Features

Each Minute Sweeter than Before...

With a little poetic help, Martin Brennan welcomes the awakening of spring

"Spring cometh in with all her hues and smells
In freshness breathing over hills and dells" (Clare)

Spring is a time of joy and renewal "when the earth upsprings from slumber …[and]… moves the unawakened forest, /Clothing with leaves its branches bare and bleak…" (Shelley). The countryside is transformed by this covering of fresh new greenery. Trees and shrubs which displayed their bony framework in silhouette against pale winter skies now merge to fill gaps and bulk up hedgerows and woodlands unifying the landscape into a great mass of green food factories. Natural activity is frenetic and much energy is invested in the process of re-growth and re-generation. Birds are on the move globally and nesting, flowers bloom, insects become active, mammals produce young, bats and hedgehogs emerge from hibernation and frogs spawn.

Loud birdsong

And "the happy time of singing birds is come" (Clare) providing musical accompaniment to the visual spectacle with their cheerful daily dawn chorus. This energetic and almost overwhelming outpouring is one of the most characteristic and uplifting features of spring, as birds perform their individual signature songs which combine to create an orchestra of sound that saturates every habitat and emanates from almost every suitable space. It is delivered from chosen perches to declare and retain territories, impress and attract partners and warn off competitors.

This very vocal avian manifestation of the breeding season through the courtship ritual of song is made even more interesting by the diversity of its participants. In addition to the more familiar resident songbirds, the sweetest songster amongst which is the blackbird, "now with psalter clear,/sings the ritual of the day" (J.M. Plunkett.), are the numerous small returning migratory species such as warblers. The many species of this family, small, pale-coloured birds, about robin size, are often difficult to observe given their skulking habits.

Being rather similar in appearance they are more easily identified by their different songs. Willow Warbler with its beautiful, liquid, lilting song, can be found in most hedgerows and woodlands. It nests on the ground in grassy tussocks. Sedge Warbler delivers its very varied, disorganised burst of song from reed beds and willow scrub in wetlands, and the Grasshopper Warbler, of scrub and dense vegetation, delivers its most distinctive song, resembling that of the grasshopper, in a long continuous, monotonous tone, even at night.

Chiffchaff, with its two syllable notes, giving it its name, and Blackcap (male with black cap, female brown), with its loud Dunnock-like song are to be found in more mature broadleaved woodland where their songs are generally delivered from perches in taller trees and shrubs. Whitethroat, with its chattering song prefers more open country, with scrub and nettle banks. Other species of warbler occur also but are more limited in distribution.

Returning visitors

The familiar Swallows, which nest along rafters inside buildings, also add to the chorus of sound with their twittering, often delivered from telegraph wires and on the wing. House Martins which nest externally beneath eaves, Sand Martins which nest in burrows and the town-dwelling Swifts, which announce their arrival later in May, by their screaming, often low-altitude flights, all return to breed and spend the summer with us adding their vocal contributions and providing continuous aerial displays.

Many other migratory birds also return to breed here each summer. Among these are the Cuckoo, regarded by many as the true harbinger of Spring, Corncrake, Wheatear, a bird of hilly countryside/heath and Spotted Flycatcher, with its habit of darting from a favoured perch to catch insects. Long distance travellers, the elegant, gull-like terns and a number of waders visit also.

Declining numbers

Many of our relatively common birds are of conservation concern due to declining numbers. Of those mentioned above, Corncrake and Roseate tern, are on the Irish Red List of such birds. These have experienced a decline in breeding populations of more than 50% in the last 25 years. Of the remainder of those alluded to above Cuckoo, Swallow, Sand Martin, Spotted Flycatcher and four further species of terns are Amber Listed - ie. those whose breeding populations have declined by 25%-50% in the last 25 years. An alarming total of 95 birds are on these combined two lists. Declining invertebrate availability, agricultural practices, loss of and pressures on habitats and climatic conditions along migratory routes contribute to declining populations. This is cause for serious anxiety, requiring reflection on the impacts of our lifestyles on deteriorating environmental quality, and on the creatures with which we co-exist, and which also have a function in environmental maintenance.

Awakening insects

With warmer days insects are stimulated into action. Hibernating ladybirds which over-winter in clusters, often under bark, become active. Brimstones are one of the earliest of the butterfly family on the wing. Being relatively large, with angular pale yellow wings, they are easily identified. Usually found along woodland edges and shaded clearings their distribution reflects the distribution of buckthorn and alder buckthorn on which their caterpillars are entirely dependant as food plants. Adults feed on a range of flowering plants including primroses. Small Tortoiseshell butterflies which, like Brimstone, hibernate in their adult form, are the species most likely to be found in curtain crevices awaiting increased spring temperatures to spur them to activity. Fertilized queen bumblebees and wasps emerge from hibernation to start new colonies. Bumblebees provide a valuable pollination service. Worker wasps gather large numbers of caterpillars and aphids to feed to their growing larvae, in return for which they produce sweet saliva on which the workers feed. Later in the year as the colony breaks up and this source of food no longer exists they seek sweet alternatives and become a nuisance. Workers and drones ultimately die leaving only queens to survive the winter and start the next generation.

Mad March hares

Many of our most appealing mammals breed and produce young at this time of year. Fox cubs are born in March/April. Badger cubs are born earlier, February and March, following a gestation period of about 7/8 weeks. Although peak badger mating season is April/May, implantation of the partly developed group of cells (blastocyst) is delayed for up to nine months, usually until late December. A birth chamber is prepared. Old bedding is taken out for airing or is discarded and replaced. Cubs are born blind but with their facial stripes already visible. Young Pine Martens and Stoats (both called kits) are born about late March/April and April/May respectively, following a gestation period of 30 days in both instances. Like badgers they also employ delayed implantation, with mating season from May to July for Stoats and August/September for Martens. This mechanism enables timing of births to optimize available food supplies and weather conditions.

The "mad march hare" is particularly associated with spring, although the breeding season extends from January to September. This reputation arises from the hare's courtship behaviour, which involves squabbles between females (jills) and their suitors and between competing males (jacks), characterized by boxing with the fore-legs and kicking with the hind legs.

Following a gestation period of about 50 days, young hares (leverets), unlike rabbit kittens, are born with their eyes open and fully furred. The differing state of development reflects the fact that rabbits nest underground with the protection afforded by lined nesting chambers. Hares in contrast give birth over ground in shallow depressions, where grassy vegetation is the only protection from the elements. Rabbits also breed throughout the year, although most pregnancies occur between April and June, with a gestation period of about 30 days.

Spring time activity as exemplified by the visual display of vegetative growth and regeneration, the melodious song of breeding birds and the more secretive activities of mammals, hidden, until their young emerge to explore the lush landscape are a reminder of the exuberance of nature in this season of joy. As Wordsworth wrote "It is the first mild day of March/ each minute sweeter than before..." There is a blessing in the air which seems a sense of joy to yield he says and advocates giving a day to idleness:

"One moment now may give us more
Than years of toiling reason:
Our minds shall drink at every pore
The spirit of the season..."

So let us share in the joy and cheer of our fellow creatures, appreciate their contribution to our lives and contemplate what a dreary a place it would be without them.

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