Nature Notes March

A cold month with a mixture of heavy rain, wind and wintry flurries of snow. The last week in the month brought dry cold weather, with a few sunny days. Again, a quiet month on site due to the unseasonal weather conditions.

SIGHTINGS
Birds:   Magpies, Carrion Crows, Buzzard, Heron, Stock Doves, Wood Pigeons, Black-headed Gulls, Green/Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Bullfinches, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Siskins, Brambling, Stonechat, Nuthatches, Treecreeper, Goldcrests, Wrens, Robins, Blackbirds, Dunnocks, Song Thrushes, Blackcaps, Coal/Blue/Great/Long-tailed Tits.
Butterflies:   Brimstone.
Plants in flower:   Gorse.
Mammals:   Grey Squirrels.
Insects:   Buff-tailed Bees.

In the last week of the month, a male and female Blackcap were seen along the Hazelwood boundary having just returned from overwintering in warmer climes.
Several Brimstone butterflies were seen on brighter days, as were Buff-tailed Bees.
On the last day of the month a male Brambling was spotted, surprisingly still in the south of the country not yet having returned to breeding areas in the north or Iceland.
Pairing and mating of birds was very evident throughout the month.