By: Bruno Blackstone
Submitted: 2012-02-15 15:10:40 | Word Count: 615
Like lots of people I eagerly anticipate the beginning of spring due to the fact it indicates that nature is waking up once more following the winter months and it promises lots of pleasurable times exploring and enjoying the great outdoors. Yet when is the 1st day of Spring and what are the signs that promise to you that it is more or less here?
Commonly Spring is linked with hearing the first cuckoo, noted for its distinctive call and unique lifecycle. In fact, it is a long way from being the first of the migrant birds to come back nevertheless it is certainly one of the first to fly away again, starting back to Africa in August. Cuckoos are, of course, now uncommon in the United Kingdom and no one is really sure whether this is as a result of the very specialised circumstances they need for breeding or issues back in Africa. What ever, it is clear to me that we should have a better signal that spring is here or at least coming.
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So at which point does Spring begin? The answer to that problem does rather count on where you are. In the United Kingdom Spring takes approximately 8 weeks to travel from the south coast of England to the north coast of Scotland. That is basically walking pace.
For the author the earliest signal that Spring is on its way is the knocking of the woodpecker. Here in the North of England the male begins to mark out his territory and encourage mates in February. The local birds also grow to be more vocal for the same purpose. Great tits in particular seem to generate a great array of great tuneful songs at this point.
Before too long, naturally, we will see the daffodils and narcissi as they carpet our semi wild areas. And then we will start to notice the first of those diminutive but tuneful birds the warblers. We typically notice the first chiff chaff by the end of March followed a couple of weeks later by the Willow Warbler. These two birds are almost impossible to tell apart except by way of their songs. The chiff chaff gets its name from its specific call whereas the willow warbler has a charming call which seems to depict the spirit of the English countryside.
The brand new growth, the bright greens and the different kinds of blossom are also all among the signals for me that Spring really is here. Two events, however, in the end do verify to me that we can officially pronounce that Spring is here; both of them are the arrival of particular birds. The first is the swifts as they dive and swoop through the air to catch flies and then land on telegraph wires for a rest. The second is the arrival, in the stream at the bottom of our garden of the Spotted Flycatcher from Africa. It is a small bird with a dark back and practically white front that flies down to the stream to catch flying insects from just above the water. A wonderful bird and intriguing to see as it flits up and down from its percing place. A certain sign that it isn't going to be very long before I should be lighting my first barbecue of the year!
