Mother’s Day has crept up on us once again and in Sussex we are spoilt for choice with beautiful spring sights to see on the day.
This year, Mothering Sunday is on Sunday, March 10, meaning it falls perfectly in lambing season and in good time to see spring blooms.
Here are some ideas on where to go to enjoy the day in the county.
Lambs
For most farmers, the spring lambing season begins in February and runs throughout March and early April.
Lambs can be seen across the South Downs and many farms in the county will have their own lambing open days.
With over 800 ewes and 40 Sussex cows, Coombes Farm, near Lancing, invites visitors to see new born lambs and calves between March 9 and April 14.
Spring birds
At Seven Sisters Country Park, winter visiting birds such as wigeons, Brent geese, Black-tailed godwit and other migratory birds begin their journey north to breed in parts of Scandinavia, Scotland, Russia and Finland.
In their stead, summer migratory birds begin the journey to the UK from parts of southern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East.
From March and April terns, water pipits and sand martins reappear, along with passing birds such as the curlew sandpiper, swallows and swifts.
Fulmars, kittiwakes and jackdaws will nest precariously on the cliffs, and among the chalk grassland the skylark will begin nesting.
The song of the skylark can be heard as they fly up to 1,000ft in the air when the bird itself looks like a tiny speck.
Daffodils and other spring flowers
We are spoilt for choice for spots to see spring flowers in Sussex. Sunny yellow daffodils can be spotted at woods across the county including in Stanmer Park, Brighton and in Beatons Wood in Arlington, near Hailsham.
One of the best places in Sussex to see true wild daffodils is at West Dean Woods in Chichester, a nature reserve managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust. There is a bridleway alongside the woodlands that give you a fantastic view of the hundreds of golden trumpets during their flowering season.
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