Signs of spring

1.

6 SIGNS THAT SPRING HAS ARRIVED;
FROM THE WORLD OF WILDLIFE

2.

FROGS AND TOADS

3.

FACTS ABOUT TOADS AND FROGS
• One of the most familiar signs of spring is the appearance of jelly-like
spawn in ponds. In spring, frogs and toads emerge and begin to spawn
following hibernation. Frog spawn is easily differentiated from toad spawn
because it appears in large balls or clumps, whereas toad spawn is found
in long chains attached to plants and weeds. Male frogs will return to the
same pond in which they matured and will continue to return to the
same spot for the rest of their lives. If you’d like frogs to keep returning to
your pond each year, make sure you keep a small gap or hole in fences
so that they can access your garden.
• While immense balls of spawn may make a pond seem overcrowded –
as much of 90% of tadpoles are being lost to predators – the actual
number of eggs that survive to adulthood will be a fraction of the spawn
you see. It takes 13-16 weeks for tadpoles to mature and, as spring
progresses into summer, tiny froglets can be found leaving the pond
around June. That said, there is evidence that frogs and toads are
breeding earlier, which could be due to milder weather in winter months,
so spawn can appear in the pond as early as February.

4.

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND
Familiar signs – well-known/ recognized
To follow hibernation - to hibernate – to sleep
To appear in large balls or clumps
To mature – to become an adult
A fraction of – a tiny amount of
A froglet – a small frog/ an immature frog
Due to milder weather – to introduce the reason
as early as February

5.

A CLUMP OF
• A clump of things such as trees or plants is a small
group of them growing together.
• a clump of trees bordering a side road
• A group / a cluster / a bunch

6.

MIGRATING BIRDS
• As the weather warms up, many of our migrant birds
return to the UK and chiffchaffs are usually one of the first
in March. They can be heard singing their names in a
repetitive ‘chiff chaff’ song from the tops of trees.
Swallows, cuckoos and house martins usually arrive in
April, followed by swifts in early May. Many migrating
birds are arriving as much as two weeks early compared
to a century ago and are also leaving later. Warmer
weather is likely to be the cause of early arrivals, while
late leavers could be due to females laying more than
one clutch of eggs, thanks to the longer breeding
season. Birds such as the blackcap which are arriving
later and leaving later, are increasing in number, which
would support this hypothesis.

7.

WORK ON PRONUNCIATION
Migrant - /maɪgrənt/
Repetitive -/ rɪpetɪtɪv/ monotonous , boring, dull
Hypothesis- /haɪpɒθɪsɪs/- theory/ assumption
Minty - (ˈmɪnti/ having the smell of mint
Larvae- /ˈlɑːvi:/ an immature free-living form of many animals
that develops into a different adult form by metamorphosis
• Floral - / flɔːrəl/ contains flowers
Identification - (aɪdentɪfɪkeɪʃən/
Indicate - (ɪndɪkeɪt/ to show/ to suggest
Component - (kəmpoʊnənt/part/ piece/ unit/ item
Series - (sɪəriːz/ a chain/ a course/ a sequence

8.

BUMBLEBEES
Bumblebees

9.

• The first bumblebees start to return in March and these
will be queens who have survived the winter months and
are in search of spring flowers. Bombus terrestris, the bufftailed bumblebee queen, is the largest UK species and is
usually the first bee to emerge. This is the first stage of the
bumblebee lifecycle as the queen feeds and begins to
search for a suitable nesting site such as a hole in the
ground, bird box or even under garden sheds. She will
lay her first clutch of eggs and these will become the
female worker bees. The larvae are fed by the queen so
throughout spring you will see queen bumblebees busily
collecting pollen to feed their growing workers, who will
emerge as adults in the summer.

10.

THE 10 BEST FLOWERS FOR
ATTRACTING BEES
• Urban beekeeping is a great way to attract bees
and is all the rage, but what does the honey taste
like? You’d be forgiven for thinking decidedly
‘urban’.
• Actually, because of London’s many lime
(Tilia) trees, it’s often minty, says Camilla Goddard, a
beekeeper with hives across the capital, including
on the rooftop garden of Soho’s Ham Yard Hotel.
“Lime flowers give honey a minty taste,” she says.
“Earlier in the year the honey tastes quite floral,
while later on it develops deeper, barley flavours.”

11.

