December Nature Notes

January Nature Notes
 

February Nature Notes

March Nature Notes

March Nature Notes

PLANTS

Beside the hedgerows along the Nickey Line leaf mould from autumn has been overlain with dog's mercury and in many places the spears of bluebell leaves. Bluebells need to produce their leaves early before the trees come into leaf and cast  shade on them. Lesser celandines are opening everywhere.  Another yellow flower out now is coltsfoot. The name describes the shape of the leaves, which resemble horses hooves. These appear a month or two after the flowers and give the plant another name: 'son before father'.

BUTTERFLIES

In sunny spells brimstone butterflies will emerge from the holly or ivy where they have been hibernating. The males with their sulphur-coloured wings are unmistakable as they fly in the spring sunshine. The female is almost white. These butterflies will have emerged from their chrysalids the previous July, and will live on until this summer's new brood emerges. Few butterflies live as long as this.

LADYBIRDS

Ladybirds, of which there are 46 native species, come out of hibernation this month. They cannot fly until they are warm and so may be seen sitting on leaves in the spring sun. The earliest ladybirds to appear are usually the seven-spots, followed by the two-spots. The most invasive ladybird on Earth, the harlequin ladybird, arrived in Britain in 2004 and is now common locally. All ladybirds feed on aphids, but the harlequin also eats the larvae of our native species. The brightly-coloured wing cases protect the wings beneath so, in order to fly, the ladybird has to lift them behind its head and unfurl the translucent wings beneath.

BIRDS

If you happen to be out at dawn you will hear the beginnings of a dawn chorus: the singers will be mostly blackbirds, thrushes and robins. The wrens, finches and summer visitors have yet to join in. During the day you can expect to hear the rather monotonous song of the chiffchaff, newly arrived from the Mediterranean or south of the Sahara. Woodpigeons are feeding on young shoots of trees and bushes, and on the newly emerging purple flowers of the ash tree. They are also beginning to build their rather untidy nests.

Everywhere nest building is progressing. Song thrushes line their nests with mud which they collect from the edges of puddles. Blackbirds use mud in their nests too, but add a lining of dry grass on top of the hardened mud. Long-tailed tits build a domed nest, camouflaging it with lichen and moss. Magpies are building twiggy nests, or refurbishing old ones, usually in the tops of hawthorn trees. Robins are prospecting for suitable nesting sites and some will have started to build.

TREES

Blackthorn, a member of the plum family, often flowers in a cold March snap. The flowers en masse can look almost snow-like and a cold spell of weather now is referred to as a 'blackthorn winter.' The writer William Cobbett observed this phenomenon more than 150 years ago.

Trees are coming into leaf. Sycamore buds are very green before they open. The familiar 'sticky-buds' are opening on the horse chestnut trees. Many hawthorns are in full leaf and some will have been out for several weeks. There is considerable variation in leaf emergence and regular Line walkers will spot some hawthorns which always come into leaf much earlier than others. The hawthorn is also known as 'May' because of the month in which it flowers. Children often eat the new green leaves and flower buds which they used to call 'bread and cheese'.

April Nature Notes

Wildlife Interpretation Board
Progress on our new Wildlife Interpretation Board

Fungal Foray Wednesday 22 October 2008