A couple of sunny days, a sprinkling of showers and change in wind direction and the spell of winter is broken.
The Toads in the dipping pond at Highwoods Country Park are busy mating and spawn laying. We have had a couple of White-tailed and a Red-tailed Bumblebee on the heather in the garden and a Tortoiseshell passed through. On Sunday Highwoods and Dedham were heaving with people anxious to catch some of the sun and likewise the below picture was taken of a Grey Squirrel sunning itself upside down on the warm trunk of a tree in Highwoods.
Also taking advantage of the warmth, in Highwoods was this beetle which I believe is Glischrochilus hortensis
Found by my wife I hadn’t seen it before.
In the ditches and on the roadside verges between Dedham and Ardleigh the white of Snowdrops has been replaced with the yellow of Lesser Celandine, all within a couple of days.
The winter of 2011/12 was exceptional for Ladybirds, huge numbers overwintering in the area around Mistley Place Park and The Walls. This year there were very few. The wet summer last year seems to have taken a huge toll.
Finally, if country sayings are to be believed, we noted one bad portent in Highwoods. Of the oak and ash growing there, ash buds are bursting while oak are still tightly shut.
Not another summer like the last one.
PLEASE.
The Toads in the dipping pond at Highwoods Country Park are busy mating and spawn laying. We have had a couple of White-tailed and a Red-tailed Bumblebee on the heather in the garden and a Tortoiseshell passed through. On Sunday Highwoods and Dedham were heaving with people anxious to catch some of the sun and likewise the below picture was taken of a Grey Squirrel sunning itself upside down on the warm trunk of a tree in Highwoods.
Also taking advantage of the warmth, in Highwoods was this beetle which I believe is Glischrochilus hortensis
Found by my wife I hadn’t seen it before.
In the ditches and on the roadside verges between Dedham and Ardleigh the white of Snowdrops has been replaced with the yellow of Lesser Celandine, all within a couple of days.
The winter of 2011/12 was exceptional for Ladybirds, huge numbers overwintering in the area around Mistley Place Park and The Walls. This year there were very few. The wet summer last year seems to have taken a huge toll.
Finally, if country sayings are to be believed, we noted one bad portent in Highwoods. Of the oak and ash growing there, ash buds are bursting while oak are still tightly shut.
Not another summer like the last one.
PLEASE.