The best wildlife to look out for in March

Hares

The March hare is hopping mad right about now, as it’s breeding season. You might be lucky enough to see them boxing too. This is actually the females fending off unwanted male advances.

Hares are larger and rangier than rabbits, and can be found in open fields or flat grassland in early mornings or at dusk. They are super fast, so you may need some binocular practice beforehand.

The National Trust and BBC Wildlife list some places to up your chances of seeing these shy mammals.

Frogspawn

Frogs and toads come out of hibernation in spring to lay frogspawn, so March is a good month to spot them (with April being the best time to hunt for tadpoles).

Greenwich Ecology Peninsula Park hold an annual frogs day every March (20th March in 2018), where families can get up close to frogspawn, have a go at pond dipping, see some newts and get all crafty making amphibian-related pictures and paintings.

Don’t foget to tick off a #50things if you see frogspawn, as it is on the National Trust’s list of 50 things kids should do before they are 11 3/4. The National Trust also list many places where you may be able to see frogspawn.

Puffins

One of our favourite birds, the comical puffin arrives back at breeding colonies from March, until mid August. Puffins are actually teeny tiny at under 30cm long, but they are super hardy seabirds.

Most puffins breed on islands –

1 Hermaness and Sumburgh Head, Shetland

2 Lunga, off Isle of Mull

3 Fowlsheugh RSPB, Aberdeenshire

4 Isle of May and Craigleith Island, Fife

5 Farne Islands, Northumberland

6 Bempton Cliffs RSPB, Yorkshire

7 South Stack Cliffs RSPB, Anglesey

8 Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire

9 Rathlin Island, County Antrim

10 Great Saltee, County Wexford

Going on a boat trip to see pint-sized puffins is an adventure in itself, though Bullers of Buchan north of Aberdeen and Bempton cliffs in Yorkshire are two mainland places where you may see them too.