You may have already seen the first few signs of spring starting to bud, with snowdrops, daffodils and crocus making a welcome appearance and reminding us of the beauty that’s to come.

This season we can expect to be treated to a spectacular sea of bluebells in our Prior’s Wood nature reserve. With parts of its ancient woodland dating back to the 1600, this reserve is also blessed with streams and plantations. Small-leaved lime trees, oak and hazel are abundant here, and along with them comes a rich bird life, including buzzards, garden warblers and chiffchaffs.

You’ll be able to see our show-stopping bluebells from late April onwards, however we’d ask you to be considerate of our neighbours when parking and to not pick the flowers, as bluebells are a protected species.

There’s also still time to plant your own wildflowers, creating habitats and food for local wildlife in your green space. Come and visit the team at Grow Wilder, or you can order plants straight to your door from www.growwilder.co.uk

It’s spawn season! Every February and March, frogspawn and toadspawn start to appear just under the surface of the water in our ponds and streams, especially amongst reeds by the water’s edge.

If you’re lucky enough to have spawn in your garden pond, keep coming back each day: you’ll see the tiny black dots turn into comma-shapes as the unhatched tadpoles develop.

Frog tadpoles tend to hatch around three weeks after spawning, and then take about 14 weeks to go through the transformative process to becoming a fully-fledged frog, known as metamorphosis.

Spotted some spawn in a pond near you? Then you can do your bit for wildlife conservation by taking part in the Freshwater Habitat Trust’s PondNet Spawn Survey! Every year between January and May, people are able to submit their frog and toad spawn sightings to the survey, using the location of where these tiny toadlings and froglets were spotted.

This information will go towards the Freshwater Habitat Trust’s WaterNet database, which provides invaluable information for Government bodies, NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and local people to include in their own local wildlife plans and other surveys. You’ll be a true citizen scientist!

Find out more at www.freshwaterhabitats.org.uk 

Spring is a busy time of year for birds as they build nests and start raising a family. It’s also the time when we start to see new birds arrive on our shores from Europe and beyond!

We’ll be holding some bird watching walks at our Walborough nature reserve on Friday 24 March and Tuesday 4 April, where you’ll learn how to identify common bird species that enjoy the reserve and get tips on how to get into birdwatching this spring.

Click here to find out more and sign up

And last, but most certainly not least, you’d be mad to miss the BBC’s latest wildlife documentary series, all about the stunning and precious nature which calls our shores home: Wild Isles

We’re incredibly proud to have played a part in this series, which you can catch on Sundays at 7pm on BBC1 from this week (12 March). Check out our social media accounts over the weekend for more details! Just search for @avonwt