Nature Notes:March/April 2026

THE EARTH SINGS AGAIN!

Highlights of March: the blooming of spring - banks of primroses, periwinkles, blossom, violets, anemones and early cuckoo flowers; a cock pheasant gazing motionless at his handsome reflection in the stream; bright red star-like hazel flowers; holes of varying sizes (from bees and water voles to badgers); shield bugs mating back-to-back; a pair of wandering Egyptian geese; dandelion 'clocks' in time for our own clocks to spring forward; news that nightjars in the South Downs National Park have doubled in the past 5 years. More unusual: last seasons' sloes still hanging alongside blossom.

Lowlights: high numbers of dead badgers on our surrounding roads during the peak of their birthing season; the complete destruction of miles of trees, shrubs, water and wildflower meadows in the Haven; the remains of more helium balloons and ribbon in our village trees, rivers and on and around our woods and farmland.

Key Messages: Balloons don't grant wishes, go to heaven or disintegrate into thin air - they pollute the countryside, entangle birds, our pets, farm animals and wildlife, and cause gut and lung blockages, killing many who ingest them. Please pray, plant trees or consider other ways of celebrating/commemorating loved ones. The Wildlife Trusts are also urging dog owners to stick to the footpaths and keep pets on leads under 2m until August to protect ground-nesting birds.

What to enjoy in April: our bluebell woods; the dawn chorus; glow-worm larvae; orange tip butterflies; the arrival of swallows, house-martins, willow warblers, blackcaps and possibly nightjars from overseas; nests already cradling eggs and hungry hatchlings; kingfishers darting into riverbank tunnels (angled slightly downwards so their eggs don't roll out); female newts individually wrapping each egg (of roughly 200) inside a leaf of an aquatic plant for protection; flowering wood sorrell, 'the Allelujah Plant' in time for Easter Sunday.

What you can do:

- Avoid operating pond pumps and fountains in spring. Plant water forget-me-nots to encourage newt 'egg-wrapping' in the future.

- Offer high-protein food and fresh water daily to support breeding bird species and the last hedgehogs emerging from hibernation.

- Keep your eyes peeled, following recent sightings of the thought-to-be extinct Large Tortoiseshell locally, in Sussex.

- As its also peak worm activity month, so as an alternative or addition to our new food-waste collection bins, why not consider building a worm tower? Bury a section of drainpipe (30cm by 50cm) with drilled holes every 5cm in a raised bed (keeping 10cm of pipe above soil level). Add a lid, a handful of compost and a few worms to start, then drop small kitchen scraps in weekly (vegetable peelings, tea bags, fruit cores, crushed eggshells), and the worms should come in and out through the holes, eat the scraps and carry castings back to fertilize your surrounding soil.

May your hope rise with Easter and all new life this spring!