EnglishFantastic February
On the 1st of February Candlemas or the Festival of Imbolc is celebrated. This honours the passing of winter and the return of spring. February is so exciting as it is all about change with lengthening days, milder weather and animals and plants becoming more active.
The vegetation is still quite sparse, so spotting animals is relatively easy especially when it involves small creatures like stoats and wood mice. Male stoats become very active during February securing territories and looking for mates while the females are kept busy searching for potential den sites in which to have their young (called kits). The breeding season of the tiny brown wood mouse is between February and October These creatures can produce litters of four to eight up to six times in one year. It’s just as well they do as most mice die within their first year!
Female foxes are pregnant and towards the end of the month start to look for a den or earth to give birth in. Badgers on the other hand are both breeding and having cubs These cubs will emerge from their setts in late spring and early summer when the weather is warm, and food is abundant. They are one of the few mammals that can conceive while pregnant which is why February is still their breeding season. The resulting embryos remain in the mother until the following winter.
Some of our mammals such as hedgehogs and bats are still in hibernation. Mild weather may waken them so in the case of the hedgehog it is advisable to continue to provide food and bedding for them. If it becomes cold again, both animals will return to their hibernating state.
The 14th of February is the start of National Nest Box Week when nest boxes are inspected and cleaned, and new ones put up if required. And great news the birds begin to sing! The Robin is one ofthe most prolific songsters in February. They are extremely persistent especially at dawn and dusk when competition for territories is at the highest. Great tits too are singing very energetically and the more versions of a song the male can produce the more attractive he is to females! Other birdsongs to listen out for are from chaffinches, goldfinches, greenfinches, coal tits, blue tits, long tail tits, dunnocks, wrens, song thrushes, blackbirds, collared doves, rooks and jackdaws. All this is weather dependent as sunny days encourages them to sing while cold weather and winds will reduce their singing.
It is also a good month to watch lapwings perform their aerial displays, to listen to woodpeckers drumming on trees to attract a mate and to spot if you are very lucky short eared owls and peregrine falcons.
Male grey herons are starting to create nests. These large untidy structures are made from twigs and are situated in colonies on top of trees. This is called a Herony. The better the nest the more this will attract females. One brood of three to five eggs will be laid and these will hatch in March and April.
February is the month that great crested grebes are in breeding plumage and are beginning to pair up. Keen to impress, their plumage becomes colourful with a frill of chestnut and black tipped feathers surrounding their white faces. Their courtship is very elaborate. Another ‘must see’ is the large murmuration of starlings (thousands) which can now be observed on Belfast’s Albert Bridge. Their numbers have increased thanks to conservationists who lobbied to reduce the lighting in this area You can of course see smaller murmuration’s in many parts of Northern Ireland.
If the weather is reasonable frogs will begin to emerge from hibernation and their frogspawn can be spotted in shallow ponds, ditches and even puddles. The earliest sighting of frogspawn in 2023 was from the Isles of Scilly on 23 December. Just in time for Christmas! Slugs and snails two of their prey will emerge in favourable weather as well.
On a sunny day Buff- tailed Bumblebees can be seen flying. They are attracted to nectar from early flowers like crocuses, daffodils and gorse as well as the blossom on trees. They will also be looking for somewhere to start a hive. If the weather is very mild it may be possible to see small tortoiseshell butterflies, peacock butterflies and red admiral butterflies all of which have over wintered in places like garages, sheds and hollow trees. This early emergence happened in 2019 in England when temperatures reached an astonishing 21 degrees in the last week of February and all three species were on the wing.
Because of climate unpredictability wildflowers such as gorse, lesser celandines, coltsfoot, anemones and primroses are flowering earlier. Hazel and Alder Catkins hang from trees and start to produce pollen. If the winter has been mild the beautiful flowers of the Saucer Magnolia and the Silver Maple can be out even in February and not their usual time of March.
It is well worth visiting the RSPB Belfast’s Window on Wildlife. This is home to wildlife from ducks like teal to Polish Konik Ponies.
So, if you can see February as the month when positive changes are occurring then that cold wind and biting rain won’t seem so bad and oh yes on St Valentines day fancy hen breeds are supposed to start laying again after their winter break! Two of mine couldn’t wait and started in early January!
ANIMAL OF THE MONTH: COMMON OR GRASS FROG.
Frogs are wonderful animals They are amphibians and are cold blooded meaning that their bodies become hotter or colder depending on the temperature outside. They live in places like woodland, gardens, wet grasslands and hedgerows and are mainly brown to an olive-green colour although this will vary as they can lighten and darken their skin to match their surroundings. Occasionally albino frogs have been found with yellow skin and red eyes.
Unlike toads which have a warty skin the frog’s skin is smooth and appears wet even when they are out of water. They breathe through this thin skin and through the lining in their mouth. Their eyes are brown, and their field of vision is larger than humans due to their eyes been situated on the top and sides of the head. They have inner eyelids to protect them when underwater. They also have very long legs which are just made for hoping!
Frogs are carnivorous and are mostly active at night hunting for creatures like flies, slugs, snails, worms, spiders and even devouring smaller amphibians They use their long sticky tongue to catch their prey and after the prey is in its mouth the frog’s eyeballs retract into its head pushing the food down and enabling the frog to swallow.
They will hibernate in autumn in mud at the bottom of ponds, in log and stone piles, in compost heaps and under leafy vegetation.
Female frogs are larger than the males When they come out of hibernation in late February the males will attract the females by a deep purring croak. They will often return to areas where they have spawned in previous years The eggs are laid in clusters and are small black dots encased in jelly. This frogspawn is made up of approximately 99.7% water. Two thousand can be in one
single clump and it will take three weeks for the tadpoles to emerge. At first, they are a black coma shape and will cling to the jelly but after a few days they develop feathery gills and can swim. They now eat algae. As they mature the external gills disappear, internal gills form and they feed on aquatic plants. By the end of this stage, they become carnivores and will even eat other tadpoles. They are quite large now and are no longer black but have a brownish colouration speckled with gold. As well as developing prominent eyes, the most noticeable change is the emergence of the hind legs which are followed by the front legs. The body of the tadpole becomes noticeably smaller and slimmer now and its mouth changes into the wide mouth of the frog. Once the tail is mostly reabsorbed, these froglets climb out of the water and spend a lot of their time on land hunting in damp earthy areas. From egg to froglet takes approximately 16 weeks. Only 1 percent will make it to adulthood.
Over the past years frog numbers have declined. The loss of breeding habitat through the construction of roads and buildings is a big factor. Predators such as foxes, hedgehogs, herons, cats and yes even pine martens will kill and eat them. Sometimes if disturbed the frog will let out a shrill noise which is their natural defence reaction. Unfortunately, lately a virus called Ranavirus has wiped out large numbers of frogs. To stop the spread of this disease authorities have now recommended that people should not collect frogspawn and transport it to other habitats.
To understand better the effects of such things as weather and climate change on wildlife why not join the Nature Calendar, a project started by the Woodland Trust which oversees collection of data recorded by members of the public. You can record for instance when you spotted your first butterfly of the year, or frogspawn or the first cuckoo you heard. Visit their website for more information.
Fantastic February and Animal of the Month by Maureen Graham