A month-by-month review of how our wildlife fared

n January

A wonderful winter for waxwings, making it the best for many years.

n February

Snowdrops continued to flower for an unusually long period, slowed down by the cold weather.

n March

Badgers and hedgehogs suffered from a shortage of worms and there was little food around for dormice coming out of hibernation, although these recovered later in the year and mostly went on to have successful seasons.

n April

A difficult time for nesting birds and returning summer migrants as food was in short supply due to the late spring.

n May

Bluebells were delayed by almost a month, not reaching their peak flowering until mid-May, whilst daffodils persisted well into May.

n June

A welcome break to the cold, with a 10-day fine spell early on.

n July

Butterflies appeared from nowhere, with a spectacular emergence of purple emperor in the woods.

n August

A very rare migrant butterfly, the long-tailed blue, established breeding colonies. Cabbages
were riddled with holes from
myriad cabbage white caterpillars.

n September

The cold spring and hot summer helped to produce some of the sweetest and most colourful apples for years, although it was the latest crop since 1985.

n October

Fieldfares and redwing appeared early.

n November

There was an abundance of most autumn berries, fruits, seeds and nuts in November, especially rowan berries. Deer in parks entered into the rut and winter well fed.

n December

Plenty of holly berries for Christmas. A great year for mistletoe with an abundance of berries.