KEEP an eye out at night for the barn owl – easier to see in winter as there is less foliage. Barn owls are mostly found in the south and midlands. They like to breed in farm buildings and will use special bird boxes. Avoid using rodenticides, as these are fatal for owls.

Buildings and walls

Woodlice (also known as slaters, clocks, pigs or penny-pigs) are often found in dampish areas. Woodlice play a crucial role in helping to decompose dead and decaying plant matter and wood – a key part of the nutrient cycle!

Garden or farmyard

Leaves, dried stems, seed heads and fallen branches all provide winter cover for useful predatory insects, as well as other wildlife. Rather than burning, pile vegetation into a wildlife hotel and allow it to rot down naturally over the winter. Take care not to disturb hibernating wildlife in the corners of sheds or under vegetation!

Hedgerows

In late winter, the ivy berries provide a food source for the birds right through hungry gaps until March or even April. Ivy provides precious shelter for hibernating butterflies and other insects. It gives some small birds a place to huddle together to keep warm on winter nights and helps them survive until spring (e.g. long-tailed tits, wrens). Ivy can be left on trees, except where there could be safety issues – along roads, close to houses. Managing ivy by trimming it back occasionally from the crowns of trees may be the best option.

Bogs

Peat moss harvested from our bogs is a precious resource that takes thousands of years to form. Short-lived Christmas poinsettias (with their festive green and red foliage) and other decorative Christmas plants are sometimes grown in peatmoss. These are often binned (precious peatmoss and all) straight after the festive season, so avoid buying if possible!

The tiny wren

Many things are associated with the festive side of this month, like robin redbreasts, holly with its red berries and the wren. The tiny wren has a loud call and it is often seen jumping amongst the undergrowth and ivy looking for food, with its distinctive tail feathers peaked high.

Hill pasture

Bare-branched trees are standing starkly on Irish hillsides. Despite their deadened appearance, as the rain falls, these trees gently hold soils in place with their far-reaching roots. Irish hillsides were historically clothed in stands of such trees – is there somewhere on the farm that a few more trees could help to reduce erosion?

Pasture, meadows and field margins

The end of the year often brings memories of past Christmases – what did nature look like in your townland for previous generations? Often the Irish names of townlands offer clues.

Words relating to forests make up 20% of Irish place names. For example, the Irish word doire (derry) means ‘oakwood’, while around 8% of Irish place names reflect an agricultural past, for example including words for meadows or rough pasture.

Ponds

If you have a pond on your land, floating something like a ball or piece of wood on it will keep it unfrozen for longer, giving wildlife an open water supply in any freeze over.

Floating a piece of wood will also help keep drinking troughs and storage tanks ice free. Installing stop valves and draining water pipes when not in use can also help prevent water pipes from cracking in icy weather.

On bigger water storage tanks, having a wildlife escape ladder (a piece of rough wood or rope) may enable trapped wildlife to get out and thus prevent the water from being polluted.

Streams and rivers

Watch out for the snow white plumage of the little egret, as it hunts in shallow waters. Little egrets were once hunted for their plumage, their elegant feathers thought to be just the thing for ladies’ hats!

Wet or rough ground

It’s mating season for foxes! Beginning in December, the howls and barks of foxes punctuate the quiet on crisp, clear nights. Rough ground with some scruffy scrub can provide a great place for foxes to rear their cubs.

As dusk falls, keep an eye out for starling murmurations that occasionally form over the woodlands and wetlands.

Woods

Any time over the next three months is a good time to plant bareroot trees, while they are dormant.

It is a good time to assess what deadwood you have.

Try to source – or grow from seed! – local, native trees, as these are generally more suited to the area and the resident wildlife.

Plant your trees in pockets, strategically situated around the farm – by doing so, you may be able to gain additional benefits for your livestock (shelter, shade) and for the health of the soil and water on your land.

Before planting, think about fencing needs – you may need to protect your trees against livestock or wildlife – see our best practice guides for more information.

Standing deadwood provides important nesting sites for hole-nesting birds and some insects (solitary bees etc.). Dead wood in semi-shaded conditions is good for fungi and invertebrates. Standing deadwood rots from the inside out and lying dead wood from the outside in, and so each support different types of life.

Climate resilience in winter

As the weather becomes less predictable, what steps can you take to build climate resilience on your farm? Nothing beats nature for natural resilience to climate change: boosting biodiversity, from the soil to the tree-tops, will help your farming system to remain productive in the face of increasingly unpredictable weather events.

Pollinators

Fruit and nut trees can be great sources of food for pollinating insects... and for us! It’s a good time of year to source some bareroot fruit and nut trees and plant a small orchard in a sunny spot on the farm.

Choose heritage varieties where you can, as these have evolved to thrive in our landscape, without the need for harmful chemicals. Once established, apple trees can continue to bear fruit for half a century!

Water quality

Feeding livestock outside in winter can result in poached areas or ‘sacrifice paddocks’. This can pose a risk to water quality as nutrients and sediment can build up and then be carried into nearby water bodies after heavy rain.

Farming For Nature is a non-profit initiative whose mission is to support, encourage and inspire farmers who farm, or who wish to farm, in a way that will improve the natural health of our countryside.