Winter wonderland
IT’S Christmas, a time of parties, big dinners and people sitting around the tree opening gifts – lovely.
It’s also a time when people trap themselves in their homes and sit in front of various TV, computer, laptop and tablet screens, warmed by the central heating.
Some won’t wander more than 30 feet from their cars to get to the cinema, the pub or the fast food restaurant but this is the most wonderful time of the year to see nature as it seeks food and drink in a cold and, possibly, frozen landscape.
Your bird table and feeders will be busy, if stocked, with a wider variety than your usual visitors. Blackbirds, sparrows, blue tits and finches will pop in to say hello and thank you for remembering them during the festivities. Squirrels will raid your nuts and there is a good chance you will see a hedgehog pottering around the garden if there is an unseasonal hot spell.
That’s a good time to ensure you have some spare dog food to feed these beautiful small mammals. Hedgehogs are generally hibernating at this time of year.
In woodland you will see groups of deer – roe are the most common but watch out for red and fallow in moorland areas.
Foxes will come closer to urban areas as small prey is thin on the ground. They will even try to raid your bins. Wheelie bins give foxes huge problems, so if you like these predators leave some food out daily while it’s cold.
I can honestly say that I see a fox at least once every winter on the West Pennine Moors near my home. Last year it was a large dog fox which gave me a careful glance as it paraded across my path and into the woodland. Its red coat stood out startlingly against the snow.
Birds will fly around in large groups, like starlings, crows, pied wagtails and long-tailed tits, but don’t expect the robin to give up its territory even in the bleak mid-winter. I am desperate to get to our Brockholes reserve in Preston to see the robin that we saw growing from a fledgling over spring.
Other small birds will be noticeable too. We have a garden wren that hops onto the bird table after searching the cracks in our walls for hidden insects and grubs. Out on our reserves watch for our smallest bird, the goldcrest is really common if you just open your eyes and look out for it. On the coast there was much excitement in Cumbria with more baby grey seals being born. Seals will still be out hunting in the Irish Sea, even on Christmas Day.
Go onto our beaches and you will see geese massed around Morecambe Bay and waders running along the shoreline. In sheltered areas you may be lucky enough to see hundreds of oystercatchers in a warming crush as waves splash nearby.
And you know something? If you nip out for a healthy walk after dinner on Christmas Day, your presents will still be there waiting for you when you get back. And you can record Morecambe and Wise – are they still on?