April in the Valley

March was surprisingly dry this year, and I wonder if April will make up for the lack of rain!

Most of the wildfowl that spent the winter here will have returned to their far north breeding areas, such as Iceland and Northern Europe. The birds that stay all year round will now be singing and displaying to claim and protect territories. One bird this is becoming increasingly common in the Valley is the elegant Little Egret, which is our featured Bird of the Month.

Territorial displays and disputes can easily be seen as the birds are far more interested in their own activities than avoiding being watched. Woodpeckers, Lapwings and Skylarks are amongst the birds that will draw your attention; look out for Sparrowhawks too.

Watch out for migrating birds, search the skies as House Martins, Swallows and Swifts return. Don’t forget to listen as the dawn chorus begins and also listen out for the first Nightingale.

Surprisingly some of our richest wildlife woodlands rely upon regular tree felling to maintain their value. Small patches of the wood when cut in rotation (known as coppicing) allows light to reach the woodland floor so creating ideal conditions for many woodland flowers such as Bluebells, Wood Anemones and Lesser Celandine as well as warmth-loving woodland insects such as White Admiral and fritillary butterflies. The aim in coppice woodland is not to kill the trees but to encourage a dense regrowth from the cut stumps. Cutting a new patch (cant) each year creates a mosaic of different aged cants providing a number of subtly different habitats suitable for a wide variety of species.

Watch as the woodlands start to colour up, after the bright splash of yellow from Lesser Celandine look out for white spring flowers such as Wood Anemone and Wood Sorrel as well as the Wood Spurge and Violets then the ever popular Bluebells. Rowhill Nature Reserve is well worth visiting this time of year for their display of spring flowers in fact they open their doors on Sunday 10th and invite you to come along for a spring walk..

Look for the new fresh green tufts of needles on the Larch trees and see if you can spot the bright deep pink female cones emerging from them. Following the white blossom of Blackthorn, witness the greening of the hedgerows as they burst into leaf.

There should be no mistaking the vivid yellow of Brimstone butterflies, our Butterfly of the Month, as they fly along the hedgerow, also look out for Orange Tip butterflies as they hatch from over-wintering pupae as well as Holly Blues.

After the frenzy of activity caused by frogs and toads watch out for Newts as they migrate to their breeding pools. Their eggs are more difficult to spot than frog or  toad spawn because the individual eggs are attached to reeds below the water.

THINGS TO DO...

For details and ideas of what to do this month look at our calendar of April events   >>>

   Bird of the Month:
   Little Egret >>>

   Butterfly of the Month:
   Brimstone  >>>

   Tree of month:
   Silver Birch >>>

  April sightings  >>>

  April events >>>  

  Walk the Path details  >>>
      

 
Did you know...
 

The first bumblebees you see   - and hear - in the year are large (around 2cm long) young mated queens that have survived winter and are foraging to find enough food to establish a new colony and rear the first batch of workers.

These queens will have
mated at the end of the previous summer then hibernated over winter. Worker bees (unmated females) and males all die at the end of summer and the bumblebee population relies on these queens being successful in making a nest
in spring, laying eggs and finding enough food to raise the first batch of workers
for a new colony.
By April the workers should take over foraging for nectar and pollen and the queen will stay in the nest laying eggs. Later in the year, if the colony has been successful - the queen produces female eggs to raise as new queens and male eggs for the cycle to begin all over again.