Now we have reached March we are all looking forward to warmer weather and our natural world also starts to come alive again.
When you look in woods and in hedgerows you may notice that the first spring flowers are starting to appear. There is the bright yellow of the lesser celandine and the pretty white wood anemone which when they are flowering together make a lovely sight. Of course there are other flowers at this time of year like the wild daffodils, the primrose, the sweet violet and the yellow daisy like flower of coltsfoot.
If you look at the hedgerows towards the end of the month, you may see that the blackthorn has started to flower. This is often confused with hawthorn, another hedgerow plant that doesn't flower until May. Blackthorn flowers first and then the leaves appear whereas hawthorn produces its leaves first and then the flowers. You may have seen the furry looking catkins on the pussy willow (the name usually given to goat willow). There are lots of buds now on the trees such as horse chestnut, elder and hawthorn.
With the early flowers starting to appear you may see the first butterfly emerging from hibernation. This is usually the brimstone butterfly. The male is a beautiful lemon yellow and the female is a greenish white. The adult butterflies are important for pollinating yellow primroses. The eggs are not laid until the spring when the buckthorn bushes begin to leaf as the caterpillars only feed on this plant. Bumblebees are also staring to emerge now and can be seen buzzing around on warmer days. Ladybirds start to emerge from their communal hibernation.
If you have not already done it, make sure you clear out the old nesting material from bird nest boxes. This makes sure there are no nasty mites and you will find that the birds will be starting to look for a good place to raise a family. I have noticed that there are sparrows already eyeing up our nest boxes and checking them out!!
If you go out into the woods at dawn you will hear the dawn chorus of birds such as song thrush, blackbird, greenfinch, great tit, robin all establishing their territories. The first summer migrant to arrive in Britain is the northern wheatear that winters in central Africa and followed by the chiffchaff, a small green warbler that winters in south and west Europe and North Africa. The chiffchaff has a very easily recognised call chiff-chaff-chiff-chiff-chaff. So go to your local woods and see if you can hear this bird.
In fields, the lapwing are also establishing their territories and these birds can be identified by their swirling and tumbling flight and dropping from the sky only to rise up at the last minute calling the very distinctive “peewit”. These beautiful birds are a shiny green, black and white in colour with a long wispy crest on the head.
Also in the fields you may see hares boxing each other. It was once thought that only the males fought perhaps to impress female hares or to warn off rival male hares, but it is between a male hare (jack) and a female hare (jill) with the female fighting off the over enthusiastic male.
At dusk and dawn some bats are starting to emerge from hibernation. The most common species seen at this time of year, especially around towns is our smallest bat, the pipistrelle. They are hunting for flying insects that are also coming out from hibernation now.
Watch out for toads moving towards their breeding ponds after spending winter hibernating under stones and logs.
So get out there with your binoculars and books and take a look!
When you look in woods and in hedgerows you may notice that the first spring flowers are starting to appear. There is the bright yellow of the lesser celandine and the pretty white wood anemone which when they are flowering together make a lovely sight. Of course there are other flowers at this time of year like the wild daffodils, the primrose, the sweet violet and the yellow daisy like flower of coltsfoot.
If you look at the hedgerows towards the end of the month, you may see that the blackthorn has started to flower. This is often confused with hawthorn, another hedgerow plant that doesn't flower until May. Blackthorn flowers first and then the leaves appear whereas hawthorn produces its leaves first and then the flowers. You may have seen the furry looking catkins on the pussy willow (the name usually given to goat willow). There are lots of buds now on the trees such as horse chestnut, elder and hawthorn.
With the early flowers starting to appear you may see the first butterfly emerging from hibernation. This is usually the brimstone butterfly. The male is a beautiful lemon yellow and the female is a greenish white. The adult butterflies are important for pollinating yellow primroses. The eggs are not laid until the spring when the buckthorn bushes begin to leaf as the caterpillars only feed on this plant. Bumblebees are also staring to emerge now and can be seen buzzing around on warmer days. Ladybirds start to emerge from their communal hibernation.
If you have not already done it, make sure you clear out the old nesting material from bird nest boxes. This makes sure there are no nasty mites and you will find that the birds will be starting to look for a good place to raise a family. I have noticed that there are sparrows already eyeing up our nest boxes and checking them out!!
If you go out into the woods at dawn you will hear the dawn chorus of birds such as song thrush, blackbird, greenfinch, great tit, robin all establishing their territories. The first summer migrant to arrive in Britain is the northern wheatear that winters in central Africa and followed by the chiffchaff, a small green warbler that winters in south and west Europe and North Africa. The chiffchaff has a very easily recognised call chiff-chaff-chiff-chiff-chaff. So go to your local woods and see if you can hear this bird.
In fields, the lapwing are also establishing their territories and these birds can be identified by their swirling and tumbling flight and dropping from the sky only to rise up at the last minute calling the very distinctive “peewit”. These beautiful birds are a shiny green, black and white in colour with a long wispy crest on the head.
Also in the fields you may see hares boxing each other. It was once thought that only the males fought perhaps to impress female hares or to warn off rival male hares, but it is between a male hare (jack) and a female hare (jill) with the female fighting off the over enthusiastic male.
At dusk and dawn some bats are starting to emerge from hibernation. The most common species seen at this time of year, especially around towns is our smallest bat, the pipistrelle. They are hunting for flying insects that are also coming out from hibernation now.
Watch out for toads moving towards their breeding ponds after spending winter hibernating under stones and logs.
So get out there with your binoculars and books and take a look!
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