March, it is said, ‘arrives like a lion and leaves like a lamb’, but this year, so far, the early part of the month has frolicked and gambolled about, rather than roaring like a lion. Although, at the time of writing, bright sunny days have just passed into cooler weather, with a splattering of spring showers, hail and a few frosty mornings thrown in for good measure. There is still much of March left, so by the time you read this we will know if the old adage rung true. For like its neighbour, February, it can change in an instant, pushing gentle mild weather aside with a final Arctic blast.

The garden blackbirds and robins will already be nest building, and it’s not uncommon for them to do it in a fall of sleet. The braver summer migrants start appearing, wheatear are often the first to take their chance with March, and the repetitive chiff chaff will begin its name calling from the willow scrub before the month is closed. The floor of our woods, still under leafless trees, see the appearance of green shoots, with bluebell, ransom and anemone preparing to fill the ground with fragrance and colour in the following weeks. As the wild geese leave, pointing in vast arrows to the North, our tiny migrants from Africa drop in, and we wait in anticipation for the first swallow to return.

March is also marked by the appearance of frog spawn, often many will spawn in the same spot, creating huge clumps at the sunniest end of the pond. Few of the developing tadpoles will make it to adulthood, with the first customer being smooth newts. They often gather to feast on the newly emerged tadpoles, as they hang from their former jelly envelope. March 10th was formerly the mean average date for frogspawn to appear in Norfolk ponds, although weather dependent, this date may need reviewing, as I’m sure it appears earlier each year. I have none in my pond this spring, probably the result of the two large grass snakes that took up residence a couple of summers ago. I witnessed one poor frog being dragged off into the long grass, no doubt many more suffered a similar fate.

The early spring arrivals have already made an appearance, with James Symonds the warden at NWT Weeting Heath reporting the first stone curlew arrival on the February 24th. With the majority of UK breeding stone curlew thought to winter in Spain, it’s a short hop, early on, to ensure a prime and favoured nesting spot. Most of the wintering birds are already heading north. Fieldfare and redwings, if not already en-route to Scandinavia, are certainly thinking about it. Early spring can find groups of them ‘formed-up’ in paddocks and fields ready for departure.

Another bird heading off, this time travelling south, is the water pipit. In early spring they gather in small flocks, ready for migration. On March 9th, seven were report at NWT Hickling Broad. These are, it seems, creatures of habit. On checking my own records, I noted that nine were outside the reserve’s Cadbury Hide on March 11th 2023. Water pipit, although regularly found in the UK in winter, are not that common and easily over-looked. They are similar to our resident rock pipit, but paler and less streaked. In March they start to develop their wonderful subtle pink breast feathers, a shade of which can only be described as the colour of a blushing maiden’s cheek. Seeing several of these pipits in their summer plumage was a birdwatching highlight for me. Our wintering water pipits nest in the Alps, on the bare mountain plains. I do find it odd that some of these small birds choose to migrate from the high Alpine slopes, across the continent, and head north to south-east England.

At NWT Trinity Broads the warden, Eilish Rothney, reported a possible first UK record of the fungus Tarzetta alnicola at Ormesby Broad. This small cup shaped fungi is eye-wateringly rare, with only a handful of records coming from south-east France. After DNA sequencing the record was accepted by Kew, and the initial identification has now been confirmed.

Lifting the water levels at NWT Tony Hallett Memorial reserve with ‘leaky’ dams is already proofing its worth. Sphagnum mosses are doing very well in the wet conditions, and already forming peat of the future. Who needs carbon capture technology, when we can grow peat bogs? Among a wide variety of species, Reserves Manager Ash Murry has recorded the scarce, lesser cows-horn moss.

What to see in April

April is a great time to enjoy carpets of bluebells that cover the floor of our ancient woodlands. When accompanied by ransom and wood anemone, our woods are filled with a wonderful aroma, most notably the garlic smell of the ransom. As with all our precious woodlands, please keep dogs on a lead and stay on the footpaths. April will see an increase in the early spring mining bees, with willow catkins forming an important nectar source for them. Although referred to as solitary bees, blossoming willows can be covered with small sallow mining bees and orange-tailed mining bees. Our Broadland reserves are great places to look for them. April is also a good time to look for green hairstreak butterflies, NWT Roydon Common and Buxton Heath holding good numbers of the UK’s only butterfly with distinctive green underwings. The green hairstreak is a small, fairly shy butterfly that spends most of its time perched on vegetation or sunbathing. Males can sometimes be seen chasing each other around in the spring sunshine.

Take Action

If you have swallows or house martins nesting nearby, a plate of wet clay mud in the middle of the garden lawn is a great way of helping them, particularly during a spell of dry weather. Good quality wet clay is a necessity for nest repair and building. I’ve been doing this for many years, and it is always rewarding and entertaining watching them fly in and then leave with a beak full of mud.

If you are keen to increase the number of bee species to your own green space, there are a variety of ‘bee hotels’ on the market. Many are great for attracting these wonderful creatures to your garden. Although a garden isn’t necessarily required, a balcony or even the side of a wall can be a sufficient location for a solitary bee hotel. Making your own can be quite easy. Simply drill a group of twenty or so holes, five to ten millimetres diameter and approximately five centimetres deep into the end of a log or an off-cut of wood. Place it, at least four or five feet off the ground, and in a sunny location. The holes will make perfect homes for several species of solitary bee. To encourage their mining bee cousins to your garden, a patch of bare compacted ground, surrounded by short grass can often encourage them to dig nest burrows.