What to Look For
Spring
Spring brings all weather conditions – snow through to glorious May days – and our wildlife spectacle is just as varied. In March our visiting winter birds will be feeding up ahead of migrating north while if we are lucky we come across the first summer migrants ahead of the peak influx in April and early May.
White tree blossom pervades the season – cherry plum first followed by blackthorn, wild cherry and then the sweet smelling hawthorn – the charismatic “may blossom”. Look closely at the Long Meadow horse chestnuts with their massive white “candles” of flowers to see the delicate red tracery across their petals.
Bumblebees are often the first insects seen on the wing. Queen red-tailed bumblebees can appear by March (a couple of months ahead of their workers) visiting willows and dandelions among other plants. Or you may come across a tawny mining bee on Long Meadow. The female is considered unmistakable with its rich orange-furred body; the male is browner and very similar to other species.
Brimstone butterflies regularly appear at the start of the season at Croft Close Set-aside (CCSA), closely followed by the orange-tip and holly blue as April progresses. The similar common blue appears at Long Meadow as summer approaches. Ever more insects appear: strikingly-coloured soldier beetles through to the pinhead-sized creatures that spot flowerheads. By late May, lesser stag beetles can be found at CCSA as are species of parasitic wasp.
From late April into May the flowers of Long Meadow can be a spectacular sea of gold and blue: buttercups and germander speedwell together with dandelion and Goat’s-beard among many others. A floating carpet of cow parsley dominates the area around the old sycamore stump.
Once the pussy willow and blackthorn has flowered, CCSA can look quite green. Specialities like the delicate changing forget-me-not – a few centimetres tall with minuscule petals – are easily overlooked. But perhaps that is the challenge!
Male great-spotted woodpeckers drum resonating branches to advertise their territories, while song thrush, wren and robins are already in full song in March. They are joined mid-month by migratory chiffchaff followed by willow warblers, whitethroat and summering blackcap. With hope we await the purring of a turtle dove from a lookout over CCSA and house martins hawking at Long Meadow.
Pipistrelle bats will become increasingly active at both Long Meadow and Park Lane. They can be found along the Park Lane hedge, possibly taking advantage of the street lights attracting prey; elsewhere they are much harder to find without an echolocation detector. Meanwhile at CCSA the rabbits will be working away to keep our varied habitat of both short and long grass well maintained – together with continuing light pruning of the brambles!
Top sights to look out for in spring:
| Plants | Birds | Invertebrates |
|---|---|---|
| Catkins and pussy willow | Turtle dove | Parasitic wasps |
| Lesser celandine | Blackbirds singing at dusk | White & buff-tailed bumblebees |
| Cow parsley | Whitethroat’s song-flight | Comma, brimstone and blue butterflies |
| Changing forget-me-not | Linnet with a red-tinted breeding plumage |
Our Records
We are constantly adding to our records. We hope soon to make it easy for you to help us add to our species lists shown on the Monitoring Page.