White bells

12 Wednesday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in spring, wildflowers

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Bluebells, British wildflowers, Casehill Woods, Native bluebell, Spring colour, spring wildflowers, White-flower Bluebell

Although I’ve seen Spanish Bluebells that are white and even shades of pink and lilac, this was the first time I’ve seen white native Bluebells. There was only one, amongst the thousands in this fabulous piece of ancient woodland, but it certainly stood out from the crowd.

210512 white bluebell

As the Bluebells are beginning to fade, especially after all the rain we’ve had in the past week, I thought I’d make a little video of some of my favourite Bluebell images. Enjoy!

Nine ‘ugly ducklings’

10 Monday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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baby birds, birding, birdwatching, British birds, cygnets, Mute swan, swan with cygnets, Ugly duckling fairytale

Seeing these gorgeous little balls of fluff made my day! I’d been watching these Mute swans for several weeks, building their nest, then sitting on eggs, so it was a real delight to see the proud parents gently shepherding their newly hatched brood around a local river inlet on Thursday.

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More yellow

09 Sunday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Spring colour, wildflowers in bloom, yellow flowers, yellow wildflowers

A month ago, I shared some of the yellow-flowered wildflowers I’d found for the weekly #WildflowerHour challenge. In the weeks since, more yellow flowers have begun to bloom and, as today’s weather (I’m writing this on Saturday, as we sit under a heavy rain warning) is grey and windy and very wet, I fancy some bright sunshiny yellow. So, here we go …

The flowers are the butterflies’ favourite Bird’s-foot trefoil and the vibrant bushes of Broom. Although I shared some of these last time, I couldn’t resist a Shrew’s-eye view of more Cowslips. The buttercups are beginning to take over from the Lesser celandine as Nature’s yellow carpet in the meadows – these are Creeping and Meadow buttercups. Prickly sow-thistles line the edges of the lane behind my house, and Spotted medick is now brightening up the pavement verges. I’d glimpsed Yellow archangel last time but now these lovely spikes are popping up everywhere in my local woodland, a beautiful compliment to the Bluebells.

Early-purple orchids

07 Friday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, wildflowers

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British native orchids, British orchids, Early-purple orchid, native orchids, Orchis mascula, Spring colour

The 2021 orchid season has begun!

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In my local area, the first orchids to bloom are the Early-purples (Orchis mascula) and this week I was delighted to find them in two local areas, one a nature reserve, the other a woodland I regularly visit.

The Plantlife website notes that there is a legend the ‘Early Purple Orchid grew under Christ’s cross, and the leaves were splattered with the blood of Christ, have resulted in the names Gethesmane and cross flower.’

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The website also lists some of this orchid’s other vernacular names: ‘adder’s meat, bloody butchers, red butchers, goosey ganders, kecklegs, kettle cases and kite’s legs’. Personally, I just call them beautiful!

The Wayfarer

06 Thursday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in plants, spring, trees

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British shrubs, British trees, bud burst, leaf burst, Viburnum lantana, Wayfaring tree

As part of this spring’s project to watch trees and shrubs come to life, I’ve been keeping a close eye on Wayfaring trees during my local walks. Viburnum lantana is a tree – or shrub, if the potential to grow 5 metres tall means it can still be called a shrub – I’ve mostly ignored in the past but now I have a much better appreciation of its beauty.

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The leaf buds when they first begin to develop are brown and furry and very sculptural.

And the flowers are equally lovely. The first of these photos was taken on 23 March, the most recent just two days ago, on 4 May.

You can read more about the Wayfaring tree on the Woodland Trust website, where the entry includes the fascinating information that arrows made from stems of this tree were found on the frozen body of ‘Ötzi the Iceman’, the man from 4000-3500BC whose body was found in the Austrian Alps in 1991.

Yellow wagtails

05 Wednesday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, spring migration, Yellow wagtail

I’ve only seen Yellow wagtails a couple of times and never locally so, when they were reported flitting about Cardiff Bay, I went walking that way. On my first walk past where they’d been reported, I couldn’t find any – I dipped as they say in birder speak, and I’ve been dipping a bit lately so didn’t bother trying again the next day.

