Animal tracks in the snow

Birds

Garden feeders were still busy, concentrating birds in to a small area, an enticing gathering for hungry predators. Female Sparrowhawk

Female Sparrowhawk with Collared Dove

Another unexpected garden visitor which only terrorises ants was a green woodpecker which spent about half an hour digging out ant nests.

Green Woodpecker

My annual New Years Day bird count around the parish produced 44 species, and the total for the month was 56 species. A selection of the best birds include a female hen harrier on the 7th, kingfisher on the 24th, siskin on the 1st, lesser redpoll on the 28th and goldcrest on the 8th. Red kite and buzzard were regularly seen with a maximum of four red kites on the 22nd.

Insects

Insect activity was almost non existent, with the exception of a small tortoiseshell flying inside the house disturbed from hibernation, the only record was of a bumble bee on a very cold morning crawling over open flowers in the sun.

Mammals

Several species of mammal were recorded. Regular sightings were made of hare, muntjac deer and rabbit. Two foxes were seen on the 6th and numerous fresh mole hills. Mammal recording can be aided by looking for tracks especially in fresh mud and snow. See if you can name the following animal tracks. The answers are at the bottom of the page.

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Answers to animal tracks quiz above: picture 1 is of badger footprints, picture 2 shows rabbit tracks and the third picture shows the prints of a muntjac deer in the mud.