a quiet mid February (for ringing)

Our hut/ringing area became flooded again in mid month, as a result of two storms - Ciara and Dennis, passing through in about a week. Dennis, in particular, dropped about a month's rain over the weekend of 15th/16th. The water level was the highest we have known in the Group's history, peaking on 16th/17th February, when it was lapping the underside of the hut floorboards, and seeping up between the boards. Fortunately, little damage resulted, as most of the ringing hut's contents were clear of the floor, though there were a lot of containers floating around in the old hut, where the water was just below "wellie depth". It did mean, however, that we would not be able to access the netting area and feeders (which quickly emptied) for several weeks. The Great-grey Shrike was seen in the church hedgerow/Raikes' garden on 18th, but assumed to be on a fairly extensive circuit around the west side of the Lake, so not regularly seen in the Llangasty area.