February Nature Diary
February is a month when signs of spring start to show itself. When you are out for a walk you will start to see snowdrops with their lovely white drooping flowers and sometimes later this month primroses in sheltered spots. The hazel has the lovely golden tassels called catkins which release the pollen into the wind and is caught by the female plant.
If you listen carefully you can hear the mistle thrush and the song thrush singing for their territories. If you see these thrushes you can tell them apart by the mistle thrush being larger and greyer than the song thrush and with bolder spots on the breast. The song thrush is browner and with a lighter buff colour on the flanks (below the breast).
Our visiting winter thrushes from Scandinavia and colder climates such as the fieldfare and redwing can be seen flying around in flocks looking for food such as berries.
February is a good time to visit estuaries as they are full of winter migrants such as geese, ducks, swans and waders, so why not visit one and take your binoculars and a bird book and see what is around!
The heron is a very large elegant bird and you may see their courtship dance by the male to attract the female. Herons build nests in groups of between 4 to 20 nests known as a heronry. Another bird that has a very impressive courtship display between the male and female is the great crested grebe. This includes head shaking, dancing where they both rear up out of the water facing each other and offering gifts of water weed and fish.
Even when the weather is milder keep your bird feeders full. The smaller birds particularly still need your help through this time as food is still pretty scarce. Have you tried making your own bird feeder and bird food? Look at the website for a great idea!
Frogs are coming out of their hiding places and moving to their breeding ponds. This is the time to look for the large clumps of frog spawn. Toad spawn can be seen later on but the difference is that toad spawn is in long strands and not clumps.
If you look at a badger sett you may notice that the old bedding is being replaced by new bedding as badgers prepare to have their cubs around February time. There can be between one and five cubs born at this time of year although it is most frequently two. The cubs at birth usually weigh around 100g (3½oz) and about 12cms (5 inches) long with a tail of about 3-4cm (1-1½) long.
February is a month when signs of spring start to show itself. When you are out for a walk you will start to see snowdrops with their lovely white drooping flowers and sometimes later this month primroses in sheltered spots. The hazel has the lovely golden tassels called catkins which release the pollen into the wind and is caught by the female plant.
If you listen carefully you can hear the mistle thrush and the song thrush singing for their territories. If you see these thrushes you can tell them apart by the mistle thrush being larger and greyer than the song thrush and with bolder spots on the breast. The song thrush is browner and with a lighter buff colour on the flanks (below the breast).
Our visiting winter thrushes from Scandinavia and colder climates such as the fieldfare and redwing can be seen flying around in flocks looking for food such as berries.
February is a good time to visit estuaries as they are full of winter migrants such as geese, ducks, swans and waders, so why not visit one and take your binoculars and a bird book and see what is around!
The heron is a very large elegant bird and you may see their courtship dance by the male to attract the female. Herons build nests in groups of between 4 to 20 nests known as a heronry. Another bird that has a very impressive courtship display between the male and female is the great crested grebe. This includes head shaking, dancing where they both rear up out of the water facing each other and offering gifts of water weed and fish.
Even when the weather is milder keep your bird feeders full. The smaller birds particularly still need your help through this time as food is still pretty scarce. Have you tried making your own bird feeder and bird food? Look at the website for a great idea!
Frogs are coming out of their hiding places and moving to their breeding ponds. This is the time to look for the large clumps of frog spawn. Toad spawn can be seen later on but the difference is that toad spawn is in long strands and not clumps.
If you look at a badger sett you may notice that the old bedding is being replaced by new bedding as badgers prepare to have their cubs around February time. There can be between one and five cubs born at this time of year although it is most frequently two. The cubs at birth usually weigh around 100g (3½oz) and about 12cms (5 inches) long with a tail of about 3-4cm (1-1½) long.
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