Spring Watch

[flowerlady]

Was watching the news at lunch and saw this.  You can now record all your 'Heralds of Spring'  ;D


http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/wildbritain/springwatch/index.shtml

[flowerlady]

[flowerlady]

Well so far I have seen bumbles and ladybirds, even a bee tho think he might have got lost!!

What has anyone else seen to date?  Found some violets this w/e too, just LOVE the smell  ;)

[Georgie]

Well, so far in my garden I've seen red and yellow ladybirds, bees, bumbles, one hover fly, one frog, woodmice and caterpillars.   ;D  Oh yes, and ruddy whitefly in the mini greenhouse.   >:(

G xx

[busy_lizzie]

We have our frogs and frogs spawn, I have seen a ladybird and some bees.  The daffodils are coming into flower, the birds are doing their thing, but the only problem is we had some snow showers yesterday and also a few this morning, and it is so icy cold outside.  We keep getting these messages that it is Spring but the temperatures still feel like winter and frost is forcast for tonight, so I am confused.  ??? busy_lizzie

[Robert_Brenchley]

It doesn't feel like spring at all, but the blackthorn's out, and I found a dead frog in the lane by the frog pond the other day. Queen bumblebees are a daily sight now. They know it's spring even if we don't! At bottom we're still a tropical or subtropical species.

[honeybee]

I saw a Queen bumble bee batting on the window today whilst it was hail stoning outside, poor thing  :(
The frog spawn looks like its been damaged by the frost and ice and the daffs are only just forming buds.

My garden is definitely very much behind in progress this year and not its usual haven of colour.

[RobinOfTheHood]

For me so far, bumbles and ladybirds in the garden, and visiting Clumber Park in Notts yesterday, swallows and housemartins.  ;D

Didn't expect to see them for a couple of weeks, especially considering the er, strange weather we are having here... ::)

[Georgie]

Saw my first Comma butterfly today.   ;D  I was too slow to get a pic but here's one I took last year.  G xx

[Robert_Brenchley]

There were one or two small tortoiseshells round the plot today, but I've yet to see a comma. Overall, the flowers are a couple of weeks behind last year, but the bees are stronger. I think that's because I now have locally bred queens, while last year I was using ones that came up from Cornwall. You're always better off with queens you raise yourself, since they'll be more suited for local conditions.

[Motherwoman]

I had a really bright yellow butterfly in the garden yesterday,don't know why it was so keen,I certainly wasn't! I have a wild cherry in the back garden that has started to flower on March 25th for the last 9 years but this year it's started on 14th April.The beech hedge usually starts to unfurl it's leaves on April 25th so I shall wait and see if the season is catching itself up.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Was it bright yellow on the upper side of the wing, greeny-looking on the underside, and looking like a leaf when it closed them? If so that's a Brimstone, which is one of the first out in spring. I haven't seen any yet this year.

[Palustris]

Just now heard the first cuckoo. Perhaps this year I will even get to see one!

[Motherwoman]

Yes Robert,that sounds like it,I live right on woodland is that their sort of haunt?

[Deeds]

Spring is certainly here in Cornwall- saw the first of the House Martins yesterday :)

[busy_lizzie]

Saw loads of different types of butterflies at the allotment this morning.  Very windy today there but gorgeous sunny weather. busy_lizzie

[Robert_Brenchley]

That's right, it's very much a species of open woodland and woodland edge; the caterpillar feeds on buckthorn. When I lived in Cornwall I always used to see them in a particular wooded valley where there was lots of overgrown coppice; nowadays it's always along the edge of the bit of woodland that borders the site.