Don’t forget about NO MOW MAY this month! After a tough, wet, year in 2024 for many of our wild friends, they need our help more than ever to bounce back. We have had some promising warm weather to bring in Spring 2025, so let’s maximise the benefits of this and allow our local flowers to bloom! Flowers such as ground ivy, white and red deadnettles, clovers as well as daisies and dandelions should all be super common to see. Can you spot any rarer species?
Pollinators are everywhere already! Many butterflies have been hibernating through the winter, mostly as pupae in chrysalises—like the Peacock—or as adults, such as the Small Tortoiseshell. Now, with warmer days arriving, they're beginning to emerge. Brimstones are already out in abundance. These crisp, pale butterflies are among the easiest to tell apart by sex: the males are a bright lemony yellow, while the females are a much paler white.
Speaking of overwintering, now is a great time to put out your bee hotels if you haven’t already! You can make your own too! Here’s a guide for how to set up your own bee hotels for adults click here, and you can make your own for kids.
Many birds are also very active, wrens, skylarks, wagtails, swallows and finches are all out and about. Can you spot any birds that look like they are building nests? Some make nests from moss and feathers, while others use mud! Make sure to be careful of ground nesting birds now that we are coming into nesting season. Species such as corn buntings, lapwing and curlew nest in the middle of fields and are easily disturbed by humans and dogs running through their habitat.
A super fun activity that is also really helpful for some birds is making mud pies! If the warm weather continues then swallows and swifts will be struggling to find damp muddy areas to make their nests from. You can have fun helping them by mixing up your own mud with a bit of water and leaving them out as mud pies for the birds to use.