Or do I have to wait until next week when it officially starts?
For me, spring is here when I hear my first ‘proper’ chiffchaff and it seems as though we had an influx over the weekend. I heard (and saw) my first of the year today, just outside Fattengates courtyard. Very splendid indeed.
In fact it is difficult to avoid signs of spring at the moment with birds singing, blackthorn blossoming and snakes basking. One lucky visitor encountered a mating ball of grass snakes along adder alley.
Grass snake spotted on the heath - photo by Gareth Hughes
Blackthorn in bloom - Sophie May Lewis
A succession of less usual bird sightings also suggests that migration is underway with spoonbill, ring ouzel and avocet all being reported this week. Combined with the rapidly changing water levels, you never know what might turn up.
Visit over the next few weeks to get your final fix of winter ducks – whilst there is still a good selection of ducks about, their numbers are starting to drop as they head off north. Look for waders on the pool edges – black-tailed godwit, snipe, avocet and perhaps even redshank may put in an appearance soon. Around the hedgerows, pretty bullfinch are still delighting visitors, the noisy linnets are chattering away, goldcrests are reeling from the remaining spruces in Fattengates courtyard and there have been a couple of firecrest sightings too.
Most of the work on the heath is now complete and we are the proud owners of a new chain of ponds and a scraped slope and sunny bank. It will be fascinating to see how these respond; how quickly the heather starts to show, and how soon we find dragonflies patrolling. For now, the highlights are the drumming woodpeckers - both great and lesser spotted have been seen.
Our wardens and volunteers will now be switching their attention to the wetlands as the damage caused by the winter flooding becomes visible and accessible. We will need to make many repairs to our fences and this may cause some disturbance over the coming weeks – we’ll keep you updated on our progress.