With February comes a month on the cusp of spring and though it might not always feel like it the signs are beginning to show themselves.
The trees might be bare for several weeks yet but look to the undergrowth and you might be surprised to find a variety of flowers peeking through. Delicate snowdrops are already flowering around the visitor centre but there are other early spring blooms to look for as the month progresses. Lesser celandine is a member of the buttercup family and can be identified by its heart-shaped leaves and bright yellow flowers. Like snowdrops it can flower as early as January so keep an eye on the damp edges of streams and ditches where it like to grow. Other flowers you may spot in February include the familiar crocus, daffodil and primrose whose name fittingly means ‘first rose’.
Snowdrops on the Dubbs trail
It’s not just what you can see, but what you can hear, that gives away the change in the seasons. The woods are gradually beginning to fill with birdsong as more singers add their voices to search for a mate or stake a claim to territory. If you’re new to identifying birdsong it’s the perfect time to start learning as it’s easier to pick out individual species before the woods are further livened up with the arrival of spring migrants. Great, coal and blue tits can already be heard on a quick stroll down the Aird Meadow trail and if you listen closely you might just catch the high-pitched twittery song of a dunnock from a hedgerow. Young male blackbirds start to sing earlier than their more experienced elders (perhaps trying to avoid the difficult competition?) so if you manage to hear one in song right now it likely only hatched last spring!
However, despite the approach of the warmer months it’s still not too late to catch a last glimpse of our wintering species. Goldeneye are regularly seen displaying on the water at the moment, with males hoping to impress a partner, before they return to their breeding grounds in northern Europe. Whooper swans, tufted ducks, wigeons, redwings and the ever-popular drake smew are all still here and will likely still be with us until early to mid-March so if there’s one you haven’t seen this winter why not pop along and see what you can spot?
Goldeneye displaying - Richard Bennett
So, if you decide to pay us a visit in February do tell us what you’ve seen (or heard)!
Written by Lauren McLean - volunteer