From early birds to emerging butterflies: UK shows signs of earliest spring on record

Citizen science data reveals early flowering, nesting and insect activity as global heating accelerate seasonal change Patrick Barkham Sat 4 Apr 2026 07.00 CEST Prefer the Guardian on Google

Bluebells are flowering, swallows are returning and orange-tip butterflies are flying in what could become Britain’s earliest recorded spring.

Records for early spring occurrences are being smashed as 2026 looks to be the earliest this century for frogspawn laying, blackbirds nesting, brimstone butterflies emerging and hazel flowering, according to Nature’s Calendar, which has logged citizen science records of seasonal change since 2000.

This spring has had the earliest egg-laying in an 80-year study of great tits in Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire, with the 23 March sighting beating the previous record by three days. The birds’ average egg-laying has moved forward by 16 days since the 1960s, with these tits and other species needing to ensure their chicks are fed on caterpillars emerging with the new spring leaves.

Twenty years ago, on 4th April 2006, two Exmoor foals arrived at the Kielder forest in Northumberland to graze tough grass and encourage the growth of sedges and mosses loved by insects. Nicknamed Puddles and Prancer, their arrival marked the first of hundreds of Wildlife Trust projects – large and small – funded by Postcode Lottery players across Britain over the next 20 years.

Today, The Wildlife Trusts celebrate two decades of an extraordinary range of innovative nature recovery efforts, all achieved thanks to £31m raised by players of the Postcode Lottery. From beaver reintroduction trials, otter counts and inspirational education programmes to joyful community festivals – the funding has benefitted every corner of The Wildlife Trusts’ federation.

A herd of bison is having a "great impact" on woodlands just a few years after being introduced in a UK-first to help manage habitat for wildlife, conservationists say.

The bison in Blean Woods, Kent, have also been inspiring people about more wildlife-rich habitat.

With new "bison bridges" opening up in the reserve, the animals will soon be roaming across 200 hectares (500 acres) of woodland, the team behind the scheme says.

HALF A MILLION pounds needs to be raised by the end of the month in order to save a section of Upton Heath from being sold off.

Vikki Slade, Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole and the Dorset Wildlife Trust have issued a rallying public call for support as the land, currently privately owned by a third party, is heading for auction.

110 acres of heathland in Poole, with historical planning permission for mineral extraction, is due to go up for public auction April 29 by Town & Country Property Auctioneers.

Ministers have pledged £90 million to safeguard hundreds of England’s most threatened native wildlife from extinction.

This funding, which the Environment Department (Defra) calls the largest-ever investment in species protection, will support efforts to reintroduce or bolster populations of birds, beavers, beetles, snails, spiders, and seahorses across England.

Hundreds of local projects will receive a share of £60 million through Natural England’s species recovery programme over the next three years, Defra said.

More than 1,100 alpine gentians were recorded during monitoring carried out by the Trust’s Seasonal Ecologist, Lewis Donaghy, last summer, with many more out of reach and uncounted on inaccessible cliffs. Although the population count can fluctuate from year to year, it is a remarkable increase for this rare mountain-dwelling flower. At 1,214 metres, Ben Lawers is the 10th highest peak in Britain and is home to the most diverse range of arctic-alpine plant species in the country.

The distinctive and exceptionally rare alpine gentian is adapted to growing in harsh mountain environments and is typically found across alpine regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. It emerges from winter dormancy, revealing its striking star-shaped blue flowers sprouting from its trumpet-shaped calyx. The discovery marks a significant recovery for the annual flower, which has declined since monitoring began on Ben Lawers in 1981.

Also known as the ‘snow gentian’, this species is only found in locations where snow usually lasts until late spring or early summer. But increasing temperatures caused by climate change, and the resulting less persistent snow cover at high altitudes, pose a major threat to this already incredibly rare species. More competitive species, including grasses, can take advantage of longer growing seasons, colonising patches of bare soil and sparse vegetation, which are essential for the germination of the alpine gentian seeds.

Swifts are wheeling, screaming endurance athletes. They don’t touch the earth for nine months of the year and fly about 14,000 miles annually – travelling from sub-Saharan Africa to nest in the UK, then back again. In Britain, they’re the sign that summer is coming or taking its leave. In between, they provide a heart-soaring display of beauty. No wonder they’re beloved.

“Swifts spark joy,” says Hannah Bourne-Taylor, a passionate swift advocate and author of Nature Needs You: The Fight to Save Our Swifts.

