After the gloom of the winter, spring has arrived, and gosh are we glad to welcome it here. Don’t get me wrong, I love a cold frozen, clear blue sky, wintery day as much as a warm summer’s day, but unfortunately the winter we’ve just left, was more grey and wet, then blue and frosty!

Turning to the start of spring, this can be a time of year for reflection and looking ahead to new beginnings. Lots of people welcome spring with Nature-based rituals: opportunities to re-connect with our environment around us, can be achieved by Welcoming the Dawn – waking up early to see the sunrise, symbolizing the shift to warmer weather, and increased daylight hours. Other rituals could be walking barefoot, grounding yourself, feeling the earth, and shaking off the cold of the winter.

If an energising spring walk takes your fancy (we’d suggest walking boots rather than barefoot!), there is plenty to see across the nature reserve. On warmer spring days, our very early butterflies can start to be seen on the wing. Adults of Peacock butterflies can emerge from hibernation as early as the beginning of March, and can be observed on patches of bare soil, warming in the sun. Peacock butterflies seen later in the summer, from July onwards, will be a new generation emerging and are much more active than the spring showing. Brimstones, Commas and Orange-tip butterflies are all species to look out for over spring.

This time of year, you will probably start to notice lots of hoverflies and bee-flies: one species which is very active during spring is the pretty Dark-edged bee-fly, which I find likes to hang in the air in front of you – almost as if they are inspecting you. It is our largest and most common bee-fly species in the UK, and it even buzzes like a bee.

Across the chalk downland, flowers like violets and cowslips will also be making a start. Within the beech woodland, botany can also be seen to start waking up. Pretty ancient woodland indicator species like Wood anemones, can be spotted carpeting the ground, particularly near Cherry Tree corner car park. This plant is valuable to a whole host of pollinators, including in particular, species of hoverflies which are considered one of its primary pollinators.

Whatever your spring ritual, may it be filled with fresh air, warm sunshine, and plenty of butterflies.

Stephanie Wilson – Senior Reserve Manager