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Down on the farm

	Farms around the UK are a great day out for all the family, and with a wide range of activities on offer. There's something for everyone, even in winter. Try your hand at bird watching, go on a creepy crawly hunt or take a country walk.
Down on the farm - fun activities for the whole family. Photo - Gigrin Farm.

Many farms have additional features like orchards and wild walks to enjoy, and if they're not already signposted ask the owner if he/she can recommend an activity.

Why not take a few tips from the Nature's Calendar team as we get close to wildlife with activities that the whole family can participate in.

Wildlife watching

Wildlife watching in farmland areas is relatively easy due to the open nature of the habitat - as soon as anything moves it can be easily seen.

Some animals, like the Brown Hares at Buckenham Farm, are easily startled when people try and approach, so a good tip is to pull up on an adjacent road in your car, which you can use as a hide.

Animals like rabbits and hares are used to cars passing and so will be less likely to startle and run away.

Animals aside, there are lots of things you can learn about the types of plants that grow in farmland areas.

Many farms offer organised walks that take in all the different types of plants and flowers which grow there.

Take a good identification guide and collect samples as you go, being careful not to pick any plant or flower which is rare or protected.

If you have children with you, you could even take some wild flowers to press between the pages of a large book, or collect fallen leaves to make colourful leaf prints with poster paints when you get home.

Woodland pursuits

Orchards provide great opportunities for finding out more about wildlife. If you're quiet and still, you can sometimes see large groups of birds feeding on the orchard floor.

Try standing quietly behind or leaning against a nearby tree, which breaks up your silhouette and allows you to observe quietly without disturbing feeding.

If you're more interested in plant life, take a good identification guide with pictures of the different types of leaves and bark of all the trees you might find.

Children will love to try bark rubbing - simply hold a sheet of paper over the tree and gently rub over with a wax crayon or a piece of charcoal.

Another fun activity is finding out the age of a tree, which you can do in one of two ways.

* Measure around the trunk with a piece of piece of string, starting about five feet up from the base and avoiding anything which is sticking out.

* Once you've measured the tree, hold the piece of string up against a ruler or measuring tape to find out how long it is (in centimetres).

* All you have to do now is divide this measurement by 2.5, which will give you its approximate age - every 2.5cm girth is about one year's growth.

If there are any tree stumps where a tree has been cut down, you could also do the ring test - count the rings on the cross-section to find out the age of the tree.

You could also do a tree canopy test to see what types of insects live there.

* Take a large piece of paper or an old sheet and lay it on the floor under the tree, then use a long stick to gently shake one of the branches.

* Again, you may need a good identification guide to find out the different species which landed on the paper or sheet.

Creepy crawly hunt

Another great way to look at creepy crawlies is to look at the leaf litter on the orchard floor.

Try turning over stones or large leaves to see what could be hiding underneath, but remember to put things back as you found them.

You could even build a pitfall trap by placing a yoghurt pot in a small hole in the ground, ensuring the top is level with the soil surface.

Cover with a large flat stone or a piece of wood, making sure to leave some gaps so that any insects can crawl through, and leave for a while before checking to see what's in there.

And finally, why not take a tip from the birds and help prolong the spread of Mistletoe by squeezing the white berries and smearing their sticky remains onto another tree?

Be careful though - while berries are perfectly safe for birds to eat they can be poisonous to humans so always wash your hands after touching them.

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