The start of spring

Could Valentine’s Day mark the start of spring? According to folklore, 14 February is the day when birds choose their mates. Ornithologist and wildlife specialist Peter Holden MBE, who came in for a webchat in May 2012, talks about the birds and the bees. 

Folklore

Testosterone is rising! If you go out of doors now you can discover some of the clues that prove spring is really on its way: finding the first insects or watching the courtship behaviour of a local robin.

Folklore says Valentine’s Day is when the birds choose their mates, as expressed in this old couplet from Exmoor:

“This is the day the birds choose their mates
And I choose you if I’m not too late.”

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote more seriously:

“For this was on Saint Valentine's Day,
When every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”

Unfortunately, the origins of ancient sayings are shrouded in mystery and confusion. The loss of 10 days when we changed from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar in 1582 would put the original date of St Valentine’s Day in medieval times around 24 February, when the days are slightly longer and the weather tends to be more clement!

Robins

All the same, it's a nice idea and mid-February still has many signs of spring if you are prepared to look and listen. Between the bouts of harsh weather this year, I have been aware of quite a lot of bird song. Robins, of course, sing all through the winter - but on recent mild days their song has been brighter and stronger than it was before Christmas, and already I have seen some territorial displays of males.

Male and female robins look the same, so it is their behaviour that sorts out the girls from the boys, with the male usually claiming the higher perch and fluffing out his red feathers - like the one in the photol, which I saw this year at Titchwell in Norfolk on 4 February. These early pairings may break down with the resumption of hard weather, but if the weather stays mild there could be a nest by March.

Blue Tits

Blue Tits often start to explore my nest boxes around Valentine’s Day. They will not be nesting for many weeks, but courtship has started, pairs are forming, territories being claimed and they become familiar with potential nest sites. Several years ago the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) introduced the concept of ‘National Nestbox Week’ around this time - research shows that this is a good time to be putting up boxes; any later in the year and the results may be less successful.

The Great Tit

Among the other birds starting to sing again now is the Great Tit - one of the easiest songs to recognise. The books say its sounds like ‘teach-er, teach-er’ but I remember it sounding exactly like a squeaky bicycle pump! Great Tits can have quite an extensive repertoire, with the older males having more tunes and being more successful at attracting females - the Elvis effect!

Ducks

By mid-February many ducks will already be paired up. Mallards will have grown their bright breeding plumage in the autumn and their courtship started before Christmas. By now most resident pairs have sorted themselves out and may nest early if weather permits. If you are near a lake or river with wildfowl, watch out for the head tossing and back arching associated with courtship.

Mute Swans

One of the romantic images associated with Valentine’s Day is that of a pair of Mute Swans – with breasts and bills touching, and graceful ‘s’ necks often forming a perfect heart shape. Swans are remarkably faithful, with the same pair staying together year after year and cementing their pair bond with this display each spring. Nest building can start early, with the male pulling up reeds and grasses, then passing them to the female, which takes on the role of constructing the massive nest.

Nest building

The division between the sexes when it comes to nest building is often interesting. Male Wrens, for example, do the initial work of choosing a site and often construct a number (sometimes as many as 10!) ‘cock-nests’, which is the outer framework, and from these the female will choose one that she will finish and use for her brood. I do have some male sympathy for the Barred Warbler (rarely seen in Britain) where the male also constructs several ‘cock-nests’, only for the female to ignore them and build her own!

Challenges

For some birds February brings extra challenges. Resident Blackbirds may start to sing and will be driving away trespassers. However, at this time of year there are many additional Blackbirds escaping from northern European winter weather and competition can be fierce. Sometimes you can witness sexual differences, with the black males chasing away other males and brown females chasing other females - this is a particularly good piece of behaviour to suggest to children to look out for in their own gardens.

If a pair of Blackbirds gets their territory and they experience a spell of mild weather in late February or early March, they may be encouraged to start nest building and egg laying. They will need luck and a prolonged mild spell if they have any chance of rearing any young from these early broods.

Mistle Thrushes are also in song now, with one or two birds fiercely defending a territory that contains any remaining berries. These berries become increasingly attractive as the berry-crop becomes depleted elsewhere and they have to spend even more time chasing intruders such as local Blackbirds and Song Thrushes. However, sometimes they fall foul of an itinerant flock of aggressive Fieldfares or Waxwings that are attracted to these ‘larders’ and overwhelm the owners.

Cuckoos

Just when I think I'm starting to understand the world of birds that surround us there comes along a piece of information that stops me short. It happened again last week, when I read that some of our Cuckoos that are being monitored in their winter quarters in the tropics of Central Africa have started to move north - they are already setting out on their journey that will take them across the Sahara, the Mediterranean and across Europe to reach our shores. They already know spring is coming, even if we are not so sure. What is this trigger that reaches them in their food rich home, deep in the Congo, that will drive them northwards? They will be among the millions of birds that will be heading here in time for spring,
and they will bring their colour and song to enrich our
countryside .

So much for the birds, but what about the bees?

I am always surprised how early the first honeybees can be seen. Last year I took photographs of some early crocuses, and when I looked at the pictures I found deep down inside many of the blooms there were honeybees. The bees were covered in pollen, acquired during their search for nectar, and with them were several tiny flies – the pollinators were already at work.

As for other insects, there may not be long to wait. Some of our butterflies hibernate as adults, and on warm days in February may take to the wing. The first are often the russet brown Commas with their ragged-looking wings. But they are not really ragged - they are symmetrically misshapen so they look like winter leaves when the insect is at rest. Orangeish small Tortoishells and yellow Brimstones are all early fliers and another herald of warmer days to come.

Activities for the start of spring

• Make or buy a nest box and get it up quickly. Instructions are on the RSPB and BTO websites - or buy from reliable source like a nature reserve where the dimensions will be correct.
• Learning bird song is hard - but start in February when there are few in song and aim to learn a new one each week.
• Look out for Blackbirds establishing territories - do males only chase males and females chase females or is this a myth?
• Count the bees as you walk round the garden: how many do you see each day and when do most of them appear?
• Make a note of early emerging Butterflies - which species is seen first?
• Watch out for courtship behaviour. Mute Swans and Great Crested Grebes have lovely early spring displays, but Robins, Dunnocks and Blue Tits can all be seen displaying closer to our homes.