Nature walks.

Part one.

Many animals and quite a few birds make their home`s underground. So while you are out and about walking in various habitats, i am going to tell you what to look out for.

Badger sets - Look out for large holes (normally eight inches or more). Their will be quite a few holes spread out on a hill side, where established runs converge. Chewed up blue- bell bulbs in spring, excavated earth or nettles and elder trees are a few other signs of a badger earth as well.

Rabbit warrens- Their will be numerous burrows  (about four inches wide each) that will be made in disturbed barren ground. Look out for their droppings on high points, as this is the way they mark their territory.

A kingfisher hole- Kingfishers make a solitary hole in a river bank. They will mark the entrance  by bird droppings. Look out for the male during spring bringing fish to the female at the nest. He will normally bring fish to a over hanging branch by the nest and wait for the female to come and collect it. This will either be for his courtship display,or for the female to feed her chicks. Also look out for lots of droppings around the hole. You can tell by the way he has the fish in his beak whether he will be eating the fish or whether he will passing the fish to the female or to the chicks. The fish `s head will be facing outwards if he is going to give the fish to someone else or the fish`s tail will be facing outwards if he is going to eat the fish hgimself.

Water vole burrows- Although these little mammals are now extremely rare, there are programmes to re-introduce them back into the wild in Britain. They have declined dramatically over the last twenty years or so mainly down to the mink, who itself has established lots of territories around brooks,rivers and canals.
They make their small holes (about three inches wide ) in the river bank and they are linked by surface runs. Look out for grass that has been chewed down the stem or listen out for a plop as they enter the water.

The hylidae family.

Part one the European tree frog.

The tree frog is very small compared to the common frog, with the males being up to one and a half inches and the females may be up to two inches in size. The tree frogs are slender with long legs. They are found over most of main land Europe, but were introduced to Britain from Europe at the start of the last century. Their are colonies in the new forest and south east London.  Their dorsal (back) skin is smooth whereas their ventral (abdomen) skin is granular. Their skin colour can range from a light green to grey depending on their temperature, climate or even their mood. Their ventral skin colour is normally white. The tree frog has dark brown lateral stripe on their back that runs from their eyes to their groin. Females have a white throat and males have a golden brown throat with a large folded vocal sacs. They have a rounded face with a very recognisable ear drum, the tree frogs pupils are a shape of a horizontal ellipse. Like most frogs the hind legs are stronger and more powerful the their fore legs, enabling them to jump rapidly. The tree fogs also has suction pads on its toes enabling them to climb among trees and shrubs, it does this normally at night where it will catch insects. Marshland,reed beds, meadows, gardens and parks are their favoured habitats. If the weather is about to change and start to rain tree frogs will start to croak as the pressure changes( they are like barometers). They main food source is beetles,spiders,flies and small caterpillars. They hibernate from late October until March and will use a hiberaculum which will be under walls,rocks or even in cellars. Tree frogs re-produce in stagnant bodies of water, such as lakes,ponds or swamps. They will gather at these place after they come out of hibernation in March right up to June. The males will croak during the breeding season, they will normally start as they are approaching their pools. Unlike other frogs the tree frog may change his breeding ponds, sometimes they will have two breeding areas during the same breeding season. After a spring rainfall the males will call the females away from the vegetation they were in to the pond where the males are. After spawning the females will lay up to a thousand eggs in walnut sized clump. The tadpoles hatch after about ten to fourteen days. After about three months, the tadpoles will metamorphosise into frogs, this occurs between July and August. The tree frog may live up to fifteen years in the wild.

The ranidae family.

Part three the edible frog.

The edible frog is closely related to the marsh frog, and was introduced to Britain in the nineteenth century from the continent. The edible frog is slightly bigger than the common frog, and its bright green colouration which makes it very distinctive. The more common name for the this frog is the European frog or the common water frog. The edible frog gets its name from its legs being used as a food delicacy in France. There are a few scattered colonies in the south east of England and East Anglia. Female edible frogs are between five to nine centimeters with the male being between six and eleven centimeters in length. The complex of waterways and ponds around the Surrey area has made this species very successful with a growing population. The edible frog will spawn a  lot later than the common frog, normally you can hear the loud call of the male edible frog in May. Their tadpoles grow considerably larger than the common frogs tadpoles before the metamorphose stage. Because of this they may on occasion over-winter as tadpoles and metamorphosis the following spring. They differ from the marsh frog by having a smaller hind leg in proportion to its body, and a different sized meta-tarsal tubercle(this is the bulge found at the base of their smallest rear toe).

Bird terms part one.

Atrical.

This is the term for birds that are designed to stay in the nest . This is the reason why the chicks are hatched naked, so there is no need for thick downy cover.

Clutch

This is the term for when the female bird lays her eggs.

Branching

This is the term for when  fledgling birds leave their nest for the first time.

Feathers in pin.

This is the term when birds flight feathers start to come through.

Burrow diversity.

This is when animals and birds will share burrows.