Nov/Dec wildlife sightings from a garden in Annan

Nov/Dec have been very quiet months for wildlife in the garden. Obviously the atrocious weather has greatly influenced sightings. Even sightings of birds have been down - and often only seen at the beginning and end of the day when they were feeding.

Monthly max - for Nov/Dec:

Blackbird - 2m 2f

Blue tit - 3

Carrion crow - 5

Chaffinch - 2m 2f

Coal tit - 2

Dunnock - 2

Geese - 100 flying over

Goldfinch - 2

Great tit - 2

House sparrow - 35m 15f

Jackdaw - 3

Kestrel - 1

Robin - 2

Song thrush - 3

Starling - 100

Wood pigeon - 2

Wren - 2

January is also the time for the Big Garden Birdwatch with RSPB. It takes just an hour and is suitable for all ages and abilities. More than half a million people across the UK will take part in the survey by counting the birds in their garden, for 1 hour, over the weekend of 30-31 January. They will also make a record of any other wildlife they see throughout the year. 

Request a free Big Garden Birdwatch pack from the RSPB.

 

DGERC have issued their first "species to look out for" bulletin of the year.

The Dumfries and Galloway Environmental Resources Centre (DGERC) is the local records centre for our region. It acts as a focal point for environmental information in Dumfries and Galloway. Established in 2004, the Centre collates, manages and disseminates information on the flora, fauna, geology and other aspects of Dumfries and Galloway's natural environment to interested individuals, communities and organisations and promotes and encourages biological recording in the region.

For Jan they are looking for records of Scarlet/Ruby Elfcup and the Mountain Hare in particular, but welcome other records too.

Scarlet Elfcup Sarcoscypha austriaca and Ruby Elfcup S. coccinea produce bright red cup-shaped fungi on dead twigs and branches (often mossy ones), typically measuring 2-7cm across and appearing from January through to early spring. Similar looking species include Orange Peel fungus Aleuria aurantia whose fruiting bodies are orange in colour rather than red.

 

 

Whilst its close cousin the Brown Hare was probably introduced into Britain during Roman times, the Mountain Hare Lepus timidus has been present in the UK for over 100,000 years. Mountain Hares are smaller and more compact than the commoner Brown Hare, and have an all-white tail and greyer fur which sometimes turns white in the winter.

 

 

Thanks to DGERC website for photos and information.

See dgerc.org.uk for more details about DGERC and record keeping.