Rangers View - February
Hazel Catkins
February is when you see the characteristic hazel "catkins" hanging in the woods and hedgerows. Frequently there are cold spells this month and there is always the chance of some snow on the high ground. The evenings are noticeably becoming lighter by the day, which allows the birds and animals more time to forage for food in daylight. However, it equally allows more day light for them to be predated on by foxes and birds of prey.
Lambs
Traditionally, for farmers, this month is the “Lambing Month”. It can be a hard time for livestock owners with these wet and cold conditions and it pays them not to overstock their fields. In areas where they do, the poached ground becomes covered in thistles and docks later in the year, which is no good for grazing. At this time of year because the grass does not grow quickly the animal’s diet needs to be supplemented with hay. Also ice has to be broken to allow animals to drink from their troughs and salt licks need to be readily available.
Green Hellebore
Farmers can help conservation by not spreading manure when the fields are waterlogged or frozen because this increases the chances of pollution to the neighbouring watercourses. Any rolling or harrowing of grasslands should be carried out when the weather is fine and before mid-March to prevent disturbing ground-nesting birds like Lapwing.
Up on the Downs there will be cold pockets hanging on and even the possibility of snow. This time of year, the Downs are at their quietest with the majority of the plants being dormant. A rare but native plant to the Downs is the elusive Green Hellebore (Helleborus viridis), being found in only a few locations. This plant can be found in flower between the end of January until March.
Primroses
In the woods this month, you may hear a noisy squeaking commotion in a tree above you. It will most probably be a pair of Grey Squirrels. They chase each other from tree to tree as part of their courtship.
There is a variety of flowers to see this month in the woods like the primroses, Lesser Celandine and Hazel. Hazel (Corylus avellana) has the country name of “Lamb’s-tails” at this time of year because the male flowers resemble lamb’s tails. Hazel has long been used for thousands of years and has been cut during the winter months. The poles cut from hazel are very versatile in that they can be split lengthways, and then twisted and bent into sharp angles and even tied into knots. These properties have made it invaluable for house building in the form of wattle panels for walls and thatching spars for roofs and wattle fence hurdles for gardens and fields.
Snowy Gorse
The poles make good pea and bean sticks and many poles are cut and made into walking sticks. Areas where hazel is grown in blocks and cut for poles in rotation are known as coppice woodlands and the term used for cutting the poles and then letting them re-grow is known as coppicing. There are many conservation benefits with coppicing because it allows a wide variety of transitional habitats to exist, allowing many flowers like bluebells, primroses and violets to take advantage of the extra light in the spring where the poles have been cut. Insects like the Pearl bordered Fritillary Butterfly are attracted to the flowers to feed on the nectar and lay eggs on the violet leaves for their caterpillars to feed on. The opened up areas attract birds like the Nightjar to nest and feed in and where coppice has been left to mature, this makes the perfect habitat for the elusive Dormouse.
During medieval times, primroses (Primula vulgaris) were collected to make an ointment. The leaves were boiled with lard and used to treat cuts and wounds. Later in the year, on May Day, bunches of primroses were laid on the floor of cattle sheds to protect the cattle from witches. This was because witches were believed to be more active at the beginning of May than any other time of the year. There are two forms of primrose to look out for, those with the stamen at the top of the flower known as “pin-eyed” and the other with the stamen at the bottom of the flower known as “thrum-eyed”. This clever piece of evolution enables the primroses to be pollinated by a variety of insects at this time of year when there are not many insects around.
The Common Frog
On the heaths, keep an eye out for the deep yellow Gorse flowers, Ulex europeaus. Although the Gorse is in bloom all year round, it again gives some colour in what appears a dark colourless month. If you have never noticed before, the gorse gives an uncanny smell that resembles coconut. This smell attracts those insects foraging for food that dare venture out in these cold conditions.
In our wetter areas this month from mid-February to early March you may hear the croaking of the mating Common Toad in the evenings. Towards the middle of this month, here in the south, frogs and toads will be gathering at ponds to breed. The Common Frog (Rana temporaria) can be variable in colour but usually a greenish brown or olive. The male has large swellings on his first finger, which he uses at this time to hold to a female when mating. During the evenings if you live close to a pond you may hear the faint croaking sound the males make during the mating season.
Frogspawn
The Common Toad (Bufo bufo) is easily distinguished from the Common Frog because of its warty olive-brown skin and its inclination to walk rather than hop. Croaking is important for the male toad in that the deeper the croaking sound generally means the larger the male toad. This is important to know for a young male toad if he is to survive fighting off rival toads wanting to breed with a female. The larger the male then the better chance it has with successfully mating with a female toad. Sadly because of the strong urge to mate many male toads will fight over one female in a wild frenzied melee often ending in the female drowning. Another problem is that the urge to mate at the same spawning ground can end in numerous toad deaths on our roads. Thankfully in some places like Wiston and Petworth "Toad Crossings" have been permanently constructed to protect their safe passage.
Snowdrops
The meadows have still not come to life but in the garden at this time of year flowers such as Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) are starting to emerge. One of its country names is “Snow Piercer” because it is one of the first flowers to emerge through the snow. The Snowdrop has green spotted inner petals that secrete nectar to entice early flying bees. The bees brush against the female “stigma” and the pollen sticks to the bees, just enough to be carried to the next snowdrop where most of the pollen drops off and pollinates it. The name “Galanthus” stems from two Greek words “milk” and “flower”. The origin of the Snowdrop is not certain, there is a question as to whether it is native because it only first appeared in this county's plant records during the eighteenth century. In the garden, you may be seeing a variety of birds especially if you are feeding them at the bird table. House Sparrows, Titmice, Finches, Thrushes and a lot more can easily be seen if you are feeding them.
Snowy Path
This month look out for butterflies like the Brimstone, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and the Red Admiral. The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is a migrant but they are more frequently over-wintering as a butterfly and taking shelter in garden sheds just to come out again on warm sunny days. They are attracted to the early flowers especially those that have strong smells.
Next Month is March and I’ll talk about the countryside coming alive with colour and sound so until then have a good time searching for wild life.
.jpg)
