It’s been a tough difficult winter for us with grey depressing days interspersed with snow and copious amounts of rain, invariably in very cold windy conditions.

The tough difficult conditions I write of have caused us great discomfort for quite some time.

Before we get too wound up in our inconvenience spare a thought for our wildlife, after all this awful weather has been a matter of life or death and often the latter as the desperate daily grind of finding a morsel of food to sustain their lives brings them to the very edge of survival. In truth, many birds, mammals and insects have succumbed to the unrelenting harsh conditions. An example of just how tough things have been can be measured against an Oxford Ornithological Society project I am involved with, namely the OOS Tree Sparrow initiative, usually at this time of year we count the tree sparrows coming to our feeders in the dozens presently we are seeing just the odd two or three and have found dead birds in the nest boxes we provide for breeding as they have sought overnight protection from the freezing weather.

Because tree sparrows are multi-brooded often having three and sometimes four broods containing clutches of four to six eggs a good year or two will see them recover to former levels. The levels I talk of are referenced from previous records that we keep in order to help us make sensible decisions concerning the future needs and actions required to do the best we can for their survival, in fact surveying and logging of the country sides flora and fauna is fundamental to a better understanding of the plant and animal life that inhabits our beautiful Oxon countryside.

So, how do we collect records of what’s out there?

An important element of any wildlife group is the willingness of its members to survey and record usually through a database, although important records also come from the public, whether they be dog walking, running or just leisurely strolling taking in a breath of fresh air and noticing the interesting or unusual, and remembering it often nowadays by photography when even a mobile phone is a better record than your memory.

If you do see anything you think could be significant please email me preferably with even a poor quality photo at barhud@aves123.co.uk One of the big losers in the survival stakes has been the honey bee that has, to a large extent, been unable to cope with an extended unfriendly season, along with a harmful virus and agricultural pesticides decimating colony after colony, if we wish to retain this important fertiliser of plants a changed government and agricultural outlook and policy is urgently required — you have been warned.