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End of winter?


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Walking back to the house yesterday, and I heard a sound of honking up in the sky. It was a couple of large skeins of cranes heading in a northeasterly direction :)

This is always a wonderful sight, and IMO, a sign of the ending of winter.

Mind you, it is snowing again here now, as I write this.

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Having had snow and -5C last week, and snow today, and weather forecasts that are about a sale accurate as a horoscope, I have decided to go by nature. The cranes were a lovely sight, and sound, and there are lesser celandines and violas in flower, so spring, whilst not yet sprung, is on the way.

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Just now, Stilllearning said:

Having had snow and -5C last week, and snow today, and weather forecasts that are about a sale accurate as a horoscope, I have decided to go by nature. The cranes were a lovely sight, and sound, and there are lesser celandines and violas in flower, so spring, whilst not yet sprung, is on the way.

Your old boat has a lovely grass roof!! No mud, its artificial.

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45 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

Walking back to the house yesterday, and I heard a sound of honking up in the sky. It was a couple of large skeins of cranes heading in a northeasterly direction :)

This is always a wonderful sight, and IMO, a sign of the ending of winter.

Mind you, it is snowing again here now, as I write this.

They passed over us some 7/8 days back Dept 46 Lot & we have a dusting of snow

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1 hour ago, Stilllearning said:

Walking back to the house yesterday, and I heard a sound of honking up in the sky. It was a couple of large skeins of cranes heading in a northeasterly direction :)

This is always a wonderful sight, and IMO, a sign of the ending of winter.

Mind you, it is snowing again here now, as I write this.

Flock of Cranes you say? No........ not here.......until I looked at your location?????? Oh you lucky person.

In the UK there is now a quite well established 'flock' of them down on the Somerset Levels where they have been released having been reared... up at Slimbridge. They are all ringed so the project can monitor their movements. My best has been seeing a group of 3 of them flying over Cardiff heading from the levels back to Slimbridge. One pair bred in 2016 and one chick survived. Quite a few of the released ones go back to Slimbridge. I've only see one 'wild' crane in the UK and that was up in Fair Isle (Shetland) last summer. Your are so lucky having so many down your way.

...but as Matty said, the SSW is going to make it a bit chilly in 10 days time.....maybe.

We are all doomed.

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22 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

The last day of winter is February 28th. I am setting off on my summer cruise about on March 1st if its not raining of course therefore the summer will begin on that date :)

You've got to be joking.  Just 5 years ago, March 21st.......         And I was working locks on the Rochdale with snow up to my knees in April.

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33 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

The last day of winter is February 28th. I am setting off on my summer cruise about on March 1st if its not raining of course therefore the summer will begin on that date :)

We too shall be cruising from 1 March as that's when the Wolverhampton 21 reopen but Spring doesn't start until 20/21 March. 

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27 minutes ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

You've got to be joking.  Just 5 years ago, March 21st.......         And I was working locks on the Rochdale with snow up to my knees in April.

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Yes it can happen. The first week of april in fact most of april 2011 was bright sunshine t shirts and barby weather I have decreed that is going to happen this year. :)

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It would appear some birds have started spring migration.  The Cuckoos being satellite tracked by the BTO have started to move north.  Still in sub Saharan Africa but have moved between 235 and 1315 miles north.  Admittedly they have a long slow migration stopping to fatten up for day/weeks along the way, but they have started north.

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4 hours ago, pearley said:

We too shall be cruising from 1 March as that's when the Wolverhampton 21 reopen but Spring doesn't start until 20/21 March. 

If the depth of cold arrives as is forecast then I would imagine everywhere will be frozen solid by then.

The event happening in the stratosphere that   Matty40s  mentioned in an earlier post is record breaking and could potentially lead to some extremely cold conditions in early March.

The conditions that Mac of cygnet describes above followed a very similar but weaker stratospheric warming.

Edited by Rickent
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21 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Flock of Cranes you say? No........ not here.......until I looked at your location?????? Oh you lucky person.

In the UK there is now a quite well established 'flock' of them down on the Somerset Levels where they have been released having been reared... up at Slimbridge. They are all ringed so the project can monitor their movements. My best has been seeing a group of 3 of them flying over Cardiff heading from the levels back to Slimbridge. One pair bred in 2016 and one chick survived. Quite a few of the released ones go back to Slimbridge. I've only see one 'wild' crane in the UK and that was up in Fair Isle (Shetland) last summer. Your are so lucky having so many down your way.

...but as Matty said, the SSW is going to make it a bit chilly in 10 days time.....maybe.

We are all doomed.

We were lucky enough to see a wild Crane on the Norfolk Broads in 2016.

Didn't manage to catch a glimpse of any when we went back last year though.

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End of winter?

This week has been the hardest winter week in 3 years I no joke.

WeT with 50mile winds/ice (Can't move)

Muddy as anything, frozen pipes/leaning into the wind.

Depressed shouting at my cat and my dog.

I look like I've been on a tour of the somme when I've gone for a walk.

 

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Tomorrow is the end of winter for me as it will be my 1st jaunt on the boat of 2018, having persuaded the Admiral of the fleet that 9'C and no frost for a week is Spring (near Braunston). The snowdrops and croci (?crocususes?) are out and daffs are already showing here in Worcs.

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2 hours ago, brassedoff said:

End of winter?

This week has been the hardest winter week in 3 years I no joke.

WeT with 50mile winds/ice (Can't move)

Muddy as anything, frozen pipes/leaning into the wind.

Depressed shouting at my cat and my dog.

I look like I've been on a tour of the somme when I've gone for a walk.

 

 

You have of course had three of the softest winters so far on record.

Some proper weather coming in a week or so according to that Matty40s!

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11 hours ago, brassedoff said:

End of winter?

This week has been the hardest winter week in 3 years I no joke.

WeT with 50mile winds/ice (Can't move)

Muddy as anything, frozen pipes/leaning into the wind.

Depressed shouting at my cat and my dog.

I look like I've been on a tour of the somme when I've gone for a walk.

 

We havnt had a winter since 2010 when we were all frozen in a few inches thick for a few weeks and plenty snow. We only get one every few years though so its no big deal.

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1 hour ago, Quaysider said:

nah - I'm all for Spring is nearly here... I mean, yesterday, the solar panels we putting in 3.8 amps (avoid commenting please pedant police) at 9.30!DSC_0450.jpg

But.....But, your MT50 was putting 3.8A in. Your solar panels were only putting in 0.4A

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