.

Purple Crocus in the sun.. 11 AM

Snowdrop

Daffodill

Frozen pond A... 12 PM

Frozen pond B

A very snowy back garden... 1 PM

Frozen pond B

If you have a pond and it is currently active with Amphibians and you would like to keep part of the pond unfrozen so allowing them access in and out, it is firstly important to remember never to smash the ice on a pond in freezing conditions, for the vibrations can kill aquatic animals. You must either, before the pond freezes float a small ball on the surface, allowing for a hole to form overnight (and then remove the ball in the day) or if the pond is already frozen, very slowly add warm water to the surface of the ice allowing it to slowly melt, but never hot water.