Nine gifts for nature lovers

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A traditional lament at this time of year is: “What can I get for the person who has everything?” When the intended recipient is a nature lover you have to vary this to: “What can I get for the person who needs nothing?”

All you require to enjoy nature is access to green space and time to spend there. Appropriate clothes and footwear are the only other prerequisites. It is true that bird watchers need a pair of binoculars and a field guide, but everything else is nice-to-have rather than must-have.

Indeed, I once met a nature publisher positively resentful of his limited scope for new products. His company tried to branch out by producing a field guide to the variety of wildlife you might find in your own home. The section on cockroaches had been particularly good, he said. Sales were unaccountably disappointing.

Commerce always finds a way. As a result, you can spend £30 on a teapot-style nest box for robins when an old teapot costing nothing serves as well. You just need to wire the latter into a bush at an angle that prevents rain collecting or chicks falling out.

My festive selection of gifts makes more sense than teapot nest boxes, I hope. I have used all the products mentioned, most of which are available in the US and EU as well as the UK. I have made no comparative assessment of models or suppliers, so I am recommending none.

My first pick is the simplest: a metal squirrel baffle. There was much debate among FT readers during lockdowns on the best way of stopping these acrobatic rodents from stealing the peanut rations of garden birds. A conical metal baffle, positioned halfway up the pole of the feeding station, is the best solution, in my experience. Watch as the squirrel climbs hopefully up the pole towards the peanuts . . . chortle hardheartedly at the disappointment on its little face as it slides down the pole after encountering the baffle!

Yellow rattle seeds are an inexpensive gift for gardeners. This plant can help them turn lawn over to wildflowers. It is partially parasitic on grasses, and by reducing their vigour, yellow rattle gives such species as ox-eye daisies, corncockles and cornflowers a chance to thrive. Do not buy silly little packets. Handfuls of these light seeds will be required. One gramme per square metre is a common recommendation.

With moth traps we enter the realm of Serious Equipment. Moth traps give us a window into the hidden world of night-flying insects. A bright light lures the moths, which tumble, alive, into a receptacle ready for inspection and safe release. Many have markings as beautiful as their names.

I have tried several types. The most practical for suburban gardens is a collapsible model made of plastic panels fitted with a 20W actinic bulb.

Serious Equipment reaches its apotheosis in optical gear for observing and recording wildlife. I will steer clear of plugging a camera brand, lest it stirs up communal unrest between Clan Canon and their hereditary foes the McNikons. Instead, here are four other presents that can bring nature into sharper focus.

Nest box cams: one of these could enable your giftee to watch parent birds raise a nestful of young. This requires the birds to select a nest box fitted with a WiFi-equipped camera in the first place, which cannot be guaranteed. The owner may also need to connect their smartphone to the camera via an app. This took me trial, error and swearing.

Trail cams: technological incompetence can also be an issue with these gadgets, designed to switch themselves on and film animal activity in the user’s absence. I only managed to capture blurry footage of a lumbering bipedal organism (myself, not Bigfoot, sadly). A more adept acquaintance caught video of badgers romping among bluebells.

At the cheaper end of the optical scale, how about a clip-on macro lens for a smartphone? These are handy for snapping blooms, butterflies and bugs in startling detail.

At the pricier end, I yearn to possess a thermal imaging scope, despite knowing I would rarely use it. The utility of these devices for diehard nature watchers is in spotting warm-blooded animals at night or in deep cover.

Some friends and relatives prefer charitable donations in place of additional possessions. Along with the FT’s excellent Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign, may I commend peatland restoration appeals? Blanket bogs are endangered ecosystems and sequester huge quantities of carbon. A gaggle of charities in the UK and Ireland are working to protect and renew them.

Finally, beware the dull-eyed lethargy brought on by festive confinement indoors.

The best antidote is to get out into nature when short days and bad weather permit. Midwinter is a great time to see wildlife if you live in the temperate north. Migrant birds are plentiful and mountain creatures come down from the high tops. A pair of rechargeable heat pads will help protect your fingertips from chilblains, allowing you to stay out for longer.

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