April Wildlife Guide
With more wildlife appearing, know what to look out for and what you can do to help!
The month of April doesn’t just bring showers, with spring in full swing you’ll soon begin seeing plenty more wildlife in the skies and your garden so keep an eye out for some beautiful creatures such as birds migrating back for the warmer months.
This wildlife guide for April will talk you through a few tips and ideas on how you can help your local wildlife in whatever area you live.
Table of Contents
Wild Birds
April is a time of huge change for wild birds in the UK, with the departure of our winter visitors such as Fieldfares and the return of summer visitors such as Warblers and Martins.
The return of the Dawn Chorus signals the start of the breeding season, however birds can be heard throughout the year, but on spring and early summer mornings they seem to be louder and more persistent. Singing draws a lot of energy, so the early bird song you can hear strongly is often the males. Females tend to choose their mate that produces the strongest and best song, as this suggests that the male can provide security such as defending territory and raising offspring. Once a mate has been found you will find they song to be less frequent – however they will still produce song to establish and maintain their territory
Birds you might hear at this time include robins, blackbirds, wrens, song thrushes, blackcaps, chiffchaffs, chaffinches, blue tits, great tits and coal tits. At this time of year, birds are searching for a mate and building nests in preparation for the next generation.
Although Robins are usually the first to begin the Dawn Chorus, keep an eye out for nests as Blue Tit’s and Blackbirds’ eggs are usually laid through April and into early May.
Sightings
At the start of the season, be sure to submit any sightings of House Martins to the British Trust for Ornithology due to the recent decline of their population in the UK.
Mammals
Following the month of March and the spouts of warmer weather, Hedgehogs will be active and beginning to build up body fat once again that has been lost over winter. Hedgehogs are increasingly needing more support from us as they are now on the protected species list, so try to leave out food and water if you can – they love meat-based wet dog or cat food, and dry cat/kitten food is preferred also. Most of their food will come from the insects and worms in the area, so the food you supply only help to supplement their diets.
Contrary to popular belief, milk isn’t a good choice for hedgehogs – it is quite bad in fact, so be sure to stick to plain water when leaving out food.
Bats have now largely come out of hibernation and will now be hungry and active after a long winter. Consider putting up a bat box, as it gives these night-time creatures somewhere safe to roost, raise their pups and sleep during the day.
Bees & Insects
Solitary bees (Mason Bees) are now beginning to emerge, and for the next few months they will need a place where they can nest. Consider placing Bee hotels or creating tight nooks where they can make their nests – be sure to place these away from your home as to avoid any un-wanted intruders.
You’ll now begin to see white butterflies appearing and they’ll soon be hungry for those garden aphids, so make sure to leave any that you find on plant stems around the gardens! Consider setting up a ladybird tower to give the ladybirds a safe place to nest in your garden, away from bird predators.
