Nest building

For our feathered friends, spring is the busiest time of the year. Just spend a few moments looking our your window and you will probably see a busy bird burdened with building it’s nest. Maybe you’d spot a long stick in a magpie’s beak or some cosy moss carried away by a robin. Long-tailed tits might build one of the most intriguing nests of all our garden birds. They assemble their nest from lichen and moss and tie it all together with spiders webs and lined with feathers! Perhaps one of the busiest birds could be the wren. The male will build five or six different nests which the female will then inspect before she decides which one (if any!) is up to her standards.

Woodland flowers

Take a wander through your local woodland this April and you will see a habitat transforming. As new spring leaves start to unfurl on the trees above you, the woodland floor is already bursting into life beneath your feet and the air is filled with the sound of birdsong. As you walk, see if you can see the white, star-shaped flower of the wood anemone. This slow-spreading, early woodland flower can be an indicator that the woodland you are exploring is classified as an ‘ancient’ woodland which now, unfortunately, only covers 2.5% of the UK. The yellow carpets of the lesser celandine flower are already covering path edges and the bluebells are on their way!

Swallows

As a bird lover, the first returning swallow of the year is always an exciting moment. These wonderful birds return to the UK to nest in April or May each year so keep your eyes to the skies at this time of year. Some birds have already been spotted over Herriot’s Pool at our Chew Valley Lake Reserve! Look out glossy, blue birds with long tail streamers and a red patch under their chin. Please do get in touch if you start seeing them return!

Butterflies are back

Lepidoptera, the order of insects that contains both butterflies and moths, are particularly sensitive to weather and climate, so after a particularly wet winter, it will be interesting to see how this will have impacted species as we enter into spring. However, on a few recent warmer days, I have loved seeing more butterflies on the wing including the bright, yellow-green of the brimstone butterfly and the peacock butterfly with it’s large eye spots.

The returning brood parasite

Another iconic bird species that returns to our shores around April time is the cuckoo. This infamous summer visitor is an infamous ‘brood parasite’ which lays it’s eggs in the nest of other birds. The adults abandon their eggs in these nests and leave the parenting to the host species. Cuckoos have suffered large declines of 65% since the 1980’s but can still be heard calling out in parts of the region. Last year I heard one just south of our Walborough nature reserve near Uphill in Weston-super-Mare.

We hope you can get out into nature this April and enjoy those longer evenings in nature. We would love to hear about what you get up to and share in your spring sightings. Share your nature photography with us by contacting communications@avonwildlifetrust.org.uk or tag us on social media @avonwt.

Wishing you all a wonderfully wild spring!