Essex Field Club on Facebook

Visit Our Centre

EFC Centre at Wat Tyler Country ParkOur centre is available for visits on a pre-booked basis on Wednesdays between 10am - 4pm. The Club’s activities and displays are also usually open to the public on the first Saturday of the month 11am - 4pm.

About us


Video about the Club Essex Field Club video

registered charity
no 1113963
HLF Logo A-Z Page Index

Your Forum

This forum has now been more or less replaced by the Club's Facebook page at
Essex Field Club on Facebook




The weblog below is for naturalists to use to report interesting sightings, ask questions, report on field meetings and generally post pictures and any information or questions generally relevant in some way to the wildlife and geology of Essex. You will need to register and be logged-on to post to the forum, and you need to upload pictures first, for use in posts. Find out more


Sat 25th February 2012 20:56 by Graham Smith
February 19th-25th 2012
One of the joys of living in this country is the flow of the seasons. 'Flow' is the operative word here as some years winter never seems to end and spring never begins, the former's sub-zero night-time temperatures and biting north-easterly winds giving way to sub-tropical midsummer heat within the space of a few days in late May, bypassing the spring altogether! Thus, to those of us addicted to the seasonal flow March and April are two of the most important months of the year as when they are blessed with days of gentle warmth and south or south-westerly breezes butterflies, wild flowers, bees, moths, migrant birds and other wildlife all appear in due order and give a smooth but steadily increasing momentum to the spring. The snow and frost of mid-February now behind us the temperature rose steadily this week to a balmy 17`C on 23rd, almost twice the average at this time of year. What a joy it is on such a day to relax on a seawall somewhere, tucked down out of the breeze, coffee and sandwiches to hand, and soak up those first blissfully warm rays of the spring. It will be too ruddy hot soon enough!

Wildlife duly responded : a Peacock in the garden on 23rd was followed by a Brimstone at The Backwarden EWT Reserve on 25th while the second bumblebee of the year, a White-tailed Bombus lucorum, in the former locality, was succeeded two days later by a Red-tailed B. lapidarius, in the second. There are precious few wild flowers out at the moment to provide nectar and pollen but the White-tailed had sacs bulging with white pollen so she must have found a source somewhere in the local gardens. Among the few species in bloom this week were the first 'wild' Primroses I have seen this year, in Poors Piece, Danbury, and clusters of the tiny white flowers of Common Whitlow Grass on the seawall at Blue House. Another sure sign of the emerging spring were a couple of Adders, both females, one at Hitchcock Meadows EWT Reserve on 23rd (seen by the warden, Peter Squire) and the other (pictured) at The Backwarden on 25th, resting on the banks of the hibernaculum where she spent the winter underground. At Blue House the fields were full of Skylark song and Meadow Pipits were performing their display flights for the first time this year.

Adder Copyright: Graham Smith

Spring truly has begun to spring!

link
 

Archives:

May 2020
Aug 2019
Jan 2019
Sep 2018
Jul 2016
Oct 2015
Jul 2015
May 2015
Apr 2015
Mar 2015
Feb 2015
Jan 2015
Dec 2014
Oct 2014
Sep 2014
Aug 2014
Jul 2014
May 2014
Apr 2014
Mar 2014
Feb 2014
Jan 2014
Dec 2013
Nov 2013
Sep 2013
Aug 2013
Jul 2013
Jun 2013
May 2013
Apr 2013
Mar 2013
Feb 2013
Jan 2013
Dec 2012
Nov 2012
Oct 2012
Sep 2012
Aug 2012
Jul 2012
Jun 2012
May 2012
Apr 2012
Mar 2012
Feb 2012
Jan 2012
Dec 2011
Nov 2011
Oct 2011
Sep 2011
Aug 2011
Jul 2011
Jun 2011
May 2011
Apr 2011
Mar 2011
Feb 2011
Jan 2011
Dec 2010
Nov 2010
Oct 2010
Sep 2010
Aug 2010
Jul 2010
Jun 2010
May 2010
Apr 2010
Mar 2010
Feb 2010
Nov 2009
Oct 2009
Aug 2009
Jul 2009
Jun 2009
May 2009
Apr 2009
Mar 2009
Feb 2009
Jan 2009
Nov 2008
Oct 2008
Sep 2008
Aug 2008
Jul 2008
Jun 2008
May 2008
Apr 2008
Mar 2008
Feb 2008
Jan 2008
Dec 2007
Nov 2007

current posts