The Blog @ Shropshire Wildlife Trust

April is the month to stop any large scale changes to your wildlife area, such as pond creation or clearance; hold off any tree planting until Autumn, and certainly delay any removal of trees for a while, as Spring really gets underway. Take the class out and look for the first dates of Hawthorn blossom (it’s beautiful and smells very sweet). Traditionally called “May” (due to it’s flowering time), it gives rise to the traditional saying of “Cast not a clout ’til May is out”. It doesn’t mean “don’t hit anyone until June!” as someone once told me; rather “don’t take off any of your winter clothes until the May blossom appears”.

Hawthorn blossom usually heralds the onset of summer, the end of frosts and cold winds. Unfortunately, in these days of changeable climate, May blossom is appearing earlier and earlier- click here to see this year’s records on the nature’s calender website. The first May blossom spotted was on the 21st March! Are we going to have to change the name of this attractive flower?

Towards the end of April, look out for the first dragonflies of the year. The Common Blue and Large Red Damselflies are the first to appear, followed swiftly by larger species such as the Broad-Bodied Chaser. Take part in a national dragonfly survey with the British Dragonfly Society by clicking here.

Our summer migrants are due to appear - look to the skies for returning swifts, sand martins and swallows and listen out for chiff chaffs. All these birds have flown incredible distances from southern Europe and Africa. They’ll be with us now until September, when their breeding season ends and they head south once more.

There’s less to do now that Spring is well underway, just keep on top of little jobs like path clearance, maintain Forest School basecamps and vegetable gardens, but above all, get outside and explore.

We’ve just taken delivery of an exciting new book in our shop. Called “The Wildlife of Britain - The Definitive Visual Guide”, it takes you on an exciting pictorial journey across our varied landscape and habitats. It’s a beautiful book, too heavy to take out in the field with you, but perfect to dip into on a rainy summer’s afternoon, as I’m doing today.

I’ve used my copy many times, to check the names of strange fungi I’ve spotted; to find out what that strange bird was on my bird table and to plan my trip to the coast later this year.

It may sound like a cliche, but it really is a treasure trove of ideas and information. If it doesn’t make you want to go out for a walk in the countryside, then I don’t know what will.

Inspired by the Breathing Places campaign and SWT, pupils at Minsterley Primary School are kicking off the spring term with a new “Eco Club”.

This club will be meeting once a week to explore and care for their school grounds as well as make regular entries into a wildlife diary.  They will be sharing their experiences with us and we will be posting regular updates on the blog. 

March is a beautiful time of year where clear signs of spring start to appear. Listen out for the continuing songs of birds like Blackbirds, Song Thrush and Robin as they establish and protect breeding territories.

You only have a short time left now to finish any clearing of ponds, coppicing or tree felling, as any work after the end of March will cause unnecessary damage to the active growth and movement of many species.

Ponds

Frogs and toads start their annual migration back to breeding ponds and waterbodies, so perhaps consider holding a “Toadwatch Patrol” to help prevent these creatures being “squished” on your local roads. Visit the FrogLife website for more information on setting up or joining your local patrol.

Wild Flowers

March provides us with the first delicate glimpses of summer colour. Lush green hedgerows begin to appear, blackthorn blossom, like icing sugar, dusted along roadside vegetation; and even the odd winter storm won’t stop the first flashes of yellow celandine, pink cherry blossom and tiny violets. Look out for fresh green seedlings and early summer growth, even in the most barren of playing fields.

Why not get outside with the class and plant plugs of primrose, violets, and celandine? Enjoy the last shows of snowdrops and get ready for the smell of wild garlic on the air, plus the first leaves of Bluebells, getting ready to put on a great show in Shropshire woodlands during May.

Insects

As the days get warmer and longer, look out for Queen Bumblebees on the search for early nectar sources, such as hellebores, mock orange, witchhazel and lesser celandine. These large bees will feed up and retire to their underground nests, to rear their first daughters- the beginning of a colony that will last through to the end of the summer.

Peacock and Tortoiseshell butterflies will have woken from their hibernation, and will be looking for early nectar sources too. You can help them by leaving shallow containers with small amounts of honey and water, perhaps on sunny window ledges- this will also be a great help for exhausted bumblebees should the weather take an unexpected turn for the worse.

Birds

Listen out for the regular, rhythmic call of one of our early summer visitors - the chiffchaff. The name mimics its call, but try not to confuse it with that of the great tit, who shouts “Tea-cher, tea-cher, tea-cher!”

Rooks; large black birds often seen in groups, are already nesting in distinctive tree top colonies. Do you have a rookery in or near your school grounds? If so, take part in the Shropshire Rookery Survey by clicking here for more information.

All in all, March is a month of great activity- wildlife areas need to be trimmed and cleared before spring fully takes hold, and nature? Well, just sit back after a hard day’s work and watch the world slowly wake up after winter.

February has been nice and warm so far, but frosts are never far away, so it’s a risky time of year for Shropshire’s wildlife.

Budburst on Elder and catkins on Hazel may have happened already, but cold nights may still kill off this delicate first growth.

There’s nothing you can do about the extremes of weather and wildlife, except record what you see and the dates that you see it.

Let us know what you’ve spotted here. (Please select wildlife from the drop down list).

You can also submit your sightings to the national scheme, Nature Detectives by clicking here.

February is a great month for first sightings of frogs, toads, bumblebees and ladybirds.

The Nature Detectives website also has some great animated maps showing how species respond to the warming weather.

If you have any woodland in your grounds, then look out for the first leaves of spring flowers. These plants are adapted to woodland life by growing really fast before the trees get a chance to come into leaf.

By late May, most spring ephemerals (plants that have a brief, spring growth period) will have flowered, fruited and stored energy in their roots, ready for next year.

In fact, everything is starting to wake up for spring, so get in any last minute tree-felling, coppicing or pond clearing, because in a month’s time, it will be too late and you’ll have to wait until your wildlife area goes dormant again next winter.

Birds voices have changed! Listen out for melodic, mate-attracting bird song, as opposed to the straightforward chirps and squawks of winter contact calls. Blackbirds are particularly noticeable. (Thanks to John Harding and Heather Myers for this useful link).

Why not make a home for a bird? It’s not just Valentine’s day for humans this February- our feathered friends are wooing each other too, and checking out suitable nesting sites. It’s a proud moment if they choose a nest box you’ve made.

If you have hedges and shrubs in your grounds, it’s worth leaving a section untouched; even a Leylandii hedge can provide cover for nesting birds.

If you’d really like a magic wildlife watching experience, how about installing a webcam into a nest box? Click here for some webcam kits. It makes for highly addictive viewing.

February gives us the first glimmers of the natural world waking up from a long sleep. But spare a thought for our winter migrants, getting ready to fly thousands of miles to summer breeding grounds across the globe.

Have a last look at nearly one thousand Lapwing coming into roost at dusk on the lakes at Wood Lane. It’s a majestic sight and one that won’t be repeated until next winter. For details on how to get there, click here.

Thanks to John Harding for his video and Mark Eccleston for the photo.