Spring has sprung!

By now the signs of spring are all around, even though it may not feel as though we are quite there yet. We may still get the odd flurry of snow or a crispy morning of frost. We may still seem to be steeped in mist and damp weather for days on end. But withut a doubt, the seasonal wheels are most definitely turning...

What to look for 

The most noticable changes for me are in the buds and the birds.

In my garden, the robin that is nearly hand-tame has started singing properly! All winter it has been throwing its voice, practising it seems, almost ashamed of being heard. You'd think it was a very quiet, weedy warbler. I've heard it many times over the winter and looked high and low for the source, only to find the bird sitting almost within arm's reach.

Now that spring has finally arrived, we are being treated to full-on robin song as he proudly proclaims to all other robins that this is his patch. Accompanying this change of tune is much more activity. New robins are in the hood, all chasing, posing and posturing.

The songsters emerge

It's not just the robins either - the house sparrows are also singing. The males sit in the entrance of nest sites - gutters, eaves, bird boxes - making their monotonous chirping and chipping song. I've put up another sparrow box this year and I'm hoping to see them take up residence.

The blackbirds seem to be coming and going a lot too. The males are chasing the females and I'm pretty sure there's a nest being built very close by.

Meanwhile the chaffinches are building up speed. All it takes is a warm morning or even a little sun and that unmistakable song with the tempo of a fast bowler can be heard from the tops of trees and buildings.

Bursting buds

The sap is rising in our trees and shrubs and this fills me with a little excitement. As it's pumped to the tops and tips of the branches, leaves and buds begin to unfurl. With that, the insect lives that have been on pause over the winter months will be switched on again, and suddenly the season will be flung into fast forward. Before long it will be summer!

Find out more about bud burst with Wildlife Watch Nature Reporter Sara Bellis.

Catkins

For now, we have to make do with the tiny, almost imperceivable progressions of the plants in gardens, parks, hedgerows and woodlands. Catkins are the perfect arrivals to look for and hazel is a classic - their 'lamb's tails' will be dangling on the breeze right now. Believe it or not, these are some of the first flowers of the year, but not the kind you'd usually associate with petals and insects.

What you are seeing are the male flowers of the hazel. Give a twig laden with them a flick on a dry day and you will see a fine yellow dust produced. This is pollen. The whole point of catkins is to spread the millions of microscopic pollen grains to other plants nearby. For many plants, this is the job done by insects, but at this time of year very few are around. Instead, the hazel relies on the breeze to do the job.

But where are the female flowers to receive this golden powder? Look closely at the branch with the catkins and you will see many tiny little red spiky things - they look a bit like sea anemones - these are the female parts and the future hazel nut!

Flowers

Once you've found hazel catkins you could start to look for other early flowers too. Other types of trees have catkins as well, and you may be able to find some of the earliest true flowers. The bright yellow flowers of the spiny gorse is a good one - they smell strongly of coconut if you're lucky enough to find a thicket of them - and butterbur is another.

You could share what you've found with me and all the other followers on the Watch Twitter account.

Nick Baker

Credits: Robin by Joan Burkmar / House sparrow by Richard Burkmar / Horse chestnut canopy by Carl Vella / Hazel catkins by Philip Precey / Gorse by Philip Precey