With all the sadness in the World at the moment it feels even more of a relief to know the first month of Spring has finally arrived.
As usual in this series of blog posts I've searched for things that make March a brilliant month and split what I found into 4 sections.
The first section is “things to love about March”, second is "Important dates in March" and then third is "Things to do or take part in during March" and the fourth is "Things I'm loving this Month".
Crocuses at Birmingham Botanical Gardens in March
- Photo by Becky Woolley
Things to Love About March
- It is the first month of Spring - the 1st of March marks the start of Meterological Spring and the 19th marks the start of Astronomical Spring.
- On the 1st of March the Sun rises at around 6.57am (In the Midlands) and sets at 17.51pm. By the end of the month sun rise is at 6.47am (Midlands area) and sets at 19.45pm.
- Animals like hedgehogs start to wake up from their Winter hibernation.
- Spring flowers start to bloom with an abundance of daffodils, primroses, crocus, lesser celandine and many others.
Crocuses at Birmingham Botanical Gardens in March
- Photo by Becky Woolley
- You start to hear the beautiful Spring song of the Dunnock in your garden.
- You might be able to see some early frogspawn or toadspawn from the UK's two frog and two toad species.
Frog notebook by Daffodowndilly
Important Dates in March
- 1st March - Start of Meteorological Spring
- 1st March - St David's Day - Patron Saint of Wales
- 5th March - St Piran's Day - Patron Saint of Cornwall
- 8th March - International Women's Day
- 9th March - Made in the UK day
- 10th March - Mother's Day
- 10th March - Ramadan starts
- 15th March - Red Nose Day
- 15th March - Panda Day
- 17th March - St Patrick's Day - Patron Saint of Ireland
- 19th March - Start of Astronomical Spring and the Spring equinox
- 20th March - International Day of Happiness
- 21st March - International Colour Day - A day to celebrate the different colours and shades and their use in art and the natural world.
- 21st March - International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
- 22nd March - World Water Day
- 25th March - Holi
- 31st March -The clocks go forward an hour
- 31st March - Easter Sunday
Things to do or take part in during March
- Celebrate the Spring equinox on the 19th - go for a walk in your local nature reserve, park or somewhere wild and enjoy all the signs of Spring you see.
- Celebrate St David's Day (Wales), St Piran's Day (Cornwall) and St Patrick's Day (Ireland).
- Look out for the first sand martins to return from Africa and the first butterflies to emerge such as Peacocks, Commas, Brimstones and Small Tortoiseshells.
- Enjoy all the blossom bursting forth, from fruit trees like pears, cherry plums and plums to blackthorn.
- March is the traditional month to see boxing hares in fields across the UK. However consider yourself very lucky if you do see a hare as their numbers have decreased by up to 80% in the last 100 years, mostly due to habitat loss and illegal hare coursing. You are most likely to see them at dawn or dusk in wide open fields.
- Listen out for the birdsong of the Chiffchaff which is one of our first migrant birds to arrive in Spring. Their call sounds like they are saying their name which makes it easy to remember!
- Visit an outdoor market - Many outdoor markets such as craft/artisan markets or local food markets start up properly again in March so it is a brilliant time to see what's going on in your local area. Pedddle is a brilliant resource for finding wonderful markets in your local area. You can now also make an account and save your favourite markets and stallholders to follow where and when they are next.
- Look for the full moon on the 25th of March - There are a few different names for March's full moon including Worm Moon, Lenten Moon, Crow Moon and Sap Moon.
- As well as being Women's History Month, March is also National Craft Month so you could perhaps try a craft you've not tried before. There are loads of craft kits in different forms on Folksy or Etsy that have been made by small UK businesses or makers.
Things I'm Loving this Month
- All the flowers! It has been such a wet and mild February and although the rain has seemed relentless it has also led to some early and beautiful Spring flowers. There are so many snowdrops, primroses and daffodils already.
- Drawing without a purpose, I'm enjoying just drawing things, not really knowing where it is heading but just starting and seeing what happens. I'm finding it quite refreshing as I mostly like to have a basic idea in mind before I start.
- Listening to podcasts - I've been really enjoying them recently, especially the news or current affairs based ones as well as educational ones for small businesses. I usually put one on to catch up while I'm doing admin tasks or tidying.
Thank you for reading and I hope it helps you in some way to have a lovely March filled with lots of brilliant memories. I'd also love to hear if you have tried any of the things in this blog post.
Sources and Links to Further Resources
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/03/why-do-hares-box/ - The Woodland Trust - Why do Hares box in March?
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/natures-calendar-home/natures-calendar-march/ - RSPB Nature's Calendar - March
https://pedddle.com/ - Pedddle - Where to find a brilliant UK market to visit.
https://www.daysoftheyear.com/ - A website showing all the unusual international and national days from across the globe (although many are American based)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/daily-rise-set-and-twilight-times-for-march-2024 - March Daily sun rise and set times for UK locations
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/things-to-do/woods-through-the-seasons/spring/blossom/ - The Woodland Trust's guide to British Blossom
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/natures-calendar/natures-calendar-march - The RSPB's guide to nature in March