Nature notes March 2011

With March comes the promise of spring and the leaving behind of dark winter days. The hedge bottoms are full of snowdrops intermixed in places with carpets of yellow celandines. Leaf buds are fattening rapidly with their promise of glossy green leaves and the first shoots of woodland plants are showing through.
Birds are making their first attempts at song for the year with chaffinch, green finch, coal tit, great tit and song thrush all adding to the year round song of robins and the raucous calls of rooks and jackdaws. A couple of milder days have already brought out the first optimistic bats at dusk and frogs and toads are beginning their annual migration to spawn. There is much evidence of badger activity along the footpaths where these night foragers are tearing up the ground to search for worms and grubs now that the ground is softening after the frosts.
Now is a great time to go out and find the tracks and signs that nature’s creatures leave behind and gather information from these clues about the species that are seldom seen but are there none the less. Arm yourself with a good field guide and out you go.
The herbage is at its lowest giving access to the ground in and around hedgerows and walls. The local snail species can be identified by the discarded shells and the empty shells of nuts and seeds give clues to the animal that made a meal of the soft inner kernel by the type of hole made and teeth marks left. If you look around the bottom of hedgerow trees you will find mounds of these discarded casings along with the stored caches for future use. Even the lichens and mosses clinging to walls can be studied much closer along with all manner of things that lodge in the nooks and crannies between the stones.
Badger and deer paths will be easily seen and you may find hairs from these animals where they have squeezed under wire fencing.
Look at the soft mud around puddles for tracks left by creatures passing by. Much can be learned about local species this way.
Becoming a wildlife detective will add much greater interest to your time outdoors. Just being able to make use of all the information that is around you helps to make your walks much more rewarding and these field skills are always worth improving.
Happy hunting

January 2011

The new year came in on the tail end of the coldest period of weather for many a year. Wildlife will have suffered but the clearing snow re-opens opportunities for birds and animals to feed.
The rare waxwing can still be seen by those lucky enough to stumble on a party feeding on the berries of hawthorn, rowan or any other tree still bearing a crop of inviting fruits.
Large flocks of fieldfare roam the fields and woodland edges, giving away their presence with loud ‘chack chack’ calls. These winter visitors from Scandinavia may be joined by redwing distinguished by bright chestnut flashes along the flanks. Both are handsome birds, welcome visitors at this quiet time of year.
Blackbirds have returned to the litter amongst hedge bottoms, scratting about looking for food items. Robins take advantage of the disturbed ground along with dunnocks and tiny wrens who flit down from their wall hide-holes.
A short walk to the woods along the valley top will give sightings of many birds scouring the trees for tid-bits. Parties of long tailed tits pass through, their constant contact calls keeping each member in touch with the rest. Mouse- like treecreepers climb the bare trunks, scouring the nooks and crannies before flying to the bottom of the next tree. Always upwards, upwards.
Great spotted woodpeckers make their way across open sections with their characteristic bounding flight, calling as they go. Great tits, blue tits and coal tits can also be seen with the occasional striking looking bullfinch making an appearance.
Now the ground has cleared of the deep carpets of snow badgers will be out and about again looking for food. Look out for their diggings on grass verges and along field sides where their distinctive five-toed prints might be seen in the soft excavated ground.
For those brave folk willing to take a short walk after dark it is worth noting that we are in the middle of the foxes breeding season. Listen out for the eerie screaming mating calls that ring out across the fields, sounds that generations ago gave rise to rumours of roaming witches and ghouls. The hoots of tawny owls and rustles of things moving about in the dark add to the atmosphere.
Who needs television.