FOR most of us who prefer to avoid being attacked by squadrons of bloodthirsty mosquitoes with the unsightly lumps and itching that result, this month and the early part of Maywill be our last chance to visit the new nature reserve of Hurcott Pools and Wood.

The mosquitoes, while irritating to us humans, play a vital role in the sites ecology by offering themselves up as prey for many of the reserves more savoury wildlife.

The larva and adult mosquitoes feed many of the beautiful dragonflies we will witness skimming the surface of the lake or darting through a woodland clearing.

They are also an important part of the diet of swifts, swallows and a variety of bat species.

The pipistrelle bat, Britains smallest bat, with a body length the same as a matchstick, needs to consume around 3,000 mosquitoes on one night.

This time of year is luckily when the reserve is at its most beautiful so while a partially warm, breeze-free day may see the occasional blood sucker take to the air, most of the time we will be free to enjoy the splendour of the reserve.

The marshlands and wet woods have lost a lot of their almost primeval menace and are now brightened by a blaze of yellow marsh marigolds and lesser celandines.

As we go into May these yellows will be replaced by magnificent stands of yellow flag irises.

However, before long all these flowers will get lost in the massive tangle of marshland plants more than two metres tall. At Hurcott, this is unfortunately mostly comprised of stinging nettles and that most invasive of foreign weeds, the Himalayan balsam.

It is hoped that for the first time this year some control measures designed to combat the Himalayan balsam can be put in place.

This plant is notoriously difficult to control but methods used with some success at Spennells Valley local nature reserve will be employed.

The drier, mixed woodland is also about to burst into colour with many of the slopes and banks of the wood carpeted in a thick carpet of bluebells which are just about ready to come into flower.

This will turn the woods into a fairytale world of blue. Once these bluebells fade, the woods enter a rather drab time with bramble and honeysuckle flowers providing the majority of colour and nectar within the woods.