Ray Collier Country Diary- Wildlife in the winter in the Highlands
Wildlife in the winter in the Highlands - 3 November 2008
The ways that wildlife in the Highlands copes with the winter months depends on how bad the weather becomes. The dipper is a good example as these small, rotund water birds build their domed, bulky nests under bridges over rivers and wide burns. The pair that nest under one river bridge each year sometimes use one of the artificial nest boxes installed there. Intriguingly they sometimes ignore the boxes and built their own nest. Dippers feed mainly on insects and small fish so the food is there all the year round. Therefore they not only spend the winter along rivers and burns but also defend territories by singing between October and July. It is quite a melodious song and it seems strange to hear it during the winter when other birds are silent. If the river or burn partly freezes the dippers survive but if lengths get frozen over then the birds just move to the coast until the weather improves. In contrast there are two mammals and one bird that turns white so they blend in with the snow. Two, the ptarmigan and mountain hare, are found on higher ground and form part of the prey of golden eagles. The other mammal is the stoat and these can be found on the lower ground although they will hunt on higher ground on occasions. Not all the stoats in the Highlands turn white and at one time this was thought to be because the cold temperatures brought the change on. The cold does play a part but in the main it is hereditary so some stoats change to white whilst others stay brown. From tracking in the snow it has been shown that brown hares spend the day in the shelter of woodland and come out to graze at night. If the weather is severe the hares just stay in the woodland where they can dig for roots and debark trees. To a certain extent roe deer and sika deer do the same. Red deer have for a very long time been deer of open moorland but if the snow lies for a long time they will come to lower ground. All the other mammals in the strath are active throughout the winter apart from bats and hedgehogs. Even the hedgehogs will emerge if there is a mild spell any time in the winter and this can cause them problems. To wake up from hibernation takes a lot of energy and to replace it before the hedgehog goes back into hibernation is difficult. Most mammals in the Highlands such as badgers, foxes, red squirrels and pine martens store enough food to lie up and stop hunting for short periods if the weather is really bad. Even in winter most of these mammals prefer to move around at night so are difficult to see. Tracking in the snow reveals many of their secrets but conditions must be just right. The precise conditions may only occur two or three times each winter, sometimes not at all. Ideally the snow should fall just before it gets dark and form a two inch deep layer for the rest of the night with no more snow. This means that any mammals that venture forth and go on the ground are going to leave tracks. Probably the best book for identifying such tracks is "Animal Tracks and Signs" by Preben Bang and Preben Dahlstrom and Published in 2001 by Oxford University Press. Why not try tracking as you can find out so much more about the mammals in the Highlands?
The ways that wildlife in the Highlands copes with the winter months depends on how bad the weather becomes. The dipper is a good example as these small, rotund water birds build their domed, bulky nests under bridges over rivers and wide burns. The pair that nest under one river bridge each year sometimes use one of the artificial nest boxes installed there. Intriguingly they sometimes ignore the boxes and built their own nest. Dippers feed mainly on insects and small fish so the food is there all the year round. Therefore they not only spend the winter along rivers and burns but also defend territories by singing between October and July. It is quite a melodious song and it seems strange to hear it during the winter when other birds are silent. If the river or burn partly freezes the dippers survive but if lengths get frozen over then the birds just move to the coast until the weather improves. In contrast there are two mammals and one bird that turns white so they blend in with the snow. Two, the ptarmigan and mountain hare, are found on higher ground and form part of the prey of golden eagles. The other mammal is the stoat and these can be found on the lower ground although they will hunt on higher ground on occasions. Not all the stoats in the Highlands turn white and at one time this was thought to be because the cold temperatures brought the change on. The cold does play a part but in the main it is hereditary so some stoats change to white whilst others stay brown. From tracking in the snow it has been shown that brown hares spend the day in the shelter of woodland and come out to graze at night. If the weather is severe the hares just stay in the woodland where they can dig for roots and debark trees. To a certain extent roe deer and sika deer do the same. Red deer have for a very long time been deer of open moorland but if the snow lies for a long time they will come to lower ground. All the other mammals in the strath are active throughout the winter apart from bats and hedgehogs. Even the hedgehogs will emerge if there is a mild spell any time in the winter and this can cause them problems. To wake up from hibernation takes a lot of energy and to replace it before the hedgehog goes back into hibernation is difficult. Most mammals in the Highlands such as badgers, foxes, red squirrels and pine martens store enough food to lie up and stop hunting for short periods if the weather is really bad. Even in winter most of these mammals prefer to move around at night so are difficult to see. Tracking in the snow reveals many of their secrets but conditions must be just right. The precise conditions may only occur two or three times each winter, sometimes not at all. Ideally the snow should fall just before it gets dark and form a two inch deep layer for the rest of the night with no more snow. This means that any mammals that venture forth and go on the ground are going to leave tracks. Probably the best book for identifying such tracks is "Animal Tracks and Signs" by Preben Bang and Preben Dahlstrom and Published in 2001 by Oxford University Press. Why not try tracking as you can find out so much more about the mammals in the Highlands?
posted by Corinne @ 4:58 PM
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