December is our final month of the year, when all you want to do is cuddle up by an open fire with warm slippers and a mug of mulled wine. But if you dare to drown yourself in coats and scarves and venture outside, there is still nature to be seen and heard. For winter is when the battle for survival is at its fiercest.
Foxes
© NTPL / Dietmar Nill
Foxes will be making their intentions loud and clear this month as their mating season ensues. Vixens (females) wail and scream, and dogs (males) bark to find mates across the landscape. They also become easier to spot as they search and flirt. There are more urban foxes now than ever, so chances of seeing and indeed hearing their displays are no longer confined to fields and hedgerows. Their cubs will be born next January / February.
Bats
Bats are in hibernation in caves, buildings and trees; cool, humid places with little temperature change. But they can occasionally still be seen during the winter months, if the temperature warms to raise them from their torpor they come out to hunt for food.
Birds
© www.northeastwildlife.co.uk
Look after your bird tables / feeders for our feathered friends at this chilly time. The numbers of birds using these human life lines is a good indication of wild bird food availability. If the harvest this year for berries and other food was good then there will be little attendance, but if bad you will see them flocking for anything you can lovingly offer. Please do not begrudge the squirrels a few nuts, winter is hard for them too, and their flit-tailed acrobatics are always great entertainment.
Robins continue to sing throughout the cold wintery months, and at the end of December romance is in the air as they begin to look for a mate. Birds are still flocking to keep warm, look out for buntings as they swirl and dive through the air.
Devon & Cornwall: Cubert
East of England: Blakeney NNR, Orford Ness NNR
Northern Ireland: Ballymacormick / Orlock
Trees/Plants
© NTPL / Nick Meers
♪ The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown ♫
This really is the time for evergreens to shine. When all other trees/plants are looking rather bare and lifeless, the hollies, pines, and mistletoes still radiate their green into the world. They await you at many Trust properties.
Yorkshire & North East: Ormesby Hall
East Midlands: Longshaw Estate
West Midlands: Ilam Park
Wales: Bodnant Garden
Wessex: Hidcote Manor Garden, Snowshill Manor, Stourhead
Thames & Solent: Brownsea Island, Buscot & Coleshill Estates
Devon & Cornwall: Knightshayes Court
East of England: Hatfield Forest, Wimpole Hall
South East: Winkworth Arboretum
For those buying real trees this festive season; when January comes and the decorations come down, please recycle your tree (and all that wrapping paper) and help create a sustainable Christmas.
Insects
© www.northeastwildlife.co.uk
Many insects die off as winter sets in, but a few have the ability to survive cold temperatures, some down to below -50ºC! Peacock and small tortoiseshell butterflies can be found hibernating in homes and sheds, and ladybirds congregate in large numbers for winter shelter. Those invertebrates lucky enough to inhabit dead leaf piles will remain active as the decomposing vegetation releases heat, often becoming welcome food for hungry birds. For other insects, the adults die off and the young survive as larvae, pupae, eggs or nymphs, preparing to explode into spring when warmth returns to the land.
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