So what’s your sign? No I’m not talking zodiac or Chinese, I mean signs of spring. Everyone seems to have their own benchmark for when the natural world officially wakes up from its winter nap. For some it’s the sound of the cuckoo, for others it’s primroses flowering, but by February I’ve always had enough of the winter gloom and start desperately hunting for for clues

Whilst out walking this weekend in the Surrey Hills, the landscape was still pretty bare and the footpaths muddy from winter rain, but if you looked closely there were lots of promising little details from flowering snowdrops and crocuses, to daffodil shoots, catkins on branches and new nests up in the trees. There was lots of birdsong too, though I still find it tricky to work out which one is which. According to the RSPB, Crossbills strike up the first notes as early as February and are soon joined by robins, blackbirds and song thrushes. Later on in spring the nightingales, spotted flycatchers and various warblers will add their voices.

c/o www.flickr.com/scribbletaylor

Over the previous decade, increasingly mild winters have led to earlier springs, with daffodils and frogspawn appearing around Christmas and confused insects and small mammals stirring in January. This year is hard to predict, as we had an exceptionally mild autumn, then the recent cold snap. Wildlife in the cities is also slightly ahead of the countryside because of the ‘heat island’ effect, so don’t be surprised if you’re currently seeing more action in your local park than in the fields and woodlands.

You can help out the Woodland Trust by recording your spring sightings on their ‘Natures Calendar’ website, which receives over 40,000 sightings each year. You can also post your spring photos to the FAF facebook page, I’d love to see what you’re up to across the country as the days warm up!
photo credit: MarilynJane

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