Warmest March on record, continual hazy sky and wildlife behaving oddly in Scotland

This is the warmest March on record here in Scotland with temperatures being 10 degrees hotter than normal. Im a photographer and Im seeing changes all around me. The sky has been hazy for 13 days now, almost like there is a mist at high altitude yet at night Ive never seen the sky so clear. The real pointer to things being different though is not the weather or light, its the behaviour of the wildlife in my garden.

I live in a heavily inhabited area, most would call it a city environment. From early February Ive had new visitors who want to stay ..13 collared doves, a grey Squirrel and now a pair of pheasants who flew over the 2 storie house landed in the back garden and have now made it their own. For those who will say things are just normal I say " rubbish" .

The light is important to me and its never been like this before.The wildlife is tame, the doves and squirrel are eating from hand and the Pheasants should be wary of me eating them, not parading round the garden and attempting to come in the back door....

IMO something is going to happen or happening/changing this year, not because of the Mayans, the doom theorists or the religious exponents, but because I have always felt something was coming and IMO the weather changes, the animal behaviours and the early blooming of plants just reinforce my opinion. Feel free to comment with your own views and examples...

Respects to you and thanks for reading.

I have to say, when I stepped outside tonight I was literally taken aback at how clear the sky was. Never seen (or at least never noticed) it like that before, everything so sharp and crystal clear and bright. It was amazing!

It was incredibly hot here in Illinois, but now it's freezing. On Saturday, I was wearing a tee and shorts and it was beautiful outside. Today, I was wearing jeans and a hoodie and I was freezing.

The weather has been INCREDIBLY odd this year.

reply to post by RomeByFire


It was good to get confirmation from the weather experts that not only did it feel wrong, but they are saying its the warmest March since records began. The night sky is truly amazing yet I have been watching the day time sky for nearly a fortnight now and have yet to see it without blue haze. Im a photographer and have shot 7 weddings in that period, light is important to me and the sky is different...

Yes its all around us.. my daffodils are already blooming when they usually bloom in April. I have noticed ants in my house.. and yes i know ewwww...but dam it they dont usually show up in my house till summer.. wth!!! I have known something is going on. But i just wish it would happen already...im tired of speculating on what it is..Im ready i will take it head on... One thing i pride myself on is being strong in everything i do. Bring it on!!!

We pretty much skipped Spring here in Missouri. The skeeters are getting bad and with the bat population dwindling it looks like we're in for a hellish Summer.

With all the quakes going on around the world it makes me wonder if we've got "Earth spots" in the core going wild. I mean if the Sun can have Sun spots, then why not Earth too?

Originally posted by Natame
Yes its all around us.. my daffodils are already blooming when they usually bloom in April. I have noticed ants in my house.. and yes i know ewwww...but dam it they dont usually show up in my house till summer.. wth!!! I have known something is going on. But i just wish it would happen already...im tired of speculating on what it is..Im ready i will take it head on... One thing i pride myself on is being strong in everything i do. Bring it on!!!

I agree with you. Im seeing people with sun tans in March. Regarding wildlife...its as if they have lost their fear of us. Ive been sitting in the garden today surrounded by birds, squirrel etc that dont rate me as a threat...now that is odd behaviour !

Yup, the weather has been fantastic the past few days. But as for animals and birds behaving weirdly I cant say I've seen anything like that.

I was out at my father in laws house yesterday and hes in a suburban area and roughly less than a half mile to open countryside so theres a fair few different breeds of birds around. They were behaving like they always do, flying like the clappers as soon as you get close enough and my brother who thinks he is the bird whisperer (lol) didnt have much luck with them either. Seen plenty of deer though in Glasgow on the grass verges of the M8 & M74. I dont know if I've just never noticed as many before or if their breeding is more successful of late and / or theyre moving out of the semi rural areas onto fresh turf.

As for pheasants, they are the most stupid and skittish birds I've ever come across and I'm suprised they aren't extinct!

I dont know where in Scotland you are, but here in Glasgow its been hazy during the day and as you said the night time sky has been amazingly clear, absolutely no cloud or haze whatsoever. We couldnt even see the Campsies on teh way to my FIL because of the haze and last weekend it was so clear that we could see all the way to Ben Lomond and further. IMO the haze makes the light look different, our usual blue sky is just hiding behind whatever is making it look whitish.

Pretty warm here in the central US.

Something I have noticed is that there are no squirrels around,none.
Last summer they were everywhere,destroyed my little crop of apples and pears.

Where did the little buggers go?

reply to post by kdog1982


They have hit the high road because they know the U.S. is about to split in half.

