WT Wildlife watch spring 2016 v2

Samaya

Super wildlife observer

Samaya (age 10) showed her love of nature by writing a lovely poem and drawing an amazing wildlife scene – brilliant work, well done!

Cheeky squirrel poem Look up into that oak tree

Registered charity no: 1000412

Spring 2016 edition

Where a squirrel is sitting happily Eating a walnut in warm chocolate sauce And he can see a hedgehog napping merrily Then sun sets with its lovely colours And off he goes to rest his tired eyes Then he sleeps until dawn first breaks

What to do in... What to do in... What to do in...

When the birds first sing their merry tunes And then the squirrel will awaken from his heavy sleep

March

New Year to Wildlife

Watchers

everywhere!

All ready for the day ahead

Identify the first chiffchaff of the year, spot boxing hare and look out for frogspawn.

Happy

At this time of year you may be itching to get outdoors after spending the winter snuggled up at home. The Wildlife Trust BCN has 20 wildlife groups for children and young people and everyone is invited! Just visit our website and find out which group is nearest to you, we would be very happy to see you. By attending one of our fantastic groups you can discover what lurks in the murky depths of a pond, go on a bug safari and see what swishes about in the long grass, detect bats or go mammal tracking. These are just a few examples of some of the engaging and exciting things that Watch groups get up to. Just contact the registered Watch leader and go along!

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April Listen out for cuckoos, visit a bluebell wood and spot slow worms.

✓ May Go on a bug hunt, identify some wildflowers and listen out for nightingales.

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With a smile upon that cheeky face

Get in touch @

Awesome owls

✉☎

Send in your letters, drawings, poems and bad jokes to us at Wildlife Watch!

FAO: Amanda Brookes, Peterborough Office The Wildlife Trust BCN, Bug House, Ham Lane, Orton Waterville, Peterborough, PE2 5UU Tel: 01733 687515 Email: watch@wildlifebcn.org Bedfordshire Office Priory Country Park Barkers Lane Bedford, MK41 9DJ Tel: 01234 364213

Amanda Brookes, Wildlife Watch Officer

Cambridgeshire Office The Manor House Broad Street Great Cambourne Cambridge, CB23 6DH Tel: 01954 713500

Northampton Office Lings House Billing Lings Northampton, NN3 8BE Tel: 01604 405285

Sending a photograph?

Please ask your parent or guardian to signand print their name and address on the back.

Designed by Jamie Bello. Edited by Amanda Brookes. Cover image by Margaret Holland.

The ‘to-wit-to-woo’ cry of the tawny owl is probably one of the most recognisable bird calls and conjures up images of a countryside or woodland at night. You may have been fortunate enough to see an owl – getting a glimpse of one of these magnificent birds of prey in their natural habitat is an amazing thing! Owls can be found all over the world, living in temperate and tropical areas and there are five types of owl which live in the UK. Can you name them? Discover the secretive world of owls here!

Britain’s got «

T lons www.wildlifebcn.org

Barn owl

«

Britain’s got

T lons

Tawny owl

If you want to see an owl, barn owls are the easiest to spot. They live all over the UK and often live in trees close to large fields, where they hunt for voles, mice and shrews. They are active during the day, but twilight (just before dark) offers the best chance of a glimpse of a barn owl.

They have excellent eyesight and supersoft feathers to enable silent gliding over farmland to sneak up on food. Also, they shriek rather than hoot!

The famous tawny owl song ‘to-wit-to-woo’ is not a solo performed by one bird, but a duet performed by two! This is a call from a female, which starts with the ‘to-wit’, to a male which answers with a ‘to-woo’. They also make a ‘keewik’ sound. They are the UK’s most common and largest owl, but are very difficult to spot for two reasons. The first is because they are very well camouflaged, their feathers are similar to the colour of tree bark which allows them to blend into their surroundings. So when they are sitting very still in a tree they are almost invisible! The second is that they are most active at night (nocturnal), when they catch rodents, small mammals and even frogs for prey.

Image by Bob Coyle

Image by Richard Hanson

Barn owl

Image by Mike Snelle

Image by Stefan Johansson

Image by Mike Snelle

Little owls tend to live near farmland where there are old barns and hollow trees for them to nest in. They can be seen during the day perched on fence posts and will bob their heads when startled. Little owls love chomping on beetles, earthworms and small mammals. Listen out for one, they make a ‘kiew’ or ‘werrow’ sound.

Long-eared owl Although these owls have ears, they don’t actually have long ones! The sticky-up bits that look like ears on top of the owl’s head are actually feathers, which stand up when the owl is alarmed. Long-eared owls live in the UK throughout the year, but some migrate over from Europe during the winter and some birds from the north of the UK migrate down south. The combination of these owls being secretive and nocturnal makes them very difficult to see. In the summer they hunt small mammals and can take small birds in the winter.

Image by K Lunham

Little owl

Short-eared owl

Make a pine cone owl

These owls hunt their favourite food – voles, during the day and can be seen frequently hunting during the late afternoon. In our region we are very lucky to have short-eared owls visiting the Great Fen during the winter months. They have long thin wings and nest on the ground in scraped out hollows, which they line with soft feathers and grass.

You could make your very own owl! It is up to you what your owl looks like, you might like to make a colourful owl of your own design, or perhaps copy the colours of one of our five species of owl. All you need is: • 1 pine cone • Glue • 2 small pipe cleaners

Amazing facts

• Felt or other scrap material

« Snowy owls used to breed in the far north of Scotland, but are

•S cissors and a grown-up to help with the cutting out

« Not all owls are nocturnal. « In Greek mythology, Athene, the Greek goddess of wisdom

• Wiggly eyes

now a rare winter visitor.

carried a little owl. This is probably where the term ‘wise old owl’ comes from.

« Barn owls have one ear higher than the other. This helps them to work out exactly where very quiet sounds are coming from.

wl detectives You have probably gathered that it can be quite difficult to catch a glimpse of an owl, so you might need to do some detecting to find out whether one is around. As well as listening out for their calls you can also look for owl pellets. When owls eat their prey they swallow the lot in one go (they don’t have teeth so can’t chew it!). Some parts of the prey’s body are impossible for the bird to digest, like the bones, claws, beaks, feathers, fur and beetle cases for example. They need to get rid of these bits and pieces and do this by producing a dry pellet which the owl spits out of its mouth.

Ornithologists (bird experts) can use owl pellets to identify which owls are living in an area, how often then hunt and which food chain the owl belongs to.

1. S tart by drawing a face shape on some felt.

You can use whatever colour you like!

Cut out two circles for eyes.

2. G lue some wiggly eyes on to the round circles and then glue the round circles on to the face.

3. N ext cut out a beak shape and glue this on to the face.

4. Glue the whole face on to the cone.

5. H old one of the pipe cleaners and bend it in half.

Twist the other two ends together to make claws.

Attach this to the bottom of the cone. Repeat with the other pipe cleaner.