THE NATURE OF THE HONEY CAN
CHANGE
• Depending on where bees are kept, the nature of the honey can
change.
• “In Greenwich, there are lots of horse chestnuts and I can see
their red pollen on the bees’ legs,” Camilla says.
• In Notting Hill and Kensington, Camilla’s bees collect so much
pollen from lime trees she can smell it in the hives. Bees near
railway tracks visit brambles later in summer, whereas in spring, it’s
crocus and the first of the year’s dandelion flowers that provide
bees with their food.
• It goes to show that while they have their favourites, bees will take
pollen and nectar where they can get it, and it doesn’t matter
whether the plants are native to the UK or not.
• “The important thing is to choose plants with single flowers so they
can easily access the pollen,” explains Camilla. “And plant blocks
of the same thing, rather than a mixture of different plants,” she
advises – once bees have found a plant they like, they’ll visit the
same plant over and over again.

12.

BUTTERFLIES

13.

THE BIG BUTTERFLY COUNT
• As spring brings out the warmer weather butterflies begin
to emerge, and with their colourful wings and gentle
fluttering it’s easy to understand why they are such a
popular sign of spring. The arrival of butterflies is also an
important measure of the effects of weather on our
wildlife. Many of the UK’s rare spring butterflies in 2017
emerged three weeks earlier compared to 2016 and a
week earlier than the average. The Butterfly
Conservation believe this to be as a result of milder
weather.
• The Big Butterfly Count is a great way for you to get
involved with the study and conservation of butterfly
populations. Simply pick a spot such as a garden or park
from where to watch for 15 minutes and record any
butterflies you see using an identification sheet.

14.

HOW TO TAKE PART
• The Big Butterfly Count is a nationwide citizen science survey
aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment. It
was launched in 2010 and has rapidly become the world's
biggest survey of butterflies. Over 113,500 citizen scientists took
part in 2019, submitting 116,009 counts of butterflies and dayflying moths from across the UK.
• Big Butterfly Count 2020 ran from Friday 17 July to Sunday 9
August. All the counts can be viewed on the interactive map.
• If you are doing your count on a walk, then simply total up the
number of each butterfly species that you see during the 15
minutes.
• Also please remember that if you don’t see any butterflies
then let us know that too. It is very important that we know if
there are areas where butterflies are not being seen – this may
indicate a wider problem.

15.

BIODIVERSITY
• (baɪoʊdaɪvɜːʳsɪti
• Biodiversity is the existence of a wide variety of
plant and animal species living in their natural
environment.

16.

WHY COUNT BUTTERFLIES?
• We count butterflies because not only are they beautiful
creatures to be around but they are also extremely important.
They are vital parts of the ecosystem as both pollinators and
components of the food chain. However, they are under
threat. Numbers of butterflies and moths in the UK have
decreased significantly since the 1970s. This is a warning that
cannot be ignored.
• Butterfly declines are also an early warning for other wildlife
losses. Butterflies are key biodiversity indicators for scientists as
they react very quickly to changes in their environment.
Therefore, if their numbers are falling, then nature is in trouble.
So tracking numbers of butterflies is crucial in the fight to
conserve our natural world. That’s why taking part in this
massive citizen science enterprise is of great importance not
just for our butterflies but for the wider environment and
biodiversity in general.

17.

DUCKLINGS

18.

DUCKLINGS IN PONDS
• In spring, ducklings in ponds, lakes and rivers are a
common and heart-warming sight. Mallards are the
most abundant species in the UK and on average lay 813 in a clutch. Once laid, the eggs require 28 days of
incubation before hatching through a method known as
‘pipping and zipping’ whereby the duckling breaks into
an air bubble within the egg and begins to ‘pip’, before
pecking in a circle to ‘unzip’ the egg shell. A normal
breeding season produces ducklings from March
through to July, though unseasonably warm weather
means some late broods can emerge as late as
November.
• A brood - a group of baby birds

19.

BADGERS

20.

BADGERS
• With striking black and white markings, badgers are one of the
UK’s most iconic wild mammals. While they do not hibernate,
their activity is significantly reduced throughout the colder
winter months, but in spring they begin to appear as warm
weather brings their most favourite food, the earthworm, back
to the soil surface. Groups of badgers are called a clan and
they live in a sett, a series of intertwining tunnels with purposebuilt chambers for sleeping or nursing. Spring is the perfect
time to spot these beautiful creatures when their activity is on
the rise and overgrowth hasn’t blocked the view of their sett
entrance entirely. Cubs are typically born in February in groups
of two or three and will gradually explore the sett until midApril when they emerge, their mother ever watchful.
• (bædʒəʳ