Wish I had the instincts of most animals

reply to post by captiva


Usually when animals and potential predators hang out together, its because something that effects them all is transpiring. Very interesting report.

Been noticing more of the same here in the midwest with the unseasonal warm weather. Have not noticed anything unusual with the wildlife, but my 6 yr. old Cocker Spaniel, who is usually independent and minding her own business 90% of the day, hasn't left my side for about a week now. Not that it is unusual, but it is very unusual for her.

It really is like the height of summer here at the moment,and regarding your experience with the local wildlife,I have had a baby crow sit on my hand and allow me to take it indoors for the night,he can't fly properly just now and I took him in to keep him away from the cats,This has been going on or 4 days now,every night at dusk I find the crow in the same spot as if he's waiting to be taken inside and fed! I put him out side again every morning so that his parents can see that he is ok,they too are landing close to me to eat the food that I put out.

I mention this because carrion crows are usually very wary around people they won't generally feed if there is a human in the vicinity and will only take the food when any humans have left the area.
Still it is a privilege to be able to see wildlife up close like this.

reply to post by captiva


I am 39 years old and my grandpa and grandma alway's said.."watch the animals,they know something is going to happen before we do"...that being said,there is your answer.

I wondered why the squirrels attacked my crop of 7 apple trees and 1 pear tree and 2 mulberry trees.
They took all the fruit before it was ripe last summer.
They were everywhere.
Now,there are absolutely none,and it has been very warm.
Plenty of birds out,but no squirrels.
Lots of buzzards flying around.

We had the warmest winter here in Alberta, Canada that I can remember. Last winter was the exact opposite.. We had brutal cold temperatures and massive amounts of snow accumulation. Last winter was one of the worst I've experienced while this winter was one of the warmest.

I think its all just part of a cycle. Maybe a little weather engineering due to the fact the skies are always hazy the last few years in the day and clear at night as you've mentioned. Not often do I ever see a clear day anymore even on a sunny day. Morning might start out nice and clear.. then come the the criss-crossing patterns that create a haze.

Most people have a feeling something is nearing.. I even have that feeling. I try ignoring it thinking it could be because we're all surrounded by various types of hype and misinformation..

Night shift last night, processing a wedding shoot. I remember when I was younger (many years ago !) waking up to the birds whistleing and singing at first light. Last night, all night, the brids were whistling...Although very peaceful to hear it doesnt feel right...insomniac birds.

I'm down in the east of england and it has been a beautiful week.

I am heading down to cambridge on the motorbike in a bit so I will try and get a few pics of just how nice it is out there today

reply to post by captiva


The pheasants behaviour is not so odd - they are a very stupid bird. Used to have them nesting at the bottom of our garden growing up (lived in countryside with land rather than normal garden). They used to try and get at the dogs food even though the dog used to try and eat them!

In fact they are so stupid that we used to get poachers - they would come up the river, walk over to the nesting areas and literally twist their necks - the other pheasants wouldn't run away though, they would calmly wait until the poachers got to them!

I have noticed the hazy sky thing myself but to be honest i have noticed this in the past a fair bit as well. That said though, it doesn't usually get as cold outside on an evening when the sky is hazy during the day. I am a smoker (for my sins) and therefore banished outside by the mrs and kids whenever i feel the urge - it has been cold this last week at night. Had to scrape ice of the car this morning but sat at desk now in short sleeves with windows open.

Not sure what (if anything) it signifies but i do wish it would make it's bloody mind up.

I am in Northwest England, and the skies here are not hazy at all, they are crystal clear and gloriously blue, very clear at night too. Yes it is warmer than usual for this time of year, but its not unheard of to have a warm March. In 2006 we had a very warm March, a warm May, and then the rest of the summer was crap.

There is always going to be the new "hottest" day, week or month on record as time passes, just as there will be the new coldest day, week or month on record. I remember the heat wave and drought of 76, if we had a summer like that again people would be proclaiming it was the end of the world, when nope its just a hot summer.

The animal behaviour is odd, however maybe this is more to do with you, rather than a general thing. Perhaps there is an awakening in you that has attracted these animals to you, perhaps your kindness has encouraged these animals to stay near by. Squirrels are quite curious animals anyway, you can go to my local park which has lots and they will come up to you and take food, they always have. Doves and pheasant will stay where there is a plentiful supply of food, if they are eating from you hand though that is unusual for wild birds.

However I would take it as a good thing I would love a few tame Squirrels to come live in my garden Just enjoy the good fortune of lazy warm days, especially has the clocks have just gone forward, I certainly wont be wishing our normal crap March weather on us