Things to look out for in the garden - March

Over-wintering Peacock and Brimstone butterflies will begin to wake now. The Peacock has frilled wings, with black and yellow banding of the top one, a red main colour and two large peacock 'eyes' on the lower wing. The Brimstone is a solid yellow colour with veining and a small black spot on the lower wing. Last year's butterflies always look a bit ragged, so they can easily be told from new hatchings this year.

Grass snakes and hedgehogs generally emerge as the month warms up. The grass snake, which is not poisonous or slimy, is a beautiful creature whose colour can range from pale green to bright yellow. They are often seen basking on rocks in the weak sunshine and may be sluggish - there's no need to fear they are ill or injured, so don't pick them up, they may simply be warming their blood and because March can be cold, it can take them several hours to get comfortable enough to move away from their rock. Hedgehogs also wake now and begin to forage for food. You can contribute to their wellbeing by providing a good meal but don't put out bread and milk! Bovine milk gives hedgehogs diarrhoea, and the bread swells up in their stomach and gives them tummy ache - the best thing to put out for your garden hedgehog is cat food mixed with small dog biscuits to help the hedgehog's teeth. Young hedgehogs in particular are at risk during this month, so you may need to build a hedgehog enclosure to keep the food, and the hedgehog safe from cats and foxes. Do this by setting the food under a concrete slab supported on four bricks laid on their longest sides: cats cannot reach the food, but hedgehogs can easily slip underneath for a feed.

Those with ponds will be seeing their first toads, frogs and newts of the year, and the strings of toad spawn and cushions of frog spawn that accompany them.

Garden March hedgehog photograph by Oli R, used under a creative commons attribution licence.

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