No doubt, warmer days are coming. Spring is on its way. Birds are singing in the trees and the toads are waking up from a winter sleep. Snowdrops are blossoming and bumblebees fly off to the first flower blossoms.

Unusually large flocks of cranes have already headed north over North Rhine-Westphalia, making their loud bugle calls. "They have been in a holding pattern because of the bad weather," explains Birgit Königs, spokeswoman for the nature conservation organization Nabu.

The severe onset of winter interrupted their migration. With the milder weather, tens of thousands of cranes can continue making their way north. It’s a race to arrive early at their destination so they can get a good breeding site: Whoever arrives first has the biggest choice.

On the ground, frogs and toads are slowly coming out of hibernation. Monika Hachtel, an expert from the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, refers to the helpers who work to protect the small amphibians: "We're ready to go". In the Rhineland, catch fences have already been set up in some places to prevent masses of toads and frogs from being run over by cars on the way to their spawning grounds. The animals are collected by helpers and carried over the roads. Many thousands of volunteers are working throughout NRW, Hachtel said.

Common toads are the most prevalent species encountered but there are also moor frogs, grass frogs, tree frogs, jumping frogs, and other species. The toads and frogs only start to migrate when the weather is suitable, which for them means lots of rain and nights with temperatures above 6 degrees Celsius.

The severe onset of winter in recent weeks with ice and snow has caused problems for some animals. The pretty kingfisher bird, for example, was unable to hunt for fish in the frozen waters. Barn owls had trouble finding mice, which is their main food source. In the warmer weather, bumblebees and wild bees will start buzzing around, in search of spring flower blossoms.

(Orig. text: dpa, lnw / Translation: Carol Kloeppel)