Naughty March

I have three words for you: never. trust. March. Forget ‘mad March’, the third month of the year is just plain naughty. While the UK basked in sunshine in the middle of the month, was I the only one remembering what had happened in 2021? The poor cherry tree in the garden basked in the 20C March sunshine last year too before being covered in snow about a week later, its blossoms frozen in time. And all those poor butterflies – where do the brimstones and small tortoiseshells go when they emerge from their hibernation only to be plunged back into the dark and cold?

So I hope we’ll all agree that it’s a cheeky little month. The warmth brought signs of spring that we all enjoyed – I wouldn’t really have changed that – and the hour we lost is now bringing much-appreciated lighter evenings. But, as these cold evenings also remind us, you can’t trust it. Everrrrr.

This blew my mind

I’m going to dive straight on in. It might not surprise you to know that I’m such a geek these days that I’ve even signed up to the UK’s best birding magazine – British Birds. There were a couple of articles in this month’s issue that honestly baffled me. One was about a common redstart/whinchat hybrid that had been spotted in Shetland. The other was about a collared dove that decided to feed a wood pigeon chick. These cross-species interactions blew my mind, but redstarts apparently produce the most frequent ‘intrageneric passerine hybrids between clearly separated species’ (‘A presumed Common Redstart x Whinchat hybrid in Shetland’, British Birds Vol 115, March 2022). As for the collared dove, I ain’t sure about that one but how interesting!

Speaking of which, another animal caught my attention because of its behaviour around other species – a Scottish common dolphin that has learnt to copy the clicks of the harbour porpoises that she lives alongside. The article mentions that ‘adoptions’ in the dolphin/cetacean world aren’t unknown either. And, to come full circle, bottlenose dolphins have apparently hybridized with at least 10 species in captivity and the wild… Whaatttttt!

A few little art gifts

March brought the start of the birthday flurry on my side of the family. I’m trying to challenge myself this year to organise my creativity and prioritise art gifts for family and friends. Long-tailed tits featured in a present for my grandma’s 81st birthday and spring flowers inspired some Mothers’ Day gifts for my mum, grandma and great aunt. Definitely inspired by the warmer days of the month!

Gadwalls and Stock Doves

As I wandered around Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve earlier in the month (more below!) I found myself trying to work out what on earth these ducks in front of me were. Picture a female mallard, but with something just not quite right about the pattern of her feathers. A bit like a robot – they can look very similar to human beings, but you just know something ain’t right. Oh and she had an orange bill (totally different to a female mallard!) The male she was with was grey all over with a black tail. Definitely not a mallard. After some research, I realised they were gadwalls – ducks I’d never seen before!

And they were ‘joined’ on this visit by some stock doves. Now, stock doves look an awful lot like your usual city pigeon, but these ones at the reserve definitely aren’t – they’re woodland birds and they’re very pretty. I particularly love the green patches on their necks.

A trip to Brandon Marsh

And to finish this off, I want to take you back to the start of the month. Early in March, I had a Monday-trip to Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve near Rugby in Warwickshire. I went to this reserve a number of times last year during my wild challenge. It’s a very special place and – having just worked my final Saturday for a while – I thought I’d treat myself.

The journey to the reserve is always a bit painful. Any locals reading this will know that the Fosseway from Stow-on-the-Wold to the Rugby area is far from fun. But I was adamant I was going to make the journey to the gravel pits on my day off. And I’m so glad I did – I had a long list of sights including lots of ducks: tufted ducks, gadwalls, shovelers, teals, shelducks, great crested grebes.

I’ve written about gadwalls and stock doves above, but the muntjac was another highlight. These deer are extremely small and I heard an odd shuffling coming from a tiny bit of scrub as I walked around one of the larger pools. I stopped and looked. Staring back at me was the muntjac. It didn’t seem afraid, surprisingly. It just stood there munching on some greenery, looking at me. I said hello and then left it alone as it disappeared into the undergrowth. I hope it enjoyed the sunshine when it came.

I hope your March was ok – here’s my full wild list