Food, ferns and finale!

A wall fern growing last autumn in Castle Street Cemetery, Hull. Photo by Shona Turnbull

January passes very quickly as far as our outlook on nature is concerned because we spend so much time indoors.
We hardly notice the few creatures that are about, struggling to find a meal or a drink.
Feeding birds, for example, and providing them with water is important, but if you do, please remember to feed them regularly as they come to depend on it throughout the winter.
The Welsh poet WH Davies summed it up nicely when he said: "What is this life if full of care? We have no time to stand and stare."
So why not take a break from your routine to stand and stare for an hour in the garden and take stock of what you have. There are always plants and shrubs that could do with pruning.
Whist I'm on about plants, I also want to mention urban ferns. They're interesting, honest!
Hull has some great sites for these living fossils. They were popular with Victorians who built special gardens to house their collections. Today, ferns such as Hart's Tongue, Rusty-Back and Maidenhair are easy to recognize on brick walls across the city.
Finally, I'm moving on to pastures new, so this is my last Nature column. I want therefore to say something about beetles - I love 'em so please be nice to them this year!
Bye and thanks for reading!