March may not always feel springlike, but the length of each day has been increasing for well over two months now and many plants and animals have been responding.

Air temperature is also important and our recent cold weather has slowed the flowering of many early spring flowers and dampened the singing of some of our resident species.

Colour in the Woods

Despite this, clumps of sweet violets have been out for a while, the yellow flowers of lesser celandine are appearing in the hedgerows and in our woods primroses and even the first wood anemomes are bursting into flower.

The race is now on for woodland plants to produce leaves and flowers before the trees open their leaves and the canopy starts to block out the light.

Take a walk or two in your local wood and see how rapidly the sequence of spring flowers appear.

The Sound of Spring

Whereas song thrushes were singing in late January and chaffinches soon after, blackbirds waited until late February but are now in full song, as are many other resident species.

Blue tits and great tits have suffered two poor breeding seasons and numbers are relatively low, but long tailed tits have been doing well. This month they turn their attention to nest-building, so look for pairs instead of the flocks of a dozen or so birds that roamed the countryside through the winter.

Tree creepers also seem to be more apparent than in previous years.

For those with access to Dorset heathland, some Dartford warblers have survived the cold spell, stonechats and yellowhammers are reappearing and if you are lucky, you may hear the wonderful fluty downward spiral of a song from the wood lark!

The Migrants Arrive

Mid to late March usually heralds the arrival of the first of our common summer migrant birds.

Choose a sunny day almost anywhere in the county and a country walk should give you the pleasure of hearing your first chiffchaff, a small leaf warbler that repeats it's name as it flits from tree to tree.

Alternatively, a bracing walk along the Jurassic coast may reveal a newly arrived wheatear with it's upright stance and white rump as it searches for food in the short grass.

Butterflies and Bumbles

Sunny days bring out some of our overwintering butterflies, although as yet, I've only seen a few red admirals and brimstones.

Peacocks, small tortoiseshells and commas should also appear, although small tortoiseshells have been scarce for the last two or three years.

In addition, Bumblebees will be looking for spring flowers in our gardens as temperatures rise.

The Mad March Hare

Finally, how can we talk of happenings in March without mentioning mad March hares? On a recent visit to our Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve at Kimmeridge, two hares were boxing and chasing one another in a nearby ploughed field.

There is still time to get out and about to witness this spectacular event on favoured downland locations around the county.

So, get your boots on, put your best foot forward and see what Dorset can offer you as spring bursts out once again!

Written by John Wright
Dorset Wildlife Trust Member & Volunteer

Primroses

Wood Anemones

Brimstone Butterfly

Peacock Butterfly

The Mad March Hare!