as it’s the latter that triggers the switch-on of metabolism and their genetic footprint. All the animals that hibernate, whether partially o r fully, will begin to stir on the warmest of days, and some may even start to venture out, gathering up the cached food supplies that were judiciously hidden away in the Autumn. I’ve followed the personal lives of the Moorhen in Martyns Pond (by the bird-hide) and during my last visit in December, two adults were still busy feeding and fussing, as only Moorhen can. One of the tick boxes on my ‘is everything ok?’ checklist is written against this lovely little wader. The number of chicks (a) produced and (b) surviving is also a big factor. Ironically, if four survive it probably means we have fewer predators, but if none survive, we have too many! Two chicks are my happy medium I guess, but we must wait to see what we get. Often, the woodland walk will be dripping and damp, not ideal for most creatures, or us for that matter. But one interesting, often overlooked, part of the walk is down on the ground or living happily on the side of trees. Mosses and lichens are fascinating in their own way. Look on the north-facing sides of branches or the base of trees for some of the best examples. You may have to get down on your knees of course! Our more common resident birds, the Goldfinch and Chaffinch, will be busy building themselves up by picking the seeds from teasel and similar dead looking ‘weeds’, of which there are plenty on the reserve. They will be planning their nest-sites and weighing up the local talent before starting their courting phase. The general feel is that life is starting to, well, come to life once more. Often late in January, the snowdrop will shoot, with flowers appearing in abundance. The best place to see them is at the bottom of Pingle Wood. Another reason for my optimism about this month, is that wonderful satellite we call the moon. One of the names for January’s full moon is the ‘old’ moon. It’s never ‘blue’ by the way, that term describes a month when there are two full moons!
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