SKYLARK SUE’S REFLECTIONS OF NATURE 

April 2014

 

 

 

The blossom has been spectacular this month - red crab apple

 

 

A misty start to April 1st

 

 

Blackthorn

April started very warm; although April 1st began mistily, the temperature rose to a surprising 74 degrees F. A trip to Hatfield Forest, Essex, on the 2nd, though initially cloudy, soon developed into sunshine and blue sky. It was noticeable that many of the spring flowers and shrubs were already in full bloom. Blackthorn was thick with its white starry flowers, while plenty of primroses, celandine and violets were around, too. Various butterflies were on the wing, including a peacock sunning itself on a log, and the water was churning in the small lake with frog activity.

Celandine

Primroses

Violets

 

Peacock butterfly sunning itself on a log

 

On the main lake there was plenty to see. Joining the usual mallards and geese were a group of tufted ducks, and there were also the great crested grebes, coots and moorhens. Chiffchaffs were calling, and one was perched high on a branch so I was able to get a view of this often secretive bird. Green woodpeckers were cackling noisily. It was a beautiful spring day.



Frog activity in the lake



Chiff chaff

Great crested grebe

Tufted duck with moorhen in background



Sparrowhawk's pellet

On the 5th April we discovered what appeared to be a sparrowhawk’s pellet by a hedge just outside out front door, and the next day we discovered another, or part of one, which we dissected. It seemed to be a mix of feather quills and small bones, but we were intrigued to know where the sparrowhawk been perching. It must have been low down, as the hedge is only a few feet high. By now the weather had changed; it was damp and gloomy, though soon warmed up again – the 9th was really warm and sunny.

White crab apple blossom

Robin enjoying a bath in the fountain

On the 10th I watched a robin taking a long and very splashy bath in one of our fountains. We have three, but the birds seem to like best of all one that is shaped like a ball with a shallow indented top where water bubbles gently before flowing over the sides to collect in a larger, shallow bowl. Other birds were around the garden including a dapper dunnock on the bird table, and I was pleased to see a speckled wood butterfly near the plants by the pond. The blossom is looking very pretty now.



Dunnock on feeder dish



Cherry blossom

Marsh marigolds

Blue skies and sunshine were the order again for the next day, the 11th. The greengage, nectarine and plum blossoms are fully open; they have been out for quite a while. The pink cherry blossom on the tree near our front door is glorious – thick and heavy – especially looking wonderful against the blue sky. The red and the white crab apple blossom, as well as the white suffused with pink blossom on the apple tree, is beginning to open. I think there will be a good display this year. I have noticed that there is a plethora of dandelions alongside road verges, and also on our small lawn. Such cheerful flowers, and their white fluffy seed heads are so delicate. We also have a thick crop of bright yellow marsh marigolds around the pond. A look into one of the small wildlife ponds at night revealed some smooth newts, but still no sign of frogs. Last year we saw a couple, but, unlike a decade or so when the garden was thick with frogs, now they are a rarity. There seem to be lots of magpies around; driving along one road recently I counted at least eight in a stretch of about a hundred yards. There are some making a lot of noise in the oak tree across the road from us, too. No doubt they will be nesting there again.

This mallard had 22 ducklings!

She had them swimming two by two



Canada geese

Male chaffinch amongst the pussy willow



Mallards - note the vivid blue wingflash of the female

On the 15th April I was back at Hatfield Forest on yet another warm and sunny day, though the breeze was a little chilly by the lake. The air seemed filled with the laughter of green woodpeckers, but I only glimpsed one, some way off in the grass. The male chaffinches were in full colour, a magnificent deep pink, and singing lustily, and there were the usual jackdaws strutting around. One was sitting high up in the trunk of a tree near the hole in which the birds were nesting last year. A grey squirrel was searching for food, and a grebe was diving. Perhaps the highlight of the day, however, was a female mallard who had no less than 22 very young ducklings. At one point she had them swimming two by two behind her as they crossed the lake. I wondered how many would survive, what with the cormorants, herons, gulls and pike, all eager to take a duckling.

Just a glimpse of a yaffle - green woodpecker

Grey squirrel

The warm weather continued, and by now the crab apple blossom was stunning. Hopefully, there will be a good crop this year, unlike last year when an invasion of lackey moth caterpillars badly destroyed much of the leaves and buds. The invasion happened in May, so maybe one will occur again, this year. There were plenty of birds around, including robins on the feeder.  It was really warm and sunny on the 16th, too. It seems very strange, however, that none of the nest boxes have been used this year. For decades we have had blue tits nesting in the garden, and it’s sad not to see them bustling around gathering nesting material and feeding their young.

Young robin



Young robin and parent bird

The temperature dropped quite a bit by the 18th – it was the mid-60s, warm for April but there was a chill wind.  A young robin was in the garden being fed by an adult, it seemed a bit early for young robins, but then, due to the exceptionally mild spring, everything is more advanced than last year.  The next two days saw a more dramatic temperature drop – on the 20th the daytime temperature went down to 52 degrees F. On the following day, though, it soared again, to the low seventies. This was a beautiful, warm and sunny day and once more the robin was bathing in the garden. On a trip to Ely, I noticed that the oilseed rape was in full flower and crops seemed to be everywhere – just field after field of yellow. It’s an odd, harsh shade which to my mind doesn’t suit the British landscape, and I much prefer to see the fields full of light blue flax.

 

The naturalist Chris Packham had been broadcasting from Malta, where he went to observe the regular custom of hunting migratory birds that fly over the country. The reports were fact-filled and moving, and hopefully will raise awareness of the dreadful carnage of birds, many of them on their way to Britain. I have written a separate blog about Chris’s efforts.

The warm, sunny weather continued throughout the rest of April, with just the occasional shower, though a visit to Berkshire on the last day of the month was made through torrential rain and a thunderstorm. We had hoped to see red kites as we knew they were in the area, but all we saw was a heron perched rather incongruously on someone’s roof!

Oilseed rape

April 2014 proved to be a mild month with less rain than is usual – during the period the 8th – 19th, there was no rain at all in our part of Essex. Temperatures for the majority of the month hovered around the high sixties or even the low seventies, the coldest day being the 20th when it was wet and overcast, and just reached 52 degrees F. There was only around an inch of rain for the whole month. Compared to last year, this year’s apple blossom was open almost three weeks earlier. I wonder what May will bring?