THE STAGES OF SPRING
EARLY SPRING: FEBRUARY/MARCH
1 Spurge-laurel, a small, slow-growing shrub, produces some of the earliest spring flowers. Its sweetly scented lime-green blossom is a valuable nectar source for early bumblebees and its black berries ripen in summer.
2 Herald moths are on the wing very early in spring because, unlike most moths, they spend the winter as adults, sometimes in hollow trees. Vibrant orange wing patches are an easy identification feature. 3 Great spotted woodpeckers have no song, so rapidly drum on dead branches to announce their availability to mate, then chisel out nest holes with their beaks; look for telltale woodchips under trees. 4 MID-SPRING: APRIL Early purple orchid is pretty, but smells of tomcats. The first woodland orchid to flower, but it has no nectar, relying on exploratory visits by naïve, newly hatched bees for pollination.
5 Primrose: look for the two flower forms: thrum (five stamens in the centre) and pin (single stigma in the centre). Restless, fast-flying broad-bordered bee flies transfer pollen between the flowers. 6 Hazel’s male catkins release clouds of pollen, captured by tiny carmine stigmas that protrude from buds. 7 Blue bugle flowers in shady, damp woodland rides and is an important nectar source for butterflies and bees.
LATE SPRING: MAY
8 Wood warblers are more easily heard than seen when they’re hidden among the emerging spring foliage. The quickening notes of their song sound like a spinning coin coming to rest on a hard surface.
9 The black and white plumage of pied flycatchers can make them surprisingly difficult birds to spot among the sun flecks and flickering light that penetrates the emerging leaf canopy.
10 In late spring, badgers bring their cubs out from their woodland sett into the sunlight. Earthworms are a favourite food in spring, so look out for fresh signs of digging with sharp claws.
11 Goldilocks buttercup is the first buttercup to flower, well before related species in meadows. Commonly found in glades and along woodland rides, the flowers have variable numbers of petals. 12 Green tortrix moth larvae eat delicate new oak leaves and can defoliate whole branches. Together with other small moth caterpillars, they are an important food source for blue tit and great tit nestlings.
13 Tawny owls are early breeders, often in hollow trees. Parents distribute their downy young around the wood once they leave the nest, returning to feed them on a diet that includes woodmice. CF