Nature Notes

[ErrolTheDragon]

There's a gardening thread which may overlap with this one but I thought people might like to share nature sightings as the season changes. What we see if we can get out for a walk, plants coming into leaf and bloom, creatures in the garden, birds flying overhead - whatever.

Yesterday along the canal: busy wrens, 3 butterflies (tortoiseshell I think). Lots of Lords and Ladies arrow-shaped leaves. A little bank of primroses, lots of celandines and some wood anemones. Yellow iris leaves starting to shoot up in the edge of the canal.

Yeah I've not seen them before last year but I saw 2 last spring, just before lockdown, on my commute. My neighbour in the village feeds her visiting one.

We have kingfishers in the brook and skylarks in the fields, barn owls too. Cuckoo last spring. Very lucky indeed!!

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My sweet box - in a pot so I can put it by the front door in winter - has just started to open its flowers and exude its gorgeous scent.

There are quite a few winter and early spring scented plants, I could do with getting some more.

One of my camellias looks like it’s not far from flowering! I agree with you on early flowering plants Errol. It’s why I go a bit crazy every year, adding more and more spring bulbs!

I have a few hellebores that are flowering at the moment and, weirdly, a rose that hasn’t stopped flowering since August.

I should try to remember to share the Times Nature Notebook column each weekend. Get a and enjoy.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-seasons-colours-are-heron-grey-and-lion-gold-3p775c3zb?shareToken=ef6fe19c3a054d6872a2ce202a3dd974

That’s a good read Errol. Thanks for sharing

I did the Big Garden Birdwatch this morning, which left me a little disappointed as so many of my regulars were nowhere to be seen. Mind you, the weather is appalling at the moment, so I guess I can’t really blame the birds for staying away from my very exposed garden today! 😂

I’ve dusted of my RSPB bird sound cd. I learnt quite a few of the common bird songs last year and found that really helpful for finding and identifying birds, but I think I’ve forgotten most of them since. Time to do some swatting up!

I was hoping to do the bird count this weekend but it hasn't stopped raining yet. The only birds that are about are the gang of jackdaws. Fingers crossed it brightens up soon.

It's pretty windy here, and cold, I think most of the birds are hunkered down. There was a beautiful cock pheasant strolling around the lawn earlier but he strutted off and over the fence before I could take a photo.

I'm really bad at remembering bird songs, unless there's a clue in the name like 'peewit' or 'chiffchaff'.

There were some daffs out in the churchyard we got to on our walk today. And here's my little snowdrop clump

Are your daffs blooming @ErrolTheDragon? Ours are all still just buds. Lovely snowdrops, there's a clump in the verge opposite our house that make me smile everytime I see them.

My own daffs aren't even showing buds. The ones I saw yesterday are in a church graveyard, somewhat raised up and south facing with a wall behind so probably a bit of a warm microclimate.

I planted daffs in autumn and loads are just stubs if they've come up at all. I think they're not deep enough 🙈

Spring bulbs are just the best! My daffodils aren’t doing much yet either, but the crocuses are going strong. I’m expecting to see the first proper flowers over the next few days. Where I live daffodils will be much later.

If I remember correctly, some bulbs are able to “correct” their planting position to some extent. If they’re planted too shallow, they’ll pull themselves down using their roots. They can even do a 180 degree turn if you accidentally planted them upside down, so hopefully your bulbs will sort themselves out GuyFawkes

Yes, I wouldn't expect daffs till about March here.

I've been for a wet and windy walk on dartmoor this morning. Over the moor, along a river valley with an explore in the old limestone kilns. The gorse was floweing and lots of catkins on the hazel. Found some liverworts in the kiln but no wildlife, it was all sensibly hiding from the weather.

I saw a heron in flight on my walk this morning and my first snowdrops of the year. We’ve had quite heavy snow on and off all day (south west) but none of it has settled.

We had a low-flying heron too.

It's getting dark now, but there's a really stripey 'mackerel sky'.

Spotted some deer tracks in the mud today, sadly no deer to be seen but they looked fairly fresh. I have seen some on that path before.

Also took a photo of some catkins that I spotted to see if I can identify them. Think they are hazel, so will take a note to return in the autumn to see what I can harvest.

We had a lovely sunny day here. Went for a walk and got a really close up view of a buzzard who seemed to be too lazy to fly off

One of the resident blackbirds started practicing his birdsong today. I read somewhere that last year’s males start singing way before the other males, just so that they can get some practice in before spring starts properly. This one really sounded like he needed it 😂

It was lovely here too - although the thermometer read 3° it was sunny and not windy so felt warmer. I learned that feb 1st is the Gaelic festival Imbolc - midway between the solstice and equinox and marking the start of spring - perhaps a tad optimistically!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbolc

I saw a wren in the garden today. According to DH it’s ALWAYS there, but it’s just very rare that I see it. So, I still feel I have every right to be excited about it 😂

I found a ladybird on the passenger seat of my car yesterday. Being a good citizen I didn't just lob it out of the window at 45mph, I found a patch of wild ground and set it free. It was quite lively.

Ove the ladybird rehabilitation onto wild ground.

One of our lizards was out basking in the sun today. It's a little early and we are forecast snow next week. It looked quite sluggish.

All my hellebores are in full bloom at the moment. They’re not visible from the house, so it’s perfectly possible they have been flowering for a while and I just haven’t noticed before!

I saw three choughs on my walk today and enjoyed watching them for a bit. I find it quite mind blowing that such a rare bird lives within walking distance of my house. Seeing them today made me appreciate my little town just that little bit more ☺️

Oh wow, @crazzzycat you must live pretty close to the coast to see choughs. I think I've only seen them once on holiday at The Lizard.