December Nature Notes
ANIMALS
As snow blankets the land it appears that wildlife is hidden but since land animals have to leave tracks when they move it provides us with the chance to peek into their activities.In an urban area, the most likely tracks to find are the cats and dogs. Cats, when walking, often place the hind foot exactly on top of the imprint of the front, so you find a characteristic double track which is easily recognised by the lack of any claw marks. A print is just about round in outline showing the four toe pads that touch the ground and the heel pad at the back. In fact cats have five toes on the front feet but one is so short it doesn’t feature in the footprint.
 
Dog claws do not retract into the fur like the cat so prints have obvious indications of the claw at the tip of each pad. A fox print has very similar prints to a dog but with enough differences to enable us to recognise which is which. Even for an animal of the same size, the fox print is narrower and there is a greater clearance between the two front toes and the back pad.
A line crossing the front edge of the outer toe pads will cross the back of the middle pads for a dog print, but not for a fox.
Squirrels often move in a series of jumps, particularly in snow so the track shows groups of 4 prints close together. The rearmost of the group are usually close together and made by the forefeet; the hind feet make marks outside and in front of these. Usually squirrel tracks start and end at a tree.
Rabbits hop on land with the forefeet close together. The larger back feet land further apart. Hare tracks can be quite similar, but of course the imprint is larger and there is a greater distance between them.
BIRDS
Many Waxwings have already arrived from Scandinavia this winter. They are pinky-brown birds with a black face mask, black front and an upswept headcrest. The wings have a scarlet red blotch - like sealing wax on the secondary feathers. You may catch a glimpse of them feeding on hawthorn berries.
Another Scandinavian visitor is the Redwing. It too feeds on hawthorn and looks much like our own song thrush but for the pale stripe above the eye and a black line beside the chin. You may spot them singing facing the winter sun high in the tree tops.
Look for mixed parties of tits - Blue, Long-tailed, Great and Coal tits. They often forage together and warn each other if a Sparrow Hawk is around. They do not go far from their own territories and from time to time you may hear them sing to reassert their ownership of them.
Robins hold a territory throughout the winter and can be heard singing, day or night (if in a well lit area), to defend it.
TREES / PLANTS
Female Holly trees have good crops of red berries this winter, They usually stay on trees until well after Christmas. Older hollies will have less spiky leaves towards the top branches - the prickly leaves are only needed for defence lower down.
White Nettle is still flowering, Though the leaves look like those of stinging nettles they are harmless. Turn the flowers upside down and the two anthers look like ladies slippers - an alternative name for the plant. |
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