Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust: Get involved in the Twelve Days Wild festive nature challenge

Christmas clearly means different things to different people, writes Erin McDaid of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.

For many, it has profound religious and spiritual meaning, for others, it’s time for family and friends, while a proportion of folk see it as nothing more than a commercialised nightmare and something to be avoided.

Whatever your personal take on Christmas, here in the UK, there’s no escaping the fact that it comes slap-bang in the middle of winter — when many of us are struggling due to the combined effect of dark days and cold, wet weather.

The timing of the celebrations is believed to be linked to ancient mid-winter festivals designed to break the monotony with a bit of organised, restorative glutony and to look forward to brighter and warmer times ahead.

With this in mind, The Wildlife Trusts use the time over Christmas and New Year to celebrate nature and encourage people to connect with the wildlife all around.

Twelve Days Wild is our festive nature challenge, which encourages everyone to do one wild thing a day from December 25 through to January 5.

In those often quiet days between Christmas and New Year, a wealth of winter wildlife is out there waiting to be explored.

As well as getting out to see wildlife and wild places, your wild acts could be little things designed to help nature — such as recycling your Christmas tree and feeding the birds or simply finding new ways to connect to the natural world, like taking in the calm of stargazing on a crisp, clear evening.

For even wilder days and adventure-filled nights, you can join Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s festive challenge — choosing to do one wild thing every day or night.

With just 12 days to fill, you are spoilt for choice as to what you can do, from tracking animals by looking for footprints in the mud or snow; to going winter wildlife watching on a walk at a Wildlife Trust site such as Idle Valley Nature Reserve near Retford, Besthorpe Nature Reserve between Collingham and Besthorpe or at a park closer to home; to doing something simple for nature such as putting out leftover fruit and Christmas cake for the birds.

Ahead of our seasonal challenge, BBC TV presenter and Wildlife Trust vice-president Iolo Williams shared his love of winter wildlife.

He said: “From dawn to dusk, winter wildlife is busy all around us. Otters are always up early and if you see a trail of bubbles in the water, you’ll know they’ve spotted you first.

“Night-hunting barn owls venture out on cold winter days to find extra food and will woosh past you in the winter sun. Then, at dusk, starlings gather in the sky forming ever-shifting shapes and patterns known as murmurations.

“There are so many wildlife adventures to enjoy during 12 Days Wild — I hope you enjoy them.”

Christmas and New Year are definitely a quieter period for me in terms of my work, so I always try to take an extended break, giving me plenty of time to get out and about if the weather is kind.

I definitely plan to visit one or two nature reserves I’ve not been to for a while and to get out into some of my favourite areas of the countryside to take in the natural sights and sounds.

While it’s a longshot, I may take Iolo’s lead and make time for an early morning visit to Attenborough Nature Reserve to see if I can spot an otter -like others have reasonably regularly over the past couple of years.

I’ll also keep an eye out for news of any local starling murmurations where numbers are building.

As I’ve reported in these pages previously, my bird feeding habits are somewhat hit and miss, so I hope to give my feathered friends a helping hand, at least through the colder months.

But enough about me — what will you do, how will you get closer to nature?

You could also make 2025 the year you volunteer to do something to help nature locally.

Spending time in nature, whether during the day or night - is proven to help people feel happier and healthier.

A wildlife trusts survey found that participants of our 30 Days Wild summer challenge felt 56% more connected to nature after taking part and that it boosted the health of participants by an average of 30%.

I hope I’ve whetted your appetite for a wilder mid-winter, but if you’re struggling for ideas, fear not – those signing up for 12 Days Wild get daily inspiration emails full of suggestions to help you embrace winter walks in nature, the magic of night-time star gazing or making a wildlife home — to lift your mood and much more!

For further details about our seasonal wildlife challenge visit wildlifetrusts.org/12dayswild

Details of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust nature reserves, events and campaigns can be found at the Nottinghamshire Wildlife website.