Another day of sunshine and snow falls- picture postcard in morning, bone-chilling in afternoon and no sightings of ospreys.

However, the red squirrels cheered us all up. At Dodd Viewpoint up to eight can be spotted at one time whisking around the trees and nibbling nuts on the logs and feeders. And with a bit of bribery (more nuts) they are also coming down out of the canopy at Whinlatter. Over this winter Whinlatter Forest has been designated as a Red Squirrel Refuge, in Partnership with Save our Squirrels. The plight of our native red squirrels is critical as the introduced American grey squirrels extend their range North. Grey squirrels carry a pox virus, which gives the greys a slight cold but on contact with the reds causes them to suffer the most terrible lesions and swellings around their mouths and eyes and very soon kills them. Greys then take over the area where the reds have been wiped out.

A further complication is that in Scotland introduced greys and native reds have been able to co-exist as the two species naturally use slightly different habitats and food sources. This is because the ‘Scottish’ greys were introduced from America separately and have never come into contact with the pox virus. The fear is that if they meet up with the wave of infected ‘English’ greys the pox will spread like wildfire and reds will become entirely extinct throughout mainland Britain. In creating a series of Refuges across the North of England it is hoped to hold back the tide of greys so that research work can be carried out to provide a long term solution to the problem.

The stories of osprey and red squirrel, both species at risk for very different reasons, really drives home that every one of us is a steward of the amazing, diverse and fragile world in which we live. Whether we care or not determines whether our children and grandchildren will be able to see these wonders for themselves.