The Nature Blog

photo credit: anemoneprojectors

 

Despite the dreadful weather forecast for the Easter weekend I’m pleased to say that I managed to get out on Easter Sunday and whilst there was a lot of cloud I managed to avoid getting wet.

Signs of spring were everywhere. The streets around where I live are alive with cherry blossom turning the gutters pink, while I also saw my first swallow of the year hunting over farmland in Sussex.

Despite a flock of long-tailed tits driving me to drink as I attempted (and failed) to stalk and photograph them for a good half hour, I was amazed to see so much plant life. This really is one of my absolute favourite times of year as all the plants look so new and fresh and lush.

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) was in bloom and I managed to get a snap of an early bee feeding on the nectar the plant was giving out. It seems that the leaves themselves are just starting to break out of their buds and so should be taking their proper form over the next few weeks.

Silverweed, cleavers and many more wild plants were all seen bursting into growth though those early spring flowers which bring colour (and essential nectar) to the countryside were the real high points for me.

Here are just a few I found on Easter Sunday:

Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria)

Common Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)

Common Dog-Violet (Viola riviniana)

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photo credit: Tim Green aka atoach

The weather seems to be improving by the day, the temperature is rising and many people are reporting sightings of wildlife coming out of their winter hibernation. For example common lizards, adders and bees are being seen at the moment though I haven’t been lucky enough to see them myself yet this year.

Equally, the Woodland Trust which runs the Natures Calendar website says that there are some surprises so far this year. For example blackthorn is typically in flower by mid-March and the Woodland Trust would expect to have received over 1,000 sitings of the blossom by now, but so far it has received only 1.

A variety of other native plants are also showing similar delays in their typical appearance. Hawthorn, for example, is typically exploding into leaf about now but once again the evidence suggests very little activity.

All this evidence suggests that the particularly hard winter we had has delayed spring – at least for many wild plants – by up to a month. Will we see nature catching back up or not? And what effect will this have on the animals which rely on these plants as a source of food? Only time will tell.

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