things to look out for in january

Hazel catkins during winter.

Now we are moving through winter,various animals and plants will slowly start to appear.Catkin's on hazel and alder trees start to appear,Hazel has a beautiful lemon yellow male catkins and red female flowers that will emerge from buds in the centre of the shoots.A breeze is all it takes for the pollen to start an amazing journey,a few will land on the female flowers,a few more make the nuts of autumn.Lesser celandine will carpet woodland floors and riverbanks during this month,they have a delightful yellow flower that tells you spring is on the way.Sparrowhawks may start building their nests now,depending on the amount of food that's around,For most of the time the sparrowhawk flies around unseen in dense cover throughout most of the year,but during winter because there are less leaves on the trees they become easier to spot.The sparrowhawk is an avian bird,this means they catch their quarry on the wing.There are around 32,000 sparrowhawks in Britain,this is our second most common bird of prey behind the kestrel.Lapwings feeding on a water logged field in the watery winter sun can be spotted during January.Starlings may be seen as well in large numbers looking for food and then coming down at night to roost,Wrens and tits may come into nest boxes to roost when it gets really cold,look out for them in your garden.Small mammals such as wood mice and bank and field voles may be seen as well,The wood mice will still be out looking for food so keep a look out for them,nibbling on shoots of grass are a give away,as their little bodies feel the squeeze of winter,they get bolder and more adventurous moving farther afield.Bank and field voles operate in runs as they move around looking for food,they will tolerate each other more during winter as they are searching for food,the runs are normally patrolled by one pair of voles.Small pellet-shaped droppings and fresh grass clippings are all giveaways that voles are in residence.Long tailed tits will come to your feeders in your garden during this month,but will most likely be seen off by the two great territory holders,the robin and the blackbird.Barn owls can be spotted,hunting low over fields looking voles and rats.Common frogs may not be spawning yet,the males will certainly be accumulating by their breeding grounds.Common frogs 'purr' and do not go 'rrribitt' as we have all been misled to believe.Damselfly,may and stone fly nymphs are stirring in our rivers waiting to emerge in spring and begin the cycle all over again.Fox's start mating during late December and January so its a good time to see the dog fox and his vixen together.Foxes are getting vociferous as the breeding season comes into full flow.The 'wow-wowing' bark and the blood-curdling scream,produced mainly by the vixen,are their way of getting the lowdown of who`s who and where.

The turdidae (thrushes) family.

Part one redwings and fieldfares.

By now there should be plenty of redwings and fieldfares in the country.These magnificent thrushes have flown all the way from Scandinavia(though the last couple of weeks probably felt like home).What i want you to tell me is how many of these birds you have seen and if they have been coming into your gardens?Also has anyone seen them in a mixed species flock i.e with song thrushes and blackbirds?Listen out for the 'chack-chack-chack' of the fieldfare and the 'seeeeip' of the redwing as they fly over head.These birds will stay until April/may and then head back to their breeding grounds.Redwings will eat berries such as hawthorn,yew and mountain ash,they will also eat snails and worms.Fieldfares will also eat hawthorns and will look for seeds in pastures and will eat spiders or centipedes.Fieldfares nest in a variety of habitats in Britain including farmland,woodland edges,forestry plantation's and even sometimes in your garden.Some redwings have bred in Scotland in birch,alder and pine woodlands(The nest is usually in a tree ,against a stump or in a shrub) .Dried grass,twigs and moss are what redwings make their nest out of and fieldfares will make their nests out of dried grass,moss,rootlets and lined with mud.Between five and six eggs are laid and inccubation last for between 12 and 16 days.

tracks in the snow

with all of the recent snow on the ground by where i live i thought it would be great to go and have a look to see what different tracks i could find.The first tracks i came across were a pair of fox prints,they were from a dog fox and his vixen.I also saw some wood mice tracks and quite a few rabbit tracks.There were also some crow prints in the snow as well.While i was walking up the lane i saw a single fox in a farmers field,Its also a great time of year to go bird watching as well.