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.

The ranidae family.

Part two the marsh frog.

The marsh frog is slightly bigger than the common frog, it also has a more rounded snout that helps to distinguish it from the common frog. The marsh frog eyes are also closer together, their is no black patch either behind their eyes. The female is about five inches in length with the male being slightly smaller. Although the marsh frog is bigger than a toad, a marsh frog has the smooth skin and leaping gait of a frog. Its colouration varies from a brownish colour to even bronze or green.This frog was first introduced to Britain by a zoologist called Percy Smith in 1935. The marsh frog is the largest frog that if found in Europe. They like marshland habitat and can be found around the dyke's and ditches of the Romney marshes in Kent. They can also be found in the Sussex area but they haven`t spread any further across Britain. Marsh frogs like to bask in the sun, but if they get disturbed they will quickly take to the water. They catch their food by using their sticky tongues, and feed mostly on land on mayflies and other insects and occasionally on worms. They breed between May and early June, normally a few weeks after emerging from hibernation, the males gather in water in small groups and croak loudly. They are all trying to attract females, once mated the frog spawn is deposited in clumps amongst water-weeds and the tadpoles are rarely seen. The tadpoles start to emerge from the water in September or early October. They are mainly predated by foxes or grey herons. They hibernate from late October to early November at the bottom of ponds in thick mud or stones, they start to emerge from hibernation in April.

Things to look out for in December.

We are now moving towards the winter solstice at which all of nature will be re-born, the first signs of this will be appearing quite soon. Snow has taken up a lot of the headlines, Worcestershire has had quite a lot of snow over the last week. Field and bank voles will be punching up through the snow to make air holes. They will find plenty of shoots and grass under the snow.  They will spend long periods looking for their food. Stoats and weasels may be stumbled across while they are out hunting for wood mice or rabbits. Brown hare tracks may be seen as well as they move through the snow. Their will be two smaller fore prints followed by two larger hind prints. This pattern is caused by the hares as they run through the snow. As a hare is digging through the thick snow to find shoots of grass under it, it will be listening out with its large ears for anything that is approaching it. You will be able to get quite close to a brown hare before it bolts aware from the area that it has been digging. For the brown hare it is much a challenge to survive as well as eluding predators during any month especially the cold ones. Foxes start mating from December until February, the vixen will only be receptive for between two and three days. Because of this the dog fox will not leave the vixen. Foxes become vociferous as the breeding seasons approaches. The "wow-wowing" bark and the blood curdling scream, produced mainly by the vixen, are their way of getting to know who is in their neighbourhood. Their will be lots of redwings,fieldfares and blackbirds around the red berries of holly during this month as they all try to seek out food. Look out for mistletoe on old oak trees as you are walking in the countryside. Rooks and jackdaws will be busy in their rookery as they start to prepare their nests for the forthcoming breeding season. The noise that comes from their rookery is for me one of the most enjoyable noises in the countryside. Blackcaps may be seen coming into your garden during the long winter days to seek out food. My mum has a single blackcap male that will stay in her garden until almost spring and then come back next winter. Yellowhammers and corn buntings may be seen concentrated together looking for food in large flocks. Their bodies resemble larger sparrows, because of this the word bunting means plump or stocky. The yellowhamer is a canary lemon yellow colour, but during winter this is not quite as striking. The corn bunting is a larger bird than the yellowhammer but hasn`t got quite as striking colours, they are normally a light brown colour with a pale chest. Rough grassland and arable land are favoured sites for these birds. Blue tits,great tits and chaffinches may be seen in mixed flocks. Small tortoiseshell  and peacock butterflies have now found somewhere to hibernate. Queen wasps will also be looking for somewhere to hibernate. After mating in the summer they will look for old wood mice nests or our house for favourable sites. Centipedes and millipedes are still wriggling around in the depths of the soil in our gardens. Scarlet elf-cup fungus,dead man fingers and jews ear fungus are three fungus's to look our for while taking a stroll through one of our deciduous woodland during December.

Winter Solstice

The winter solstice is a pagan quarter festival when it is the shortest day and longest night of the northern hemisphere. The earth has been withdrawn inside her-self, after the winter solstice she will start to be awoken. At the moment winter is bring quite a lot of hardship for all of the natural world including ourselves. Very little growth will happen as the mother earth tightens her grip on us all. But deep with-in the earth roots are starting to grow, bringing nutrients and stability to all the plants and trees. In the coming weeks new buds will start to form on trees, bulbs will start to push up their new shoots as well. All of nature has slowed down, waiting for the energy to change and for the warmth to return. Due to the restraints of winter we too have slowed down and conserving energy. The time between samhain and yule (yule is Norwegian for wheel) is the dark time of winter and it allows all of to enter into dream time. As the outer world has darkened we can now experience the inner energies of the world within. We can now get in touch with our dreams and its a great time to make inner journeys for our wisdom and understanding. It has been a great time for us to lay down our own personal  plans and ideas which with the return of the active outward energy, all of these can slowly begin to manifest. This is the suns birthday and also a celebration of the suns re-birth after the suns sacrifice of death slowly after laying down seeds at lammas. Life will become more active from now on as the days start to get longer and  nights shorter. We are all part of this cycle as-well so we too are re-born at this time. We will then bring the wisdom of our own inner journeys out into a manifesting natural world, that will grow with the increasing light from the sun. This is a time to celebrate the active principle whose positive qualities of intellectual and rational thought, determination and assertiveness bring Independence and purpose to our lives. Happy solstice to everyone and i hope you all enjoy it.