Category Archives: spring

A Dingy surprise

24 Saturday Apr 2021

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Well, this was a surprise! My first Dingy skipper of 2021 flitted up from the ground as I walked a path at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park yesterday, settled briefly nearby, then floated off and promptly disappeared. Luckily, I managed to fire off a couple of quick shots, and I think these show how easily this little butterfly can ‘disappear’ in the landscape – it’s incredibly well camouflaged.

210424 dingy skipper

In my five and a half years in Britain, this is the earliest I’ve seen a Dingy skipper by at least a week, and my average first sighting has been a little later still, around the tenth of May. I presume our recent warm dry weather has led to these butterflies emerging earlier than usual, though the lack of rain could be an issue for them as the ground is very dry and the usual flush of spring wildflower growth delayed.

The Blackthorn is buzzing

23 Friday Apr 2021

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210420 8 bee sp

Flies and hoverflies, bumbles, bees and butterflies – all love feasting on Blackthorn blossom as much as I love watching them enjoying its bounty. And the blossom itself is so blindingly white it’s like a springtime snowfall when the petals fall to the ground.

The blues are back

21 Wednesday Apr 2021

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There’s something quite startling about a tiny blue creature flying through your field of vision – it’s certainly eyecatching. I saw my first Holly blue of the year during Sunday’s meander but that one didn’t linger for a photograph. Yesterday, in a location where I didn’t see any last year, they were like buses – I saw four in total, including these two that floated in together.

210421 holly blue

Wild in the woodland

18 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by in spring, trees, walks, wildflowers

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I thought for this week’s Sunday wildflower post, I’d take you on a walk through parts of my local woodlands to show you some of the gorgeous plants a’blooming there at the moment. There are other wildflowers too, of course – Primroses, Violets, Dog’s-mercury, etc – but my video features Wild garlic, Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage, Wood anemone, Herb-paris, Lesser celandine, Moschatel and Bluebells.

Wild and flowering

16 Friday Apr 2021

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These gorgeous wildflowers are now blooming in the sunnier, more sheltered spots I pass on my daily walks:

210416 bush vetch

Bush vetch (Vicia sepium), the first of the vetches I’ve seen this year.

210416 garlic mustard

Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), also known as Jack-by-the-hedge

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Honesty (Lunaria annua), originally a garden escapee but now naturalised in the local countryside

210416 red campion

Red campion (Silene dioica)

210416 herb robert

Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) and, below, its cousin, Shining crane’s-bill (Geranium lucidum). As you can see, the flowers of these two are very similar but the leaves are quite different.

210416 Shining crane's-bill

Small and green

13 Tuesday Apr 2021

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Slowly, slowly, more insects are emerging. When I was getting a Gorse photo for last Sunday’s yellow wildflower challenge, this teeny tiny Gorse weevil (Exapion ulicis) paid a visit. I’m not sure if it was getting salt from my hand as it seemed quite reluctant to leave.

210413 gorse weevil

And yesterday I was scanning a Buddleja for leaf mines when I had the feeling I was being watched. This Common green shieldbug (Palomena prasina) was very well camouflaged sitting perfectly still on its leaf.

210413 green shieldbug

March Nightingales

12 Monday Apr 2021

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It was famous English pastoral poet John Clare who gave the Blackcap its ‘March Nightingale’ name, and quite rightly. The male Blackcaps’ melodious warbling can be heard from every bush and tree top as soon as they arrive back in Britain from over-wintering in Spain or North Africa, and that arrival is usually a month or earlier than the true Nightingale, which, sadly, many of us never see these days. So, enjoy the Blackcaps while you may for soon they’ll be too busy nest-building and chick-rearing to find much time for singing.

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A brief pause to refuel then more singing …

210412 blackcaps (5)

The Yellow challenge

11 Sunday Apr 2021

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This week’s Wildflower Hour challenge was to find yellow-flowered wildflowers currently in bloom. Here are my finds – a blast of spring sunshine to enjoy this Sunday evening:

210411 yellow (1)

Colt’s-foot, Dandelion, Gorse

210411 yellow (2)

Lesser celandine, Marsh marigold, Meadow buttercup

210411 yellow (3)

Groundsel, Opposite-leaved golden saxifrage (perhaps a bit of a stretch to say this is yellow, but it does have ‘golden’ in its name), Yellow archangel

210411 yellow (4)

Prickly sow-thistle, Cowslips, Ragwort

210411 yellow (5)

Pushing the envelope on these ones but … Alexanders (greenish-yellow), Primrose (buttery yellow), Pussy willow (not strictly a wildflower, but I’m having it)