When does spring start for you? Is it 1^st March? When meteorological spring begins and we can expect (hope for!) warmer days and sunnier weather. Or do you play it safe and wait for the vernal equinox (‘vernal’ as in ‘ver’ the Latin word for spring) on 20^th March? This is the start of astronomical spring when the position of our orbit around the sun gives us roughly equal hours of daylight and darkness.

Either way, March means spring and it’s a busy month in Nature’s calendar! Somerset’s huge over-wintering bird population on the coast and inland across the Levels is starting to make a move: wigeon and tufted ducks will be returning to their summer breeding grounds in Iceland, Greenland, and Scandinavia, along with countless waders like lapwings, golden plovers and curlew. Most of the starlings that delighted us through the winter with their spectacular murmurations will be returning to Russia and eastern Europe. 

The first of the hirundines are also touching our shores. OK, so I’ve just learnt that word and wanted to impress! This is the name of the group to which swallows, swifts and martins belong. The first to arrive is the sand martin (Riparia riparia). Like their cousins, they are fantastically acrobatic in flight, skimming low over open water to feed on flying insects. After such an epic journey, many of them will be building up the calories over the Somerset levels, before dispersing around the country. 

Sand Martins don’t build cup-shaped nests out of mud like the others, instead they nest in sand or gravel along riverbanks and cliffs. They dig a tunnel and create a space at the end in which to raise their brood. 

Meanwhile, over at Westhay Moor National Nature Reserve our resident great crested grebes (Podiceps cristatus) are performing their exquisite spring ballet! The full courtship dance involves head shaking, bill-dipping and preening. The grand finale is the famous ‘penguin dance’ when the pair rush together, feet frantically paddling until they are upright, chest to chest, offering each other beakfuls of water weed. Follow their link to see some of the performance and explore YouTube for the full repertoire! 

As well as reaffirming the couple’s bond, the courtship dance and accompanying calls are also a reminder to other grebes nearby that the territory has been claimed.

If dancing grebes wasn’t enough, Westhay Moor also boasts booming bitterns! Bitterns (Botaurus stellaris) are shy, secretive birds and they're almost impossible to see as their pale brown plumage blends in perfectly with the surrounding reedbed habitat that they depend upon.

Despite being so elusive, the male bittern is the loudest bird in the UK! The best time to hear him is at dawn or dusk when his deep booms rumble through the reeds and can be heard over two miles away! This foghorn-like call is a serenade to passing females and if they're impressed he might mate with as many as five in a season! His call is also an effective way of marking his territory. To have a listen for yourself visit the RSPB website.

This is also the month of the mad March hare! At dawn or dusk, small groups of brown hares (Lepus europaeus) can be seen quietly grazing in open grassland. Suddenly there is a burst of activity and a chase ensues, followed by a frantic boxing match as two hares rear up and belt each other across the whiskers! Of course - it’s the breeding season!

The chasing starts when an amorous male (or buck) decides to try his luck. The female hare (or doe) will try to shake him off if she isn’t ready to mate - but if he doesn’t get the message soon enough, she will turn around and literally box his ears and any other part of him she can reach, until he finally backs down! I’ve been lucky enough to see this spectacle a couple of times out on the Moors towards Meare and it’s amazing to watch!

Brown hares are the UK’s fastest land mammal and can reach speeds of over 40 mph! They were originally thought to have been introduced here by the Romans, but recent carbon dating of hare bones found at archaeological sites now suggests that they arrived in the iron age.  

Does can have three or four litters of young, known as ‘leverets’, through the season, sometimes as early as March. So, if you happen to come across a tiny leveret huddled quietly in the grass, obviously just give it a wide birth and keep dogs away. It’s usual for mothers to leave them for long periods and return now and then to check on them.

Blackthorn flowers before its leaves appear, which is the opposite way around to most native trees; this includes hawthorn and it’s a helpful way to tell the two of them apart! When it does come into leaf, the foliage is food for the caterpillars of many moths, and those of the rare brown hairstreak butterfly (Thecla betulae), which lays its eggs to overwinter on fresh new growth. These caterpillars make welcome meals for any songbirds nesting in the protection of the thorns, until the tree’s tiny blue-black fruits or ‘sloes’ ripen in the autumn. 

Have you ever wondered why early wildflowers are generally white or yellow?

In the low-light conditions of late winter and early spring, white and yellow flowers contrast well against the dark background of soil and winter foliage. This makes them highly visible to early pollinators like some species of fly, which have limited colour vision, and bumble bee queens – who are also rather partial to the colour yellow.  

Also, at a time of year when there is little energy available from sunlight, white and yellow flowers don’t require a lot of energy for plants to produce. 

Natural substances known as ‘carotenoids’ are already present in plants, and they create the colour yellow – as carotenoids are very stable at low temperatures, yellow flowers remain vibrant even on the coldest days!