1998 started with similar temperatures to the
present ones but there were gales which brought down a mature beech tree in the grounds
and a number of other trees locally. The three years before 1998, 1997 to 1995, all began
with more frosty conditions and some snow showers during the first week of the year. In
fact, in 1997 we woke up on So, it seems that, here at Ackworth, a typical start to the year would be a week with some frost and snow showers and a reasonable chance of gales at some point. The chance of us having a 'white' new year appears to be small and has been around 1 in 7 recently.
Otherwise, the grounds are fairly quiet at the moment. In previous years, a number of fieldfares and redwings have been moving around at this time and their calls have been a familiar sound but, this year, fieldfare numbers have declined after the initial influx and I have not seen them in any significant numbers for a week or two. Redwings have been unusually hard to find this year and I have not seen any in the grounds for a while, although there are small numbers of them in other local areas.
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