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Then, last Friday, I thought I’d pop over to the wetlands reserve to see if I could find any Sedge warblers to photograph. Those birds were being very vocal though visually elusive but then I spotted a couple of birders I know who were obviously looking at something interesting. Turns out, it was a Whinchat, my first of the year – good news! – and then both chaps said they’d seen more Yellow wags that morning, dotting around the grassy areas on the Barrage.

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So, a quick change of plan saw me strolling in that direction and, remarkably, the birds were still there. Four gorgeous little bursts of vibrant yellow, easily disturbed by walkers and dogs, but I managed to get some quality watching time and a few distant photos before they headed off over the water. Magic!

Whimbrel passing

03 Monday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Whimbrel, Whimbrel migration

Last Thursday’s walk was very similar to walks I’ve written about previously (a Superb Sully stroll, 23 April 2019, and The Whimbrel and the Barwit, 30 April 2017), and the reason I repeat the walk, sometimes several times, at this time of year is hopefully to catch sight of migrating Whimbrel (and Bar-tailed godwit).

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A local birding friend had reported sightings, and the tide was right – as the Bristol Channel has the second highest tidal range in the world, it’s best to look over high tide so the birds are relatively close to the coastal path.

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And I was lucky to see several Whimbrel. There were perhaps six or seven birds but I’m not sure of the exact number, as they were quite flighty, and would head off along the beach when disturbed by people and their dogs walking along the path and the rocks.

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These birds are part of the annual migration, seen locally during April and May, when Whimbrel that over-winter in West Africa move through to their breeding grounds in more northerly latitudes (according to the Bird Guides website, Iceland, Scandinavia, the Faroes and Shetland are their likely breeding locations.)

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New and noticed

02 Sunday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Bugle, Cleavers, Common vetch, Spring colour, spring wildflowers, Wood spurge, Woodruff

More luscious wildflowers have begun blooming in recent days. Here are some I’ve noticed:

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As I witnessed when taking these photos, bumblebees adore Bugle (Ajuga reptans). I can’t think of a better reason to plant some in your own wildflower garden.

210502 common vetch

You can tell just by looking at its flower shape that Common vetch (Vicia sativa) is a member of the pea family. Apparently, in ancient times, people cultivated this plant and ate its seed pods, just as we do today with peas and beans.

210502 cleavers

I’ll bet you all have a bunch of names for this plant, Cleavers (Galium aparine). Sticky Willy is a favourite.

210502 woodruff

After I recognised the leaves of this plant, I revisited the spot in my local woodland each week until, finally, the beautiful flowers began to open. This is the sweet-smelling Woodruff (Galium odoratum).

210502 wood spurge

This plant was growing quite close to where I found the Woodruff and was a first sighting for me. Gardeners will, I’m sure, recognise it as a Euphorbia because Wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides) is the ancestor of today’s popular garden varieties of Spurge.

Unfurling

30 Friday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in plants, spring

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British ferns, fern frond, fern frond unfurling, ferns, signs of spring

’Tis that magical time of year when the woodland floor comes to life, with wildflowers blooming and the sap rising up to green the trees and the fronds of ferns slowly unrolling.

The curled up top of a young fern frond is called a crosier, sometimes a fiddlehead. When its first cells are touched by the warming sunlight of spring, they begin to grow; as they grow, they expand; as they expand, they lengthen; and as they lengthen, they unfurl.

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There is perhaps no more powerful symbol of the reawakening of the land in springtime than a fern frond unfurling.

Ash burst

25 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, trees

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Ash flowers, Ash tree, British trees, flowers on trees, Fraxinus excelsior, tree flowers

First, the black buds split open to reveal their furry brown inner parts.

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Next, those brown furry parts burst open to reveal luscious purple ‘berries’.

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And finally, those purple berries transform – they’re not berries at all, of course, they’re the tips of the anthers of the spiky flowers that grow at the end of the twigs and branches.

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This is an Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior), and they have a very complicated but fascinating reproduction system, which I didn’t know about when I took my photos – you can read all about it on the Tree Guide UK website here.