Spring messenger

05 Sunday Feb 2023

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, Lesser Celandine, signs of spring, winter colour, yellow wildflowers

According to Flora Britannica, Spring messenger is a now defunct local name for Lesser celandine, and how wonderfully appropriate that name is. I’ve been watching several areas of Lesser celandine plants, wondering which would put forth the first flower but, in fact, this particular bloom was a complete surprise. I had to cross a narrow country road so a truck could complete its turn in to a tight driveway entrance and, as I was crossing, I spotted this tiny drop of sunshine beaming out from under a bush. Spring magic!

230205 lesser celandine

Bee-flies are go!

18 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

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Bee-fly, Bombylius major, British bee-flies, Dark-edged bee-fly, signs of spring

Actually, keen-eyed bee-fly fanciers have been spotting these fuzzy little beasties for a week or so now, and by 14 March, 14 records – all in England – had been entered in to the recording system. And yesterday, in warm sunshine and alongside a sheltered footpath with plenty of flowering Lesser celandine, I finally saw my first bee-fly of the year. This is a Dark-edged bee-fly (Bombylius major); although there are other species in Britain, this is the only species local to me.

220318 bee-fly

For everything you might ever want to know about bee-flies, there’s a fantastic presentation The A to Z of Bee-flies on the FSC Biodiversity channel on YouTube.

Modestly cheerful

13 Sunday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Common whitlowgrass, Erophila verna, signs of spring, sping wildflowers, Spring colour

‘Modestly cheerful’ – this is how Richard Mabey describes Common whitlowgrass (Erophila verna) in Flora Britannica. He continues: ‘The small white flowers are amongst the first to appear in March, and are followed by seed-pods a little like miniaturised versions of honesty’s.’

220313 common whitlowgrass (1)

He also explains that the name is due to the plant’s use by medieval herbalists to treat whitlows, not a medical condition I was familiar with but which the Oxford Dictionary defines as ‘an abscess in the soft tissue near a fingernail or toenail’. I don’t recommend a Google image search as the condition looks quite gruesome, but these wildflowers, often present in large massed displays, are a delight.

220313 common whitlowgrass (2)

First frog eggs

11 Friday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in amphibian, spring

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Common frog, frog eggs, frog spawn, Rana temporaria, signs of spring

I first saw this, my first frog spawn of the year a couple of days ago but it got bumped from yesterday’s post by the excitement of seeing the Bonaparte’s gull. This spawn is a bit later than last year’s first sighting and I’ve only spotted the one lot, despite peering into many pools and puddles. I hope that doesn’t bode ill for the local frog population.

220311 frog spawn

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.

210430 ferns unfurling (1)

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

First frog spawn

07 Sunday Feb 2021

Posted by sconzani in amphibian

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Common frog, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, first frog spawn, frog spawn, signs of spring

Yesterday it was my first caterpillar; today saw another, rather different first sighting for 2021. Though it’s a bit earlier than the last couple of years, I spotted my first frog spawn, at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, not in any of the official ponds but rather in an area of the west paddock that is so water-logged from all the rain we’ve had this year that there are several large temporary pools.

210207 frog spawn (1)

I wonder if frog spawn can survive freezing and thawing? We’ve not had any snow but there’s a bitterly cold wind blowing straight from the Arctic and our temperatures are forecast to be mostly below zero for a few days. It will be interesting to see if the spawn can survive this chilly blast and continue to develop into tadpoles. I’ll keep you posted.

Pussy willow

21 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in trees

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Pussy willow, signs of spring, willow, willow flowers, Willow tree

They call them pussy willows,
But there’s not a cat to see,
Except the little furry toes
That stick out on the tree.

210121 pussy willow (2)

I think that very long ago
When I was just born new,
There must have been whole pussy cats,
Where just the toes stick through.

And every spring it worries me,
I cannot ever find
Those willow cats that ran away
And left their toes behind.

~ ‘The Willow Cats’, Margaret Widdemer (1884-1978), American poet, novelist, and Pulitzer Prize winner

22/366 First Snowdrops

22 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, Eirlys, signs of spring, snowdrop

I saw my first Snowdrops of 2020 today in Cardiff’s Bute Park.

200122 snowdrops (1)

Candlemas bells, Mary’s taper, Snow piercer, February fairmaids, Dingle-dangle – all vernacular names for Snowdrops, according to my Flora Britannica. In Welsh, Snowdrop is Eirlys (pronounced Ire-liss), a lovely word that’s sometimes used as a girl’s name. How pretty!

200122 snowdrops (2)

Nests

09 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, spring

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birding, birdwatching, Buzzard, Carrion crow, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Magpie, Mute swan, nesting, nesting birds, signs of spring

Just like their makers, nests come in all shapes and sizes, and they’re made of all sorts of materials: twigs and branches, feathers, moss, paper and plastic, mud. They can be seen high in trees and on buildings, hidden secretively away in hedges and behind reeds, or plonked in a hole in a concrete platoon, as I saw some Coots do recently in Cardiff. Some are messy and loosely constructed, others are cosy and snug, still others are miniature works of art.

180409 buzzard

This is prime bird-nesting season so it’s quite likely you’ll see nests when you’re out walking. Please stay well away and do not disturb parents, eggs or babies. In Britain (and I’m sure in most countries) it is, in fact, an offence under The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to ‘intentionally take, damage, destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built’ and to ‘intentionally take or destroy the egg of any wild bird’. (You can read more details here.) And, rest assured, my photos were all taken with a long lens, well away from the birds, so as not to disturb them.

Signs of spring: Bee-flies

07 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring

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Bee-fly, Bombylius major, British insects, signs of spring

Last Wednesday was a ‘B’ day – not ‘B’ as in ‘B-rated’ or in any way inferior – in fact, in that sense, it was an A+ day. I named it a ‘B’ day because I saw my first Butterflies of 2018, my first Blackcap, and my first Bee-flies – and not just one Bee-fly, but a total of seven!

180407 bee-flies (7)

The Bee-fly (officially Bombylius major) is a strange-looking mini-beastie, a weird and wonderful combination, all the cuteness of a furry teddy-bear but with the sinister look of a sword fish. Never fear, it is entirely harmless to humans, though it does lay its eggs in the nests of bees and wasps, where the bee-fly larvae feast on the bee and wasp larvae. Its sword-shaped proboscis is no stinging machine – it’s used exclusively for drinking nectar from flowers. These are springtime mini-beasties, out now in sunny spots in your garden or local hedgerow.