With the days getting longer and birdsong getting louder, there’s no doubt that spring is officially in the air! This is the perfect time to get out and explore our nature reserves to see what delights you can find. Our Assistant Reserves Officer, Kate Ashley, has shared some of her spring highlights to get you inspired. 

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Some of the first visible signs of spring are the wildflowers, bringing some welcome colour after a long winter. One of the first spring flowers to look out for is coltsfoot – bright yellow flowers which pop up in small clusters from late February. These are easily overlooked as dandelions, but they are in fact part of the daisy family. They can be found on arable land, road verges and areas of disturbed ground.

See them at Bishop’s Hill or Stockton Cutting.

Another early spring flower is lesser celandine which can form carpets of yellow along the edges of streams or damp paths. These star-shaped flowers are members of the buttercup family and have dark green heart-shaped leaves.

Find them at Daffern’s Wood and Wappenbury Wood.

If you see the beautiful white flowers of wood anemone there’s a good chance that you are in an ancient woodland. These flowers form on the woodland floor in small clusters and spread slowly through their roots under the ground, rather than by seeds. Because of its slow growth – taking a hundred years to spread just a few feet – the larger the cluster of flowers you see, the longer they have been there. Despite being poisonous to humans, it is much loved by hoverflies which help to pollinate it.

Visit Clowes Wood, Oakley Wood or Ryton Wood to see them.

There’s no doubt bird song is getting louder as breeding season begins and birds sing to attract a mate and defend their territory. While many resident species like the robin and wren may have been singing for a few months already, you may notice a few new voices in the choir.

Chiffchaffs are usually the first warbler to arrive in the spring and can often be heard singing from early March. The name chiffchaff references its simple two-note song, as the bird repeatedly sings its name ‘chiff-chaff chiff-chaff’. Most chiffchaffs are summer migrants, arriving the UK after wintering in southern Europe or north Africa, but many are now known to be resident in the UK year-round.

Soon, other warblers will join in the chorus, with willow warblers and blackcaps the next to listen out for.

Hear them at Alvecote Pools, Leam Valley, or Brandon Marsh.

Another of our early spring migrants to arrive is the sand martin. These are one of the hirundines, the family of birds which also includes Swallows. They can be seen rapidly swooping around as they spend most of their time in the air, feeding on insects especially over water. They may also be seen perched on fences and wires and have a continuous chattering call. They nest in burrows in sandy banks, often along rivers. Although hirundines can be tricky to identify, if you see one in March before the others have arrived, there’s a good chance it’s a Sand Martin!

See them at Brandon Marsh.

You may have spotted a few bumblebees on the wing now, but if you look carefully enough you may spot an imposter among them! The bee-fly is fluffy, round, and orange and buzzes like a bee, but it is in fact a fly. Bee-flies are parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of solitary bees. They have a long, straight proboscis (a mouthpart used for sucking nectar) and can commonly be seen hovering low over a range of spring flowers including lesser celandine, lungwort and primroses.

Find them at Abbey Green Park or Cole End Park.

And last but definitely not least, the first butterflies to appear in the spring are those which have overwintered as adults, hidden away in a quiet shelter such as the corner of a shed. On a warm spring day, those that survived the winter will emerge. Look out for the bright orange of commas, the flash of yellow from a brimstone, the colourful eyes of a peacock and the orange and black patterns of a small tortoiseshell.

Visit Ashlawn Cutting, or Draycote Meadows to see them.