How to Study Phenology in the Spring

If you are starting to study phenology then it is likely that you will start in the spring. After a winter break it is the time of year when things are starting to happen in the natural world and it is a logical time to begin your observations.

What to study?

Which natural events do you look for? This does depend on what you are interested in because you can study birds, mammals, amphibians, insects, trees and flowers. Perhaps you would like to have a go at all of them. Below I give some suggestions. They apply to where I live in the UK, so you may have to change them for your own country, but they will give you a good idea of the principles involved.

Birds

Where you live there will be some birds that stay through the winter and others that have migrated away. For those returning migrants you can record the dates when you first see them. For me, such birds include: Swallow, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, House Martin, Sand Martin, Spotted Flycatcher, Swift, Turtle Dove, Wheatear and Willow Warbler.

Some birds will have been resident in the winter, but return to other countries in the spring. For these birds you can record the last date you have seen them. Whre I live, examples include Fieldfare, Redwing, Brambling, Brent Goose and Bewick's Swan.

Other birds are resident all year round. For these birds you can record when they start building nests, when you first see them feeding chicks and when you first see juveniles out of the nest. Where I live, such birds include Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Thrush and, Rook (for nest-building).

Amphibians

Amphibians are very active in spring, seeking suitable ponds for mating. You can record your first sighting of newts. For frogs and toads record the first sightings of spawn and tadpoles.

Insects

Insects such as butterflies, wasps and bees also start building colonies and laying eggs in the spring so you can keep an eye out for these. For bees and wasps, you can record your first sightings but also look out for queens as well. If you do not know what a queen looks like, you can consult a field guide or look for pictures on the internet. In the UK we look for Red-tailed Bumblebees (the familiar black, yellow and white ones are tricky to tell apart), Carder Bees (the ginger ones), Honey Bees and Wasps.

Butterflies are very popular insects to study in spring. You can record the first sightings for just about any butterfly you see. The earliest butterflies to appear are Brimstone, Comma, Orange Tip, Peacock, Green-veined White, Small White and Holly Blue.

Trees

Trees are very popular subjects to study in phenology as they clearly symbolise the changing seasons with their fresh young leaves and flowers in spring and orange-brown leaves and fruits in autumn. They are also noticeably large, easy to identify and easy to observe.

With trees, there are three things to spot: budburst, first leaf appearing and first flower. Budburst refers to the leaf buds: they appear in late winter, but there will come a point when you can see them split, ready for the leaf to emerge. It is this splitting that you look out for. The first leaves to appear are often at the very top of the tree, so a pair of binoculars may be needed. Also, be careful with flowers on trees, they can be small and insignificant so you need to look closely.

You can record these events for any deciduous tree species, but they can work for trees like Holly, Yew and Scots Pine as well, it's just that their new leaves aren't so obvious. The classic trees to study are: Alder, Horse Chestnut, Rowan, Field Maple, Silver Birch, Beech, Larch, Sycamore, Pedunculate Oak, Sessile Oak and Ash. Shrubs such as Hazel, Blackthorn, Dog Rose and Lilac are also popular.

Wild Flowers

The first sightings of wild flowers are also encouraging signs of spring, so it is good to look for them and record the first date you see them. Well-known flowers that bloom early in the year include Snowdrop, Winter Aconite, Lesser Celandine, Colt's-foot, Crocus, Wood Anemone, Cuckoo Flower, Daffodil and Bluebell.

If you would like to take a step further, you can study the more recognisable grasses. These flower later than the spring flowers. Suitable grasses to study are Cock's-foot, Meadow Foxtail, Timothy Grass and Yorkshire Fog. When you first see them, they won't be in flower, so be careful. When they are in flower they will open up noticeably and change colour as the anthers appear. For example Meadow Foxtail becomes orangey-brown and Timothy Grass a nice mauve colour.

What Equipment Do I Need?

To study phenology, very little specialist equipment is needed. You will need a field guide to help you identify all the birds, animals, insects and plants. A notebook to record your observations (which eventually will go onto a computer) is essential. In addition, binoculars are useful, as birds and animals can be elusive, but also the first leaves and flowers appearing on trees are often at the very top. Some waterproof clothing and good footwear are also essential.

Be Organised

Now, you could just go out for a walk and serendipitously record whatever you see, and you can have an enjoyable time doing that, but your records can become rather random and you will miss many observations. Also, your records from one year to the next will not be comparable.

In my experience, it is best to follow a set route around your local neighbourhood. Your route should include all the locations where the natural events that you want to record take place.

Now, you may ask, how do I know here the best sites are? Well, a good start is to ask for advice from other naturalists. Additionally, you can visit the most promising sites in your area and see what you find there. It does take a lot of research and reconnaissance, but eventually you will have a list of locations and events to observe when you visit them.

In your notebook, it is helpful to write down the route and which events you will see at each point. This reminds you to look for the correct trees, birds, etc at the correct location. This works well if, like me, you are a bit scatter-brained and easily distracted. Having a set route and a list of things to look for in advance will help you to observe the natural events sooner and keep your observations consistent from year to year.

Be warned, the first events to observe, such as Hazel catkins, can be in January. In phenology, spring starts very early.

The dates you record are your earliest observation. They should be early trendsetters, not an unusual one-off. So, if you observe an event one week, you should see three or four of the same event the week after. Be careful of that strange tree that flowers in January or the birds that nest in December. You also want to observe typical wildlife in its normal habitat, so be careful, for example, of windswept exposed trees, flowers that grow next to lights and birds that nest on an artificially warm building.

Conclusion

It may seem that you have to do a lot of organising and planning, but once you start making your observations you will soon see what a wonderful structure it brings to your wildlife observations. One observation will lead naturally to the next. They will teach you much about the organisms you see and provide a delightful narrative of the natural year.

Michael Knaggs is an enthusiastic and experienced naturalist based in Yorkshire, England. He has been observing birds, flowers and butterflies since he was 12 years old. He has been studying Phenology since 2006 and contributes records to Natures Calendar, a Phenology survey run by the Woodland Trust in the UK.

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