Habitats.

The river Dartmoor is an ancient and un-forgiving landscape, enigmatic and beautiful in the depths of winter. This seemingly barren place is the source of a vital lifeline created by the river dart. Many animals on the moor need regular fresh water. Red deer will drink at the stream and graze at its grassy edges. But up here in winter this vital resource can be locked away frozen for days on end. The winter sun eases the cold grip of short days and long nights. The darts peaty nutrient water is slowly released. The river dart is a fifty two mile journey from source to sea. Trickles join into streams, and fresh water brings life to a wintery world. Dippers stay on the river all year round, dense feathers insulate them against the cold as the dipper hunts for caddis fly and may fly nymphs that become more plentiful during winter. Dippers are one of our first birds breed because of this, many of them will be repairing their nests during January. Grey wagtails like fast flowing streams aswell, but they are more cautious, foraging at the streams edge for any insects that might of been washed up at the waters edge. Kingfishers depend on water to hunt, during the winter they will move to the sea if inland waters are frozen. The water from Dartmoor flows strongest from east to west, merging at dartmeet. Now one big river the dart flows south, getting stronger, deeper and boulder as it leaves the moorland behind. Twelve miles inland from the sea freshwater meets saltwater, which is home to rag worms and other food for wading birds like redshanks. Herons and cormorant patrol the river looking for fish for them to eat. The journey is over, all the way from the moor to sea, its nutrient rich journey is a lifeline for a whole host of animals, that come to rely on the river during the hard times of winter.

Corn bunting decline.

Over the past thirty years corn buntings have declined by an alarming 90%. They are a bird of arable land, and because of the way we manage our land they have declined dramatically. Yellowhammers and sky larks numbers have dropped over the past thirty years aswell. We use weed killers and pesticides on our non organic farms so arable fields turn into agricultural deserts. Vital plants that the birds rely on to survive are being killed by weed killers, these birds eat the seeds from various members of the dandelion family. Also pesticides are killing vital insects and their caterpillars and  larvae which are vital for the chicks of these three birds. So I would like you to tell me any sightings or records of these birds over the coming months. All these birds nest low down or on the ground so wild flowers and undergrowth are also vital for their survival.

Why is winter such a tough time and testing time for our wildlife?

Winter is a season of extreme, plummeting temperatures. Frost and snow means that food and water are in short supply. For wildlife its a real test of the fittest, right now animals and plants are facing up to this challenge, especially young animals that haven`t` experienced these sort of conditions before. But they have some clever strategies to see them through. Some migrate, some hibernate, some take on fat supplies and others store food. Its a time of remarkable behaviour. Winter also supplies some of the United Kingdoms most spectacular wildlife spectacles, for us it can be beautiful, but this is the most difficult time for every plant and animal.  

Identifying stoats, weasels and their relatives.

The weasel, stoat, pine martin, polecat, mink and otter are all members of the weasel family(mustelidae), and resemble each other in build, colouring  or behaviour. All are very active hunters with long, sinuous bodies and comparatively short legs. They often sit upright on their haunches to look round, and when moving fast they gradually bound along with the back arched. Males are usually upto fifty per cent bigger than females. Confusion is most likely between the squirrel-sized stoat, especially a young one, and the smaller weasel. It is possible to confuse the pine martin, polecat and mink(all three roughly cat size), and perhaps also a swimming mink and swimming otter- the otter is much larger but its size is not obvious in the water. But each has certain distinguishing characteristics, and usually can also be identified from its habitat, although the stoat and weasel are found in most types of the country. The mink and otter are likely to be seen in or near water, the polecat on farmland or lower hill slopes and the pine martin only in remote northern forests or moors in Scotland (although they are rumoured to be back in Wales). The pine martin, polecat and otter are mainly active at night, the stoat, weasel and mink can be seen during the day. Polecat identification can be confusing because of the existence of polecat- ferrets(descendants of feral ferrets), whose colouring can vary from pale to dark.