Nature's Calendar

Wood Anemone

March

Peacock Butterfly
Peacock Butterfly

Butterflies are beginning to appear in March and you can expect to see Peacock, Red Admiral and Comma. If you are lucky you may also see the occasional Brimstone or Small Tortoiseshell.

Bumblebees will be about in March, usually queens looking for nest sites after emerging from hibernation. They will then raise a new brood of excellent pollinators, so necessary for our plants.

wood anemone
Wood Anemone

Early spring is a good time for woodland plants as they need to flower before the leaves grow on the trees, blocking out the sunlight. Wood Anemone produces a white carpet of spring flowers in some of our ancient woodland. The many Blackthorn bushes burst into masses of white flowers which always appear before the leaves. Ground Ivy, Red Campion and Dog-violet can be found and along the path through Combe Wood a large patch of Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage flowers from March until June.

goat willow
Goat Willow catkins

Catkins will be growing on Silver Birch and the familiar pussy-willow on Goat Willow along the streams.

Many of the geese and ducks that have spent the winter in the valley will be departing now, although some Grey Lag Geese stay and raise a brood of goslings and usually a few Lapwings try to nest here each year, although not always successfully.

skylark
Skylark

Skylarks will now be heard singing high above any rough grassland and Chiffchaffs will be calling around the woodlands.

Footpaths - 12 March

Most paths are walkable now the water level has dropped. However, many are still very muddy and a few are only really walkable in wellies.

Report overgrown rights of way to East Sussex and other paths to the Friends of Combe Valley.

Latest News

Whooper Swan

This year our usual winter-visiting wildfowl have been joined by a Whooper Swan. This unusual visitor to the park was last recorded here 12 years ago.

New on this website

April 2022 - A new section, "Nature's Calendar", has been added giving details of what to look out for around the Countryside Park at different times of the year.