Spring into Spring wildlife activities

Get a spring in your step by trying out a new wildlife activity as the weather start to change. Taking time outside can help with our wellbeing and all these activities can be done with little to no equipment, keeping the price down for any new wildlife watchers. 

Spring into a walk - Out for a walk? Take your time looking for the new wildflowers popping up this time of year. During the spring lots of different types of flowers emerge and by using a wildlife ID guide you can identify the ones you spot. Wildflowers vary in shape, size, colour and smell, the guides are essential as a lot of wildflowers look very similar to each other. Take a photo to check later and pay attention to every small amount of detail.  

Eating out with nature - Picnics are a nice way of spending quality time with family and friends, there are lots of places you can go for a picnic and all you need are the following: a picnic blanket, food and drink, baskets to hold the food in, sunscreen, hats and anything else you want to bring for a picnic. Whilst out for lunch spend time watching for wildlife around you. Share your wildlife sightings on the website or app.   

Garden wildlife watching - Bird watching in your garden with a bird feeder is another good activity to do in the springtime, by making bird feeders you will see the difference in the number of birds that start hanging around that area which the bird feeders are placed. You can then use an identifying guide to identify all the birds which you have seen in your garden. Check out online guide to save the cost of buying books or head to the library to borrow.  

Setting off to the beach - Rock pooling is a hobby which can be done throughout the spring but best to wait for warmer weather and wet hands are cold! Looking under rocks and in pools on a low tide you can find all sorts of sea creatures such as small fish, shrimp, crabs, starfish, snails! Be sure to put them back in water at the end and turn any rocks the way you found them. You can get a rock pooling kit as well to make your experience a lot more fun, some kits also comes with an identifying guide so you can name your findings. 

Spot wall lizards emerging - This time of year, you will be able to spot wall lizards emerging from the walls, a fun activity to do during the summer would be to try and spot as many as you can and the person who spots the most gets a prize – maybe who gets to buy the ice cream!  

Easy pollinator patch - Making a pollinator patch can be easy by taking part in No Mow May. No Mow May is a conservation initiative first popularized by PlantLife an organization based in the United Kingdom, its goal is to allow grass to grow unmown for the month of May, creating habitat and forage for early season pollinators.  

Put out a pond in your garden - Build a bucket pond, you can do this by purchasing all the thing you would like in your pond such as the bucket, you will need a watertight bucket such as a metal bucket, resin tub or ceramic pot then you will need to place bricks at the bottom of the tub to ensure that it does not get pushed over by any wind, next you can add water plants to the bucket, and then water should be added after the bricks and plants have all been placed tap water is fine to be used 

Author: Morgan Mattioli February 2023, Highlands College Student 

Photo credit: Mike Smith, Female blackcap