Warm winter weather disrupts flora and fauna: snowdrops and singing blackbirds in January

A new ‘January record’ was measured last week. It has never been so warm on the first day of the new year. The old day record of a year earlier (13.2 degrees) was more than broken this year with 15.6 degrees. The warm temperatures have all kinds of different consequences. As it turned out yesterday in Den Helder, where an ice skating rink is closed due to the warm weather, among other things.

Snowdrops in January

Rien (26) is a forest ranger and is walking through Buitenplaats Elswout today, where he also clearly sees the consequences of the warm weather in nature: “Here in Elswout, for example, the snowdrops are already coming up with their heads. Something that normally only happens at the end of February .” The forester explains that the rhythm of nature is based on the characteristics of each season. Where the great tits and blackbirds usually only start chirping in the spring, you can already hear them chirping happily.

According to Rien, the warm winter days do not have a direct problem for nature, apart from the fact that it is seriously disturbed. It is especially the changes in (extreme) temperatures that can be dangerous. As an example, he gives the bat, which hibernates around this time of year. “At temperatures around 16 degrees, the bat will wake up and look for food. If it suddenly freezes in a few weeks, there is a good chance that there will be few insects and therefore not enough food for the bat.”

Insect population not up to standard

The limited food supply is a problem that also affects hedgehogs, says Dickie van Riemsdijk (66). As chairman of the Hedgehog Sanctuary Haarlem, she has seen a remarkably high number of weakened hedgehogs in her shelter in recent weeks. “They don’t weigh enough to safely go into hibernation. Due to the warm weather, the insect population is not up to standard and that means no food for hedgehogs.”

For example, Dickie says that a hedgehog of 230 grams arrived last week, where around this time of the year it should be between 500-600 grams. “Hedgehogs need a certain percentage of fat to go into hibernation, otherwise they just won’t wake up.” Dickie does have a tip for people with a garden: “To provide the hedgehog with some extra food during these warm winter days, you can put a bowl of cat food (no fish flavor) in the garden.”

Climate change

Will the warm winter works become the new normal? We ask Jan Visser, NH Radio weatherman. According to Jan, the warm winter days have been a phenomenon for years and are a result of climate change: “That is beyond dispute and you can no longer deny it.” Jan calls the current climate change ‘erratic’. According to him, temperatures continue to rise and the climate is also becoming more extreme. “Of course I’m worried, we’re on a fast moving train that we don’t know if and when it will stop.”

As it stands now, the warm winter days will not have catastrophic consequences for nature and animal welfare in the short term. “Current forecasts predict that both January and February will be soft months. There are no concrete changes that February will be completely different.”