Its back again!

[Seagull]

Took a stroll around one of my favourite woods, yesterday, on the hunt for a couple of hazel sticks.

Hypnotised by stooks of "not quite right" clumps, I forgot the reason I had come, and just took visual stock of all about me.

Yup, the buds on the Hawthorn and the Sloe, were colouring and plumping-up.

Green shoots were coming through, just where I recalled last years bluebells.

Never fails to amaze me.

Ducks on the pond, were making a start with courtship displays.

Great to think that ,no matter what, nature does what it has to do.

Feeling kind of small, I clogged it back home, stickless but gladdened.

Must be a mid-life thing.

Seagull

 

[Kim]

What a beautiful thing to notice, despite the fact that it's freezing outside, there is something very alive about this kind of weather.

Spring is stirring, she's probably still in the middle of a dream, perhaps dribbling a little, maybe snoaring every now and then, but she's pretty close to waking up...around 1st February is when the beginings of spring are traditionally welcomed, the days get longer and life begins to fight it's way back through the cold, hard ground.

When I woke up this morning I could actually see the faint light of day...

:biggthump

 

[Kath]

That's a very nice observation Seagull! I haven't seen much yet except a few Snowdrops that managed to take me by surprise (I forget they're there every year!) We had snow in late february last year so I think we've still got a ways to go yet, but it's nice to know it's on its way!!! :biggthump

 

[gb]

I found this website earlier http://www.phenology.org.uk/ (think it might have been posted on here before somewhere), where people record when they first see the various changes of the seasons, have a look at the live map section.
Incredible to think that someone recorded snowdrops flowering at the end of November and also that bees are already active all over the country!! :?:
Im not so sure spring is quite here yet, winter may have a few tricks up his sleeve

 

[Seagull]

A second look, or, more of the same.

,Took a break from decorating and ,by late forenoon , Id squished back to my favourite patch of woodland.

What d,you know?
In just a few days, the male catkins are showing up, on the hazel clumps that grow in the dale bottoms, a right frost-pocket. The dale top, is just 25 metres higher and its just leaf-buds, up there.

,Saw the first of the Jelly-lug fungus, on the most rotten-est of the fallen Elder;
,didnt realise they emerge as a brown-ginger colour, not the purple, of later in the season .

Pushing through the litter, were many samples of that plant, with the hand-sized, elongated heart-shaped leaves........red berries on a central stem... leaves get black-spot fungus/mildew...........( ,s a pity, that the well known figure, called, "not me", has got my only good plantID book.)

First time in years, I spotted a quietly raucous bunch of Long-Tailed Tits, fossicking, high up, in the tops.

Hauling clear of the trail and, finding a place for lunch, I pondered just how thick I must,ve been, not to realise that the undergrowth of vegetation is at its least, just as the new season starts.
Theres something oddly intense, about the way the light comes through the vertical lines of trees and creates a hardened and distractive image, for the eye. Sure , you see further, but it feels uneasy.

No one, has yet told the spouting buds that push from fallen boughs, they havent got a chance; they still try to make growth....yeah, I know its just nature, but theres something noble and moving, about the way they do that.

Hmm, so, half expecting to be mobbed by wild birds, I idly flick away the remains of my lunch.
An almost silent explosion of brown, as, twelve feet away, something breaks cover.....a twitching glimpse of a white tail, an image of body and legs going, at speed, in different directions.
Clearly, rabbits dont like breadcrusts.

Time to pack-up, now, and go home.
So, taking a last look, I reflect that, for a while at least, I felt part of the scenery...sort of, in some inexplicable way. It just felt ,well, right!

It all looked just the same, two minutes later, when I came back for my stick.
So I looked again, but it was no good, the mood had gone and that sense of well-being, had passed.

Ah well, thinks I, its back to the "wet,n,dry".

Seagull

 

[martin]

Pushing through the litter, were many samples of that plant, with the hand-sized, elongated heart-shaped leaves........red berries on a central stem... leaves get black-spot fungus/mildew...........( ,s a pity, that the well known figure, called, "not me", has got my only good plantID book.)


Seagull

Sounds like Cuckoo Pint

 

[Seagull]

Cheers, Martin.
Thats the one, no doubt about it!
Seagull

 

[2blackcat]

I've been recording for the phenology site for three years now. It is something I do while walking the dog. Helps you keep an eye on the changing seasons.
The only draw back is you're confined to certain area so if you range around like I do (usually on field archery shoots) some of the things you see aren't eligable for your area


Steve

 

[Kath]

You can record your spring observations on BBC Spring Watch: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/wildbritain/springwatch/