April

When?	What?	What happens?	Where and what to look for
1st Week	Blackthorn	Flowers	This small tree flowers even before it has leaves.
	Ivy	Has ripe berries	On old walls or growing up the trunks of trees
	Carrion Crow	Female sits on nests	Look for a tall tree among reasonably open country. The 'crowsnest' will be right the top and is best seen now before the trees break into leaf
	Ground Ivy	Flowers	Pretty little blue flowers and ivy-shaped leaves on a low-growing plant
	Adders	Become active	The males moult to brilliant mating markings, become very active, fast, sexual and bad tempered. At this time of year adders can normally be found seeking the warming rays of the sun - often on tufts of purple moor grass in boggy areas. But since they are so bad tempered it may not be such a good idea to seek them out!
	Greenfinches	Singing	Can be the most common singing birds in gardens. Greenfinches sing in a tree about 4 meters up; emit a dull boring wheezing sort of song. Someone should tell them that they can't sing.
	Violets	Flower	Tiny blue flowers and ground hugging leaves. Look on sunny banks with very low vegetation
	Daffodils	At their best	You've just got to stroll along the leat in Chobham!
	Wood ants	Rebuild nests	The wood ants wake up after Winter and on sunny days will swarm all over the outside of their raised nests. Under scots pine around the Portobello Fields on Chobham Common is a good place to look. If you come within 15 cm of them they will spray you with formic acid - not painful unless it gets in your eyes - smells horrible though!
	Peacock and Comma butterflies	Defend territory	Peacock butterflies that have hibernated over the winter, emerge and can be found aggressively guarding their territories. Look for a large gaudy (but somewhat worn-looking) butterfly that glides - it has 'eyes' on the top of each wing. The comma has a strange torn outline. Both often found on sunny paths - the north common can be quite good on a sunny day.
	Willow warbler	Starts tentative song	This beautiful slowly falling cascade of song is a true harbinger of spring. Newly-arrived willow warblers can be heard singing on Chobham Common, usually high up in a birch. By the third week it becomes the dominant singing bird amongst trees.
2nd week
	Larch	In leaf	The larch is one of the few deciduous conifers.
	Rowan	In leaf	This small tree is sometimes known as the mountain ash
	Blackbirds	Sing	Lustily! Up until now the song thrush has probably been the loudest thrush to sing in the garden. But now the blackbird takes over with its melodious flute-like song.
	Orange-tip, speckled wood and Small Tortoishell butterflies	On wing	Look for a small white butterfly with distinctive orange tips to its wings. The small tortoiseshell has zebra stripes at the front of its wings. The speckled wood has many dots on upper side of wings.
	Stitchwort	Start flowering	This pretty white flower can be seen often on roadsides and damp woody places.
3rd week			This is your last chance to get out and watch the Spring birds singing before the trees come into leaf and block your view.
	Newts	In ponds	At this time of year newts can be found in ponds - this is where they breed.
	Chiffchaff	Sing	The chiffchaff now overwinters in Britain but sings rather late in Chobham. Its song is 'chiff- chaff' or has been likened to a dripping tap ... drip drop, drip drop, drip drop.....
	Stonechat	Courting	Stonechats are probably one of the most common birds on the common. Look for a small black-capped birds either singing from the top of a bush or chasing their drab brown females amongst the heather. The call sounds like two pebbles being dashed together
	Willow warbler	Singing	Is now the most common singing bird around Chobham Common.
	Tadpoles	In water	You should be able to spot hundreds or tadpoles lazying around in the warmer parts of ponds
	Blackbirds	Young fledge	The young of the blackbird is one of the first to leave the nest. The fledglings often sit alone and forelornly in a bush waiting for their parent to return with food. Youi can often locate them by their plaintive calls. Don't assume that they are abandoned and capture them - leave them alone; their parents will return if you go away.
	Bluebell	Flowers	Bluebells can be found in deciduous woods - they dash into flower as soon as it becomes warm and before the trees above them break into leaf and steal their sunlight. Please don't pick .... leave for all to enjoy
	Lime	Starts in leaf	The trees along the Chobham leat are limes. The new leaves are bright lime coloured (of course!)
4th week	Great tits	Lay eggs	Great tits start laying one egg a day for 10 days. Then when they have the full clutch they sit on them to warm them up so that they all hatch at once. Watch for activity in any small round hole in a tree (or just put up a nest box).
	Cuckoo	Arrives from Africa	It is during this week that the cuckoo becomes clearly noticeable by its distinctive call. But it is rather harder to spot; can be mistaken for a fast flying stripped brown bird of prey
	Swallows	Arrive	So Summer has arrived? Often seen around farms and stables. They fly fast, have long streaming tails and red breasts
	Beech, Oak and lime trees	In leaf	Now it's going to get more difficult to see birds in the woods
	Tree pipit	Start singing	These birds can be heard singing high in the sky (lark-like) on open areas of the common. Between singing they pirch at the top of small trees.