BCUK Springwatch Thread

[PaulSanderson]

spotted a flurry of snowdrops in the village today. Also, a few starlings on the feeder (is this a spring sign?)

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Snowdrops on Loch Lomondside yesterday.

 

[Harvestman]

I've got snowdrops too! And lots of new growth of Herb Robert, and the Cuckoo Pint are unfurling. There's a definite air of 'greenness' about the place. Some buds are starting to swell on the trees now.

 

[Shingsowa]

Snowdrops aplenty here (near Ruthin). Also interesting to note the week-long delay between 50m altitude and 310m where the farm is.
Lilac bushes are budding and nest building going on here and there. I do fear that they have been tricked into thinking Winter is over, and that a few more cold spells are due yet...

 

[Harvestman]

Water lilies starting to grow, but leaves still submerged at the moment (the melting ice leaves the water very clear, so I can see them!). Masses more birdsong than there was just a week or so ago.

Oh yes, and I saw gorse flowering. Is that a sign of spring?

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Beech bud a few weeks away from blossoming...

Bring on the Noyau

 

[wolflore]

Maybe we should have where to compare?

Twickenham: Snowdrops on show now and the showey but short-lived Magnolia just about to burst open.

 

[Harvestman]

Yesterday I spotted what looked like new leaves on the Buddleia (butterfly bush). Then I realised that I had no idea if these plants hold their leaves over the winter. New growth, or not? Can anyone help?

 

[shaggystu]

snow drops in full bloom, first lambs of the year, buds on all sorts of trees, it seems like everything is waking up. SWMBO says she's seen lords and ladies growing quite merrily and bluebells poking their heads out of the leaf litter in the woods at her college.

stuart

 

[Harvestman]

So far my list of flowers in flower for the years reads as follows:

Groundsel
Daisy
Snowdrop

Insects are just the bumble bee, not counting some small indeterminate flies, and a micro-moth or two.

 

[bushcraftbob]

Beech bud a few weeks away from blossoming...

Bring on the Noyau

I am going to try making this aswell i have its as good if not better than sloe gin!?

 

[Harvestman]

I notice next-door's flowers (no idea what they are - I can only identify wild plants) are emerging, and the leaves are opening on the spiky bush thing at the end of my garden.

 

[Geoff Dann]

Yesterday I spotted what looked like new leaves on the Buddleia (butterfly bush). Then I realised that I had no idea if these plants hold their leaves over the winter. New growth, or not? Can anyone help?

They hold most of their leaves over winter in Brighton. I suspect they lose them all in colder climates, but this species will grow back each year to the size of a small tree even if you chop them off right down to the ground. It never ceases to amaze me where they manage to grow. I've seen a large buddleja growing out of a crack in a third-floor windowsill. Their natural home is bare rock slopes so they can survive with no reliable access to water and almost no nutrients. I think B. davidii has to be classed as an invasive species, but it is hard to dislike them too much given their ability to colonise useless space and provide resources for so many insects.

 

[Bushwhacker]

I have to say it's the first time in a long time for me that it feels like we're having a proper, timely season.

Seeing daffodils out on Christmas day, as has happened in recent years, is a little too weird.

 

[Geoff Dann]

Plenty of Alexanders coming through, just perfect for picking.

 

[MSkiba]

Let me know when you spot beech leaves Harvestman, Im on a mission this spring!

 

[Harvestman]

All the birds are in full courtship mode now. Mallards, Collared Doves, songbirds. Saw four species of spider in about 5 minutes today, mainly juvenile wolf spiders and baby nursery-web spiders - amazing how they appear when the sun comes out. Lots of ballooning threads too but I still haven't managed to see a money spider. Greenery burgeoning everywhere - ragwort, buttercups, herb robert, vetches, wild strawberries...

Thanks for the info about Buddleia Geoff. I was suspicious when some of the allegedly new leaves I was seeing were so big, although there appears to be new growth in there too. Birch buds have that lovely purple sheen at the moment, but not open yet.

2 big moths on the windows at work today too, but as they were on the outside and I'm on the first floor I couldn't see them properly to identify them

I'm sort of expecting Butterbur and Marsh Marigold to start flowering soon. Must check out the local sites...

 

[Harvestman]

I think I might have to rename this the "Are we able to make beech leaf liqueur yet?" thread.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Hey... You only have yourself to blame!

plenty of bulbs pushing through on my wooland bimble yesterday and the ivy seems very green and vibrant.

 

[shortyman]

First sighting of the peregrine at Warton Quarry yesterday. Sure sign spring is on the way!