What to look for in APRIL
Although
spring is well on the way this can often be a cold month, but it is typically
dry with an average rainfall of just 52mm!!
Plants
beginning to flower include Stork's-bill,
Ivy-leaved Toadflax, Sea Kale and Sea
Campion. The flowers of the willow
species are a great attraction to many insects, especially bees and wasps. Several species of butterfly should
emerge during the month including Speckled
Wood, Orange-tip and Peacock.
Most
of the summer migrant birds will start to arrive during this month - Common Sandpiper, Little Tern, Cuckoo,
Swift, House Martin, Whinchat, Reed and
Sedge Warblers, Lesser and Common Whitethroats and Garden Warbler. Many
of these species will waste no time in setting up territories and nesting. Scarcer migrants to look out for
include Black Redstart, Firecrest,
Garganey and Little Gull.
Many birds may be on the move offshore, especially during easterly or southerly winds. Flocks of Brent Geese may still be heading up the Channel, as well as Common Scoters and smaller numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers and other ducks. Waders will also be on the move and may include the odd Avocet. The Whimbrel passage usually starts mid-month and the roost near Ternery Pool often reaches a maximum of about 400 by the end. Bar-tailed Godwits also arrive in good numbers during the last week of the month.
On
still days the clouds of midges will form great clouds over bushes, providing
food for some of the birds. On warm days the Marsh Frogs will be singing (or is it laughing ?) from the ditches,
ponds and pits. This is also the time that the newts will be courting in the water that doesn’t have many fish to
eat them!
