Wildlife to spot in the depths of January
The winter solstice December 21st should mean that mornings get lighter from then on, but due to a phenomenon called Equation of Time which is to do with the Earth’s axis and orbit, it starts getting lighter in the evenings first, not the mornings, until about 8th January. After that daylight is more noticeable in the mornings and this is actually when birds make their first tentative tweets, the dawn chorus awakening. Certainly some of our volunteer Bio-recorders, who note what they observe in the meadows each month, can now hear more bird song. Blue tit, great tit, long tailed tit, blackbird, robin, wren, song thrush, goldfinch, chaffinch, redwing, magpie and crow have all been heard over the hum of the A14.
Birds with very high-pitched sounds such as treecreepers and goldcrests are more likely to be seen than heard and I was delighted to spot a pair of treecreepers this week. First, a single bird scuttled up a willow, as they characteristically do, on the flooded backwater and then on its downward flight it was joined in an energetic dance by a potential mate. Treecreepers often stick to one area and it’s possible generations of this family have lived here. If you stand on the Lark path and watch the mouth of Police Station ditch you may see them. At dusk, you may catch sight of a magnificent barn owl quartering No Mans Meadow. Whilst you are on bird watch, look out for fungi such as the bracket fungi pictured at Ram Meadow, including Turkey Tail & Ochre Bracket.
There isn’t much activity from insects at this time of year as they are cold-blooded, their bodies taking on the temperature of the surrounding environment, so they have to employ coping strategies if they don’t migrate to warmer parts of the world. They need the energy of the sun to warm their bodies so that they can function. Many of them therefore spend the winter as eggs, pupae, chrysalises or hibernating in soil and leaf litter. On sunny days you might see clouds of gnats on the wing, their translucent wings glittering in the sunlight. These are male winter gnat performing a courtship dance to attract females.
Hibernating ladybirds are easy to spot as they can be seen clustered together for warmth in the nooks and crannies of stonework on our Abbey ruins and in the recesses of the gravestones (the collective noun for ladybirds is a ‘loveliness’). They are even in our tool store, an old peeling shipping container, huddled on the inside of the door which faces south. Ivy is a good place to find hibernating ladybirds and other insects, as the leaves are evergreen and shiny which will reflect the sun. It is thought that gathering together is a way of fending off predators and it helps them find a mate when they warm up. Those spotted so far this winter are harlequin, 7 spot and 10 spot ladybirds. In fact ivy is a good plant all round, but much maligned; I will have a go at convincing you another time. Right now I am off out into the sunshine to warm up the body and find creatures to delight the senses.
Jillian Macready
BWMG trustee
