Springtime in the woods - flowers and butterflies

We took advantage of the sunshine yesterday to go for lunch in the woods with my parents, who were visiting for the day. Although I saw solitary Bluebells a couple of weeks ago, there's a liberal scattering now visible!

The Wood Anemones are also looking good, now at the height of their flowering:

Between them and the Bluebells, the woodland is completely green now!

In the wayleave there are also Violets in flower, to the delight of various insects:

There's a good number of Primroses too - these were near the roadside:

Also scattered amongst the Wood Anemones over in Sweep Wood are Lesser Celandine and an occasional Daffodil:

The butterflies are also out in force now, here's a Small Tortoiseshell:

a Comma:

and a Peacock:

The birds are busy too - we saw some scouting out nesting sites, and the pheasants are strutting around making a lot of noise as usual for the time of year:

The trees all come into leaf at different times - Oak is still some way off, but Hornbeam is coming out now:

Hawthorn is well on the way:

Hazel is just starting:

and in the warmer spots in Sweep Wood there are even some Sweet Chestnut leaves appearing, but in most parts of the woods they are not started yet:

Here's a view of an area we coppiced in 2010/11, with ground cover growing like crazy:

And here's the area we cut in autumn 2013 - we spotted a few butterflies making the best of the new sunlight in this area already!

Finally, Tracy had her class visit the woods this week, so their dens/shelters are now in a better state of repair:

One group even got as far as making some miniature clay pots for the den's 'kitchen'!

We're looking forward to some more sunny days so we can spend time in the woods, now the wet weather has passed...

Mike

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First Bluebell in the woods!

Last weekend we saw the first Bluebell in the woods!

It's been a busy week for work, which is why I've only just got around to posting it here...

There's loads of other flowers out too. I tried some artistic photos of this daffodil and old log, one with the flower in focus, the other with the log in focus:

Wood Anemones are spreading fast. Compare this photo with one taken two weeks earlier:

Up the hill in Sweep Wood, where we coppiced just over a year ago, the ground flora is creating a low-level jungle!

and at the very top there are Nettles and Dogs Mercury competing for light:

There's also other odd things there, probably garden escapees:

Further down in the hill, where we were working just a few months ago, there are some odd shrub-like plants, that I remember trying to avoid damaging while felling. I'll wait and see if they flower to try and ID them, but any suggestions welcome!

Moving onto the trees... Sweet Chestnut buds are on the point of opening:

While Hornbeam is already out:

and Birch is way ahead:

It's also nice to see shoots coming out on the coppiced Hornbeam, I expect the other species won't be far behind:

Finally, I was pleased to get a couple of photos of a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, as it was a difficult shot - high up in an Oak with lots of twigs in the way:

There's not much longer to get photos of birds before the leaves hide them from view until the Autumn.

Finally, we cooked dinner on the woodgas campstoves, and sat by the fire until dusk.

A very pleasant Sunday evening!

Mike

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Buds, birds and flowers in the woods

It's warming up a lot now (in the daytime at least), and this weekend we took advantage of the sunshine for a walk in the woods. There's loads of Spring flowers out now, like the Wood Anemone (all the following flower pics are from Sweep Wood):

the Lesser Celandine:

and of course the Primrose:

There's Daffodils too - I thought these were probably garden escapees, at the top of Sweep Wood, but there's one further down the hill too, which is odd:

What's particularly noticeable is how the strip in Sweep Wood that we coppiced this winter and last is really green as it gets so much light:

Compare this to a patch near our camp in Chestnut Coppice, which won't get much sunlight for a few weeks yet:

Not to be outdone by the flowers, some of the trees are in bloom too, like this Plum at the top of Sweep Wood:

Our own fruit trees are budding, like this pear:

and the wild Apple:

Some are a bit further behind, like this Sycamore:

While others already have leaves, like Elder:

and Hawthorn:

Meanwhile the willow has its catkins on:

With all these flowers coming out, it's not surprising to see bees around:

and also butterflies, like this Comma:

There was even a Ladybird sunning itself:

The birds are very busy right now, singing to mark out their territory. Here's a Robin, a Blackbird, a Blue Tit and a Pigeon:

Oops, I guess someone ate the Pigeon!

Last but not least, we found a huge bone. I assume someone's dog dropped it, unless we have cows in the wood...

Mike

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