Early Hints of Spring!
Who would have thought that at the start of last week Club Wild were out and about in the area around the school looking for the early signs of Spring. In January, February and March, Mother Nature gives us some clues to show that change is in the air… Spring is coming!
Over by the football pitch we found clumps of snowdrops to make us smile. Snowdrops are one of the earliest bulbs to flower. We spotted bluebell and other shoots emerging from the ground. These pop up early in Spring to make the most of the light before they are shaded by the trees as they get their leaves. On most trees now, we can see the leaves getting ready to unfurl from their buds and on some of the elder trees the leaves have already burst.
We saw bright yellow catkins dangling from the branches of alder and hazel trees. Sometimes called lamb’s tails, the catkins are the male flowers and if you look closely beside them you might see the tiny pink female flowers.
We can also tell that spring is on the way by listening and watching the birds. It is like the birds are singing to tell everyone that Spring will be with us soon and soon they will be busy building nests. We can help the birds build their nests by making nesting bundles. We collected natural materials such as dry grasses, seed heads, moss, feathers, sheep wool and mixed it together with pet fur and wool cut into very short lengths, less than 2cm long. Using forked twigs we attached the nesting bundles to the sticks using twine and hung them from trees, climbing up to make sure they were safe from predators. The birds will now be able to choose what materials they line their nest with and maybe we will see some cosy nests with our bits of coloured wool.
With all the snow over the last week it is especially important to help the wildlife in any way we can. Once the snow has melted, maybe you could look out for the early signs that show, nature is waking up, Spring is on its way.
