Initially, January was supposed to be the month I'd mostly spent on my machines due to the winter season usually offering nothing of interest outside. Especially this year due to several fields in my area still being minimally flooded and many areas either being covered in thick blankets of snow or thick blankets of mud; both aren't exactly pleasant to walk on.
Near the end of the month, with the mud getting less sticky, I checked my main study area. This winter appears to be a particularly strong season for blue tits, yet few other species were howing themselves this prominently. An unidentifiable woodpecker was heard in the distance within Zone I. Sadly, no eggs of butterflies were found, which supports my hypothesis that Thecula betulae likely migrated from the largely-accessible Zone II to the fenced part of Zone I. The fenced zone, a hillslide separating Zone I from Zone III that currently is being used as a cow pasture, is secured with an electric fence, despite the cows not being outside during cold seasons (a practice that is worth its own post, as the breed is meant for year-round grazing). Still, the risk of getting fried and sliding the steep hillslide down remains too big, so this season's search for eggs ends here.
The sole interesting observation was of hydrological nature. As it turns out, the melting snow also increased the amount of water carried by both streams passing through Zone II and Zone III, though not by a huge amount, as one large drainage pipe in Zone II carries the excessive water all the way down to another stream between the village and the nearest town, alongside the steep hillslide. Much more surprising, however, was the pond barely hosting more water than usual. As its connection to the stream passing it has come to a halt, the water inside this swamp-like pond is extremely clear, indicating that it now almost exclusively relies on groundwater. Despite a significant increase in groundwater, however, the water level remained stable. All drainage pipes were deliberately cut off from the pond to prevent it from drying out, meaning that this pond now is able to fully regulate itself.
Speaking of "water levels", many fields surrounding this year's "area of special interest" – a rive several kilometers west of my village – still are covered in puddles bigger than those I discovered around my village. The former thus have gained popularity among water birds that once used to be considerably rare; four white swans and one gray heron were resting and swimming on one particular puddle. Taking into account that I observed a common egret standing in the small river nearby just a few months prior, this water meadow finally appears to be recovering after decades of absence of any water-lowing birds and beavers.
Now I still have to wait until the effects of this wet winter season on plants become observale.