“I used to lie on the kitchen table with my head outside the window watching them,” says Edward Mayer, founder of Swift Conservation. “They’re absolutely gorgeous … Like an aerial shark, in perpetual motion.”

Wildlife explorer Steve Backshall has described watching two of the UK's last surviving orcas off Cornwall as one of his "greatest British wildlife moments".

Male killer whales John Coe and Aquarius are the last remaining members of the West Coast Community pod.

The bulls were seen off Lizard Point on Wednesday and filmed by the TV presenter, who lives near Penzance.

Keep Britain Tidy today thanked an army of litter-pickers who pledged to collect 451,887 bags of litter during the 2026 Great British Spring Clean.

More than 585,000 volunteers in every corner of the country took part in the national effort to remove bags of rubbish from our streets, parks and beaches and protect our wildlife.

At the same time, thousands of pupils in schools across the country took part in the Great Big School Clean, learning about the impact litter has on our wildlife and seeing for themselves that small actions, when taken together, can make a big difference.

Work to improve drainage on a motorway has been paused and will take several more months to finish, after dormice were found on site.

National Highways began work on the M5 in Somerset in October last year, to alleviate flooding on the verges and carriageway near junction 26 for Wellington.

It involves the de-silting of ditches, replacing blocked drainage pipes and resurfacing and was due to finish by the end of February, but is now expected to go on until the end of April.

A record number of cranes bred in the UK last year as the once-vanished bird continues its comeback, conservationists said.

Cranes went extinct in the country around 400 years ago as a result of over-hunting and the loss of their favoured wetland habitat.

But wild recolonisation from Europe since the late 1970s, backed by efforts to protect existing habitat and create new wetlands – along with a concerted reintroduction scheme which saw conservationists dress as cranes to hand-rear young birds, have enabled the bird to stage a comeback.

I remember, as a child, hanging on to one specific party balloon for what seemed like years. I don’t remember how or where I acquired it, but it had initially floated high, bobbing against the ceiling, and, over time, lost its buoyancy, coming to rest on the carpet. Yet, when a family friend asked if they should pop the now sad-looking balloon, I assumed they were joking – like when an adult asks, teasingly, if they should eat your last slice of birthday cake – and was distraught when they followed through. I didn’t care that it had become grubby and partly deflated – I’d had that balloon for what felt like for ever.

This, it turns out, is the problem with many balloons. Not that clingy young children might become over-attached to them, but that they are often a single-use plastic – and even biodegradable alternatives such as latex balloons do not decompose quickly, meaning they can pose a significant risk to wildlife and the environment. In 2019, scientists found that balloons eaten by seabirds are more likely to kill them than other kinds of plastic – yet they do not seem to have been earmarked in the same way as, for example, plastic straws. If anything, balloon-based decor has become more popular in recent years, with balloon arches or tunnels deployed not just at birthdays but at events ranging from baby showers to shop openings. Balloon drops are used at New Year’s Eve celebrations and graduation parties, and balloon releases have also endured – particularly at funerals, where the unleashing of helium-filled balloons signifies the letting-go of a loved one.

Discover some of the special species living in a garden pond, with entomologist Ben Keywood.

One of the most impactful ways to support wildlife in your garden is to create a pond. Ponds provide a valuable source of drinking water for birds, hedgehogs and other wildlife, as well as a home for a large range of aquatic invertebrates.

A good wildlife pond needs to have a deeper middle and shallow sides; you can even create a pebble beach along one edge for insects to safely wade and drink. It's also important to make sure that there are safe places around the edges of the pond for wildlife to hide. You can add logs or large stones, or let native grasses and marginal plants grow. Frogs and newts can shelter here when they leave the pond but have quick access back into the water when needed.

New research from the Ramblers shows overwhelming public support for access to nature yet millions of Brits are being locked out of nature by a “shameful web of barriers”.

The Ramblers is accusing governments of failing to support and grow Britain’s love of walking outdoors, with a new poll finding that 84% of adults think access to nature should be a basic right.

The charity says decades of political inaction has led to far too many blocked and unusable paths, missing signs and a shocking lack of access to green space – sometimes leaving entire communities without the chance to enjoy healthy walks from their doorstep.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/36014803

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England’s Community Forests has reached a major milestone: planting 10 million trees across England through its Trees for Climate programme.

The landmark figure highlights the scale and pace of tree planting delivered by the network of 15 Community Forests, improving places where people live, supporting local economies, and tackling the impacts of the climate emergency head on.

