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Grey squirrel kitten taken by Prof Ian Rotherham. However, it has to be said that the youngsters still look very endearing even for a non-native, alien, invasive species! Of course for many people the grey squirrel is the only one that they have ever known. In the old days, gamekeepers, park keepers, and foresters all regarded the grey as a ‘tree rat’ and vermin to be shot on sight and their dreys to be ruthlessly destroyed. With the onset of winter approaching, grey squirrels will have added leaves as insulation to their winter nests or dreys. The female squirrel has earlier built a summer drey for herself and her youngsters; generally a rough ball of twigs and leaves with moss, feathers, and vegetation as a lining. This is often in a tree-hollow or perhaps in a tree fork either in the trunk or between higher branches. Insulation in the winter nest helps the squirrels see out any cold snap or other adverse weather. In the UK, grey squirrels don’t hibernate and so will r ....
A female blackcap, by Ian Rotherham Winter blackcap is a welcome visitor. However, there are two species, the blackcap and the chiffchaff, which are increasingly resident year round. This is a trend going back to the 1970s but certainly increasing with recent milder winters.Warblers tend to feed on small invertebrates like insects and soft fruit such as berries; and so harsh winters are not to their liking. In colder weather these overwintering birds will come to gardens and add welcome diversity to the usual visitors. I have had chiffchaff visit in previous winters but it didn’t stay for long. ....
By Ian D. Rotherham, Professor of Environmental Geography and Reader in Tourism and Environmental Change, Sheffield Hallam University. Originally published at The Conversation. Bogs, mires, fens and marshes – just their names seem to conjure myth and mystery. Though today, our interest in these waterlogged landscapes tends to be more prosaic. Because of a lack of oxygen, they can build up vast quantities of organic matter that doesn’t decompose properly. This is known as peat. Peatlands could contain as much as 644 gigatons of carbon – one-fifth of all the carbon stored in soil on Earth. Not bad for a habitat that stakes a claim to just 3% of the planet’s land surface. ....