Signs of Spring at WWT Arundel

5 min read • 23 February 2026

Its the spring equinox on 20 March but spring behaviours began earlier with the weather setting the timetable: warmer days bring things forward while cooler temperatures slow them down.

By the time March goes out like a lamb, spring will definitely be underway with wildlife awakening throughout the wetlands.

First flowers

Most people are familiar with fuzzy willow catkins, early primrose flowers and nodding snowdrops flowering in February's fresh breezes.

There are many other wetland plants that act as vital early season nectar sources for emerging bees and insects.

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) can bloom in late February on the wetlands. It opens one flower on each chunky stock before growing any leaves. The yellow flowers look like dandelions and are an early source of nectar for honey bees while the leaves are a food source for moth larvae. The shape of the round leaves gives this plant its nickname AKA: horse hoof, bull’s foot, foals wort.

Bright yellow Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus Ficaria) bloom on low, short stalks along pathways and on our wet grasslands beginning in late February. They are members of the buttercup family and have large glossy heart shaped leaves.

The blossoms of the Blackthorn tree appear its leaves start to show. Starting to flower in March the Blackthorn flowers are a vital early season nectar source for the queen bumblebees coming out of hibernation.

Bees & Butterflies

Hairy-footed flowers bees hatch in early spring. These solitary bees nest in groups – look for them around the Sand martin hide. The females are all black and the males are red-brown with a whitish face.

Buff-tailed bumblebee and common carder bumble bees are early bees. They will be looking for looking for nectar on early flowering tree catkins. Other early spring flowers that are vital nectar sources for insects are marsh marigolds, red dead nettle, colt’s foot, lady smock and primroses.

Warm sunshine days will also bring out newly hatched bee flies – these striped furry flies with pretty patterned wings use a long proboscis for nectar.

Watch for peacock, brimstone and red admiral butterflies emerging on warmer days in March. They spend the winter as adult butterflies in a dormant state, tucked into the cracks in trees and buildings. Many other butterflies winter as caterpillars, a chrysalis or an egg, hatching or transforming into butterflies later in spring and summer.

Kingfisher activity near the nesting bank

Kingfishers are onsite all year around at WWT. In early spring the males define their territories by chasing off interlopers. In February we noticed an increase kingfisher activity on the Arun Riverlife lagoon where our nesting bank is located. Visitors have been sighting a kingfisher from the left side of the gallery windows and near the nest bank from the Discovery hide. The café staff have been spotting a kingfisher out their windows on Pelican Cove as well!

Last spring the birds didn't use the nesting bank for the first time in five year. We have our fingers crossed a pair will use the bank this spring. Kingfisher incubation is about 20 days, with fledging in 25 days. The kingfisher usually have more than one brood a year.

A kingfisher male on a perch near the nesting bank in previous March, Photo by Mike Jerome

Lapwing behaviours

In February we have had flocks of over 200 lapwing onsite. Soonthe flocks will break up and lapwings will return to nesting sites like the wet grasslands of WWtT Arundel. We usually see 6-8 pair of lapwing remain onsite to nest. Males will soon be displaying with ‘slide-whistle’ calls on their tumbling display flights. The pairs will make shallow scrape nests in short vegetation offering them good sight lines to watch for predators. They lay four to five eggs, mottled to look like small stones.

Later in spring lapwing call loudly to warn their chicks of danger and to mob intruders. Look for lapwing from the Lapwing hide, the Ramsar hide and along the back of the Arun Riverlife lagoon.

Oystercatcher pairs

We had our first oystercatcher sightings on the week of Feb 16. Two pairs of oyster catchers have been nesting onsite each spring. One pair favours the area near the Coastal Creek aviary. One pair likes to nest on the roof of the Sand martin hide or amid the black-headed gull colony on one of the little islands nearby. Both pairs usually manage to fully rear at least one chick each.

Oystercatcher and chick near Coastal Creek aviary June 2022

March is ducky

Look out for clutches of newly hatched mallard ducklings along the edges of most waterways in March. We have had good numbers of pochards onsite in February. Pochards will have paired up with the females disappearing looking for nesting spots. For the Last three years we have seen pochard parents raise ducklings on Pelican Cove.

Shoveler females also disappear onto nests with males predominately on the water. Greylag and Canada geese started holding territory in February so look for them on nests in late-March early April.

Look our for mallard ducklings along the edges of the waterways.

March chorus

Listen for spring singing from chiffchaffs and black caps - the loudest song and from all over the site will be the Cetti’s warblers and wrens. Great-spotted woodpecker often drum in Woodland Loop and in the trees near the feeders at "Robin's Gate".

Huge numbers of gulls move through the reserve in March – common gulls, Mediterranean gulls and black-headed gulls. Most of these gulls will move on leaving us with about 100 black-headed gulls that nest here each spring and raise their chicks before departing mid-July.