Funded by UK Government via the Nature for Climate Fund, and delivering in the areas of greatest need, Trees for Climate has increased woodland and tree cover in towns, cities and rural areas – helping capture carbon, restore nature, reduce flood risk and improve health and wellbeing. As the trees grow, they will also provide shade, cleaner air, and accessible green spaces for communities to enjoy.

Part of a wide-ranging tree planting scheme on the Isle of Man has been completed ahead of schedule, with the team behind it hoping to plant 333,000 more across the island.

The Manx Wildlife Trust (MWT) owns three areas of temperate rainforest on the island - seeking to improve its biodiversity, flood defence and water quality through planting native trees.

The 105-acre (about 42-hectare) site at Creg y Cowin, in the Baldwin Valley, has since seen the last of its 30,000 mixed-native trees go into the ground by a team of volunteers.

Almost 40% of England’s seas are designated as marine protected areas. Their purpose, the government says, is “to protect and recover rare threatened and important marine ecosystems … from damage caused by human activities”.

And yet in the four years to 2024, trawlers using vast nets, including those that scour the seabed, caught more than 1.3m tonnes of fish within them, according to official figures that campaigners say show they are “little more than lines on a map”.

“The government claims vast areas of UK waters are protected, but the reality is a national scandal,” said Chris Thorne, senior oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK.

"Dancing" gnats, a close encounter with a spider and a surgical examination of a dead whale are among the winners of the Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year Awards 2025.

Scenes pictured in Edinburgh and Glenshiel also picked up prizes.

An exhibition tour and portfolio yearbook of the award-winners will be launched in the summer.

The merlin, Britain’s smallest bird of prey, is one of more than 200 species that will become extinct in the UK if action is not taken to curb emissions and unsustainable land use, a study has claimed.

According to the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), there is a 20-year window in which decisions on climate and land use will determine the fate of dozens of Britain’s native species.

By 2050, the British isles, already one of the most nature-depleted regions in the world, faces an ecological “point of no return”, they said.

Back when the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch began in 1979, the Greenfinch was at number seven in the top 10 birds seen. But in this year's Birdwatch (2026), they were down to number 18. These figures reflect a broader loss across the UK. Numbers of Greenfinches have been falling since around 2005, dropping by over 65% in the last three decades.

In 2021, conservationists moved Greenfinches into the Red List category in the Birds of Conservation Concern report due to this severe decline. Chaffinch numbers have begun to decrease too, with 39% being lost between 2012 and 2022. For both species, the cause is a disease, trichomonosis.

Trichomonosis is caused by a microscopic protozoan parasite called Trichomonas gallinae. It typically infects the upper digestive tract of birds. Trichomonosis has been known to affect pigeons and doves, along with birds of prey, for many years. These bird species can be infected by different strains of the parasite, they can act as carriers or succumb to the disease.

Efforts to remove invasive stoats from Orkney have given a boost to the islands' native voles and birds of prey, according to a new report.

The Orkney Native Wildlife Project report shows vole activity in spring 2025 was the highest since 2019 when a project to protect native wildlife from not-native stoats began.

It also revealed the number of breeding attempts by rare hen harriers and short-eared owls - which rely on the voles as a food source - were high compared with six years ago.

A hibernating dormouse was rescued after being found fast asleep in an old helium balloon caught in a tree.

The tiny creature was discovered by an Essex Wildlife Trust officer during a litter-picking campaign in woodland north of Halstead.

It was in a torpid state, meaning a sleepy hibernation which they go into in colder weather as a survival strategy, the trust said.

Cows and goats are playing a vital role in restoring some of the most important freshwater wildlife habitats in mid-Wales. Livestock is being introduced to carefully chosen sites as part of the River Irfon Catchment Project, led by Freshwater Habitats Trust.

Working with landowners, the national conservation charity is using controlled livestock grazing to help manage dominant vegetation and give rare plant species a chance to thrive.

The River Irfon catchment stretches from Abergwesyn to Builth Wells and is home to a rich variety of freshwater wildlife, living in ponds, wetlands, fens, and streams, as well as the main river channel. One of the aims of the River Irfon Catchment Project is to restore biodiversity hotspots by establishing long-term management plans to protect them for the future.

Drivers across south-east England are being asked to count the number of insects which hit their vehicles as part of a nature survey.

Bugs Matter, organised by charities Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife, is a survey which is due to start on Wednesday and finish on 30 September.

The organisations said the study was to help them understand of the health of flying insects, which are crucial to the ecosystem.