What Spring Species Tell Us About the Land

April is a busy month for wildlife: it is the time of return migrations, the start of the breeding season and the emergence of spring flowers. Among the species often spotted at this time are lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), curlew (Numenius arquata) and cowslip (Primula veris) - all familiar signs that the season is turning.

Whilst these species are iconic representatives of spring, all three have experienced serious declines over recent decades. Lapwing numbers, for example, have fallen by around 55% since the 1960s (RSPB), whilst curlew are now considered one of the UK’s most urgent bird conservation priorities. In the case of lapwings and curlews, these declines are largely linked to changes in land use such as agricultural intensification, drainage, and the loss of species-rich grasslands. For cowslips, however, fertiliser use, grass reseeding, and the conversion of permanent pasture to more intensive systems have been key drivers, stripping away the unimproved grasslands that they depend on.

With these declines, the joyful sightings of a field of yellow cowslips or the sound of a curlew whistling have become rarer and more precious moments. Yet their rarity has also made them useful indicators of habitat quality. Increasingly, the return of these species to certain regions has become tied to targeted restoration sites, with better restored grasslands providing suitable habitats for breeding birds and nesting sites, and better managed meadows creating space for blooms of cowslips to flourish in unfertilised and undisturbed soils.

In the context of a national push for nature restoration and biodiversity net gain, indicator species and stories like these could not be more important. This April therefore, we must all learn to look beyond the beauty of nature, and start to understand what these species sightings might reveal about the health of the land beneath our feet.