wild MARCH

7 nature encounters for the month ahead

- BEN HOARE

Out in the cold

RED SQUIRRELS DON'T hibernate, relying on their thicker winter coats and supplies of food hidden in autumn for survival. If the R weather takes a turn for the worse, they might stay in their moss-lined drey all day, but otherwise remain active even when snow lies on the ground. This is also their breeding season, so you may hear their chirping mating calls and see males chasing potential partners through the trees.

Red alert

RED KITES WERE PRACTICALLY EXTINCT IN the British Isles by the early 1900s, with just a handful of pairs still breeding in remote Welsh valleys. Now these fabulous birds of prey are a great conservation success story and a common sight over swathes of England and Wales. It's hard to miss them along some stretches of the M4 and M40 motorways, or soaring over towns such as Reading and Henley.

Unlike most European raptors, red kites are actually quite social. Dozens of them gather when there's a good feeding opportunity, and in winter they roost communally. In his BBC Wildlife column in 2003, the great nature writer Richard Mabey described the "extraordinary spectacle" of seeing the sky